Oyo's parent company, Oravel Stays Ltd, is preparing to appoint Sumer Juneja, Managing Partner and Head of EMEA & India Investing at SoftBank Vision Fund, as a non-executive director on its board. This appointment is pending shareholder approval, which will be sought at an upcoming Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). 

Juneja's addition to the board will be as SoftBank's nominee director, indicating the investment giant's renewed confidence in Oyo, particularly following the company's recent profitability milestone.

For the financial year 2023-24, Oyo achieved a significant milestone by becoming profitable, recording net earnings of approximately Rs 100 crore. This achievement was announced by Oyo's founder, Ritesh Agarwal, on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).

"SoftBank is demonstrating strong support for Oyo and is keen to bolster the company's international market growth," said an insider who requested anonymity.

Juneja's appointment follows the departure of Munish Varma, SoftBank's former nominee on Oyo's board, who stepped down in September 2021. Since then, SoftBank has not had a representative on Oyo's board.

Currently, Oyo's board comprises founder Ritesh Agarwal, Bejul Somaia from Lightspeed Venture Partners, former Indigo Executive and Akasa Air Co-Founder Aditya Ghosh, Paralympian Dr. Deepa Malik, former Starbucks COO Troy Alstead, and former president of the American Accounting Association W Steve Albrecht.

Sumer Juneja, who joined SoftBank in 2018, has played a pivotal role in establishing its investment presence in India before expanding his responsibilities to oversee activities in EMEA. Prior to his tenure at SoftBank, Juneja was a Partner at Norwest Venture Partners, focusing on growth equity and venture investments in Indian companies across various sectors. He also co-founded Goldman Sachs' Asian Special Situations Group in India. Juneja holds a Bachelor of Science degree in politics and economics from the London School of Economics.