Esops are a popular tool for wealth creation for Indian startups. However, it is uncommon for companies to undertake such initiatives on a large scale, particularly by uniformly allocating Esops to all employees across all levels. For many employees, this marks their first-ever ESOP allocation.
On the startup’s 10-year journey, cofounder and CEO Harshil Mathur said, “While we’re proud and humbled by how far we’ve come, this 10-year milestone is only the beginning of a much larger journey that lies ahead. The ESOP initiative is our way of ensuring every teammate shares in the success as we continue to innovate, simplify money movement, and create even greater value for businesses in India and beyond.”
Razorpay was among the first early-stage companies to leverage Esops to reward its team. Its first liquidity event through Esop encashment occurred in November 2018 for its 140 employees then. The second Esop sale event occurred in November 2019, during which approximately 400 employees were eligible. In March 2021, it announced its third Esop buyback program worth $10 million (Rs 73 crore) for its 750 employees, and a $75-million buyback in 2022 for 650 current and former employees. The company’s current strength is over 3,000.
Even though the massive Esop pools can appear as ‘wealth on paper’, consumer internet firms have periodically offered employees options to liquidate their holdings. Over a dozen new-age companies have facilitated Esop buybacks this year, including Swiggy, Meesho, Purplle, Urban Company, Whatfix, Pocket FM, Dehaat and MyGate.