Olive by Embassy, a multi-brand hospitality tech operating platform within the Embassy real estate group, is targeting profitability by the first quarter of the calendar year 2024.
Speaking to businessline, Kahraman Yigit, co-founder and CEO of Olive by Embassy, explained how the brand, which started as a co-living brand, is now transitioning to a full-fledged hospitality wing of the Embassy.
“We’ll have service departments, budget hotels, mid-segment hotels, vacation rentals, and villas, which we already have in Goa. And then we’re looking to launch a four-star hotel brand ourselves,” he explained.
Currently, it runs four brands — Olive Life, Olive Zip, Olive Hotel, and Villas by Olive — ranging from co-living and budget stays to luxury resorts, hotels, and villas.
Additionally, it has recently developed its first built-to-suit project in Bengaluru, designed by Olive’s core design philosophy, keeping in mind that it delivers both the comfort of the home as well as the flexibility of a hotel. The company is exploring more such properties to launch in the future. “And our first built-to-suit project will be going live in the coming weeks,” he added.
Growth potential
Explaining the substantial growth potential in the Indian market, Yigit drew parallels from the US where there are 5 million hotel rooms for a population of 300 million, while in India, there are only 1.5–1.6 million branded rooms for a population of 1.4 billion. “This vast opportunity for expansion underscores the company’s ambitious plans.”
The company currently operates in two cities, Bengaluru and Goa, with 1,764 keys and is aiming to add another 4,485 keys within the next 6–12 months, including entry into new markets including Mumbai and Hyderabad. “These are the secured pipelines, which are under construction or refurbishment. So, in the next couple of months, most of these are going live.”
Yigit also noted that Olive has successfully established itself as a hotspot in the cities where it operates, with approximately 900 rooms currently in operation and nearly 1,500 guests staying with them nightly. The company claims to be on a profitable trajectory on paper and anticipates reaching profitability soon, emphasising that a substantial number of beds isn’t a prerequisite for success in this industry.
In terms of financial performance, Olive reports an annual top-line revenue ranging from ₹50-60 crore, with a projected revenue of approximately ₹135 crore based on secured or signed business in their pipeline. “Our target is to achieve Rs. 500 crore of turnover across our portfolio with the launch of new and signed projects in the upcoming pipeline,” noted the CEO.
Moreover, the forthcoming launches will necessitate an expansion of their workforce, increasing their employee base from around 250 at present to 400.