MAM
Oyo ramps up advertising spend ahead of Rs 6,650 crore IPO
Marketing outlay jumps as hospitality firm sharpens customer acquisition strategy
MUMBAI: Before knocking on investors’ doors, Oyo is making sure travellers hear the bell first. The hospitality and travel technology company has dramatically stepped up its marketing and advertising investments ahead of its proposed Rs 6,650 crore initial public offering (IPO), signalling an aggressive push to strengthen customer acquisition and brand visibility.
According to Oyo’s updated draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), advertising expenditure surged to Rs 341.9 crore during the first nine months of FY26, eclipsing the company’s annual advertising spends over each of the previous three financial years.
The increase marks a sharp turnaround in spending. Oyo spent Rs 119 crore on advertising in FY23, which fell to Rs 66.4 crore in FY24 and dropped further to Rs 16.98 crore in FY25. In contrast, the company spent more than 20 times its FY25 advertising budget within the first nine months of FY26 alone. Marketing and promotional expenditure also continued its upward trajectory. The company spent Rs 759 crore in FY23, Rs 728.3 crore in FY24 and Rs 910 crore in FY25. During the nine months ended 31 December 2025, that figure climbed to Rs 1,150.6 crore.
In the filing, Oyo said marketing remains a key driver of customer traffic and attributed the higher expenditure to expanding customer acquisition across major markets while increasing paid online advertising across search engines and social media platforms.
The filing comes as Oyo prepares to raise Rs 6,650 crore through a fresh issue of equity shares. Unlike many recent public offerings, the proposed IPO will not include an offer-for-sale (OFS), allowing existing shareholders to retain their holdings.
Major investors including SoftBank’s SVF India Holdings, founder Ritesh Agarwal, RA Hospitality Holdings, Microsoft, Airbnb, Khazanah, Lightspeed, Greenoaks Capital and Peak XV are not expected to dilute their stakes through the public issue.
According to the DRHP, Oyo intends to use Rs 4,987.5 crore from the IPO proceeds to repay or prepay outstanding borrowings, with the balance earmarked for general corporate purposes.
The sharp rise in advertising and marketing expenditure reflects Oyo’s strategy of investing heavily in customer growth before entering the public markets, as it seeks to strengthen its competitive position and present a stronger growth story to prospective investors.
