Stayzilla to wind up biz following tough competition from rivals

Chennai-based online hotel room aggregator Stayzilla is shutting down operations owing to tougher competition from bigger rivals and a tighter business environment.

The company which started in 2005 and raised about USD 33 million in funding was one of the earliest hotel room aggregators much before GoStays, Oyo Rooms, Airbnb and Treebo entered the market.

In a blog post, Stayzilla CEO and founder Yogi Vasupal wrote this: “I would like to announce today that we would be bringing to a halt the operations of Stayzilla in its current form. This has been one of the toughest decisions that I have taken so far but it is the right thing to do.”Vasupal had started the company as a dropout straight out of college in 2005. “The hardest part is saying goodbye to a perfect team that has accomplished a lot by putting Homestays on the map of India. Whatever and how much ever I write about them is not going to do justice to their commitment,” he wrote.

The company was funded by Nexus Venture Partners, Matrix Partners India, Indian Angel Network, Spice Capital and InnoVen Capital.

Stayzilla is just one of the internet firms to lay off people this year. Others include Snapdeal, Quikr and Ola. As the funding environment becomes tougher, the year 2017 is expected to see more such consolidation in the first half.