PhonePe is going to launch ESOPs for its 2,200 employees. The $200 million Stock Option Plan gives every PhonePe employee the chance to own a part of the company and benefit from its success. Mobile Premier League, Wakefit, ShareChat and Licious are some of the other start-ups which have recently announced ESOPs.
Fintech major PhonePe has allotted stock options worth USD 200 million (about Rs 1,458.6 crore) to its 2,200 employees, a month after the company was partially spun off from Flipkart. In December, Flipkart had announced the partial spin-off of PhonePe, as the digital payment firm had raised USD 700 million in funding, valuing it at $5.5 billion.
PhonePe, valued at $5.5 billion, has so far raised $1.6 billion including $700 million it received from Walmart and other existing Flipkart investors and another round of around $20.3 million in December 2020 from its Singapore-based parent company PhonePe Private Limited earlier known as Flipkart Payments Private Limited.
PhonePe remains among the leading UPI players in the country. The company processed 868.4 million transactions worth over Rs 1.75 lakh crore in November, according to NPCI data, in comparison to 960.02 million transactions worth more than Rs 1.61 lakh crore done on Google Pay.
In January 2021, we launched the PhonePe Stock Option Plan that gives every PhonePe employee the chance to own a part of the company. The $200 mn plan allotted stock options to all 2,200 employees at PhonePe, enabling everyone in the organisation to benefit from its success,” said Manmeet Sandhu, HR Head, PhonePe.
“The PhonePe Stock Option Plan is a core component of our compensation philosophy crafted to encourage collaboration, long-term focus and organisation-first thinking. PhonePe is on a mission to use technology as a transformational force that is making financial inclusion real for every Indian. We believe when money and services flow freely, everyone progresses,” said Manmeet Sandhu, Chief People Officer, PhonePe.
Typically, ESOPs are granted based on seniority, and within certain roles viewed as critical for the company. This ESOP comes soon after PhonePe was spun-off from Flipkart as a separate entity at a valuation of $5.5 billion in December 2020. PhonePe said it has issued a minimum ESOP of $5,000 (over Rs 3 lakh) to every employee. For startups, ESOPs are a tool to attract talent as they can later sell these shares at a potentially higher value if the company goes public or buys back shares.
Proud to report that ALL 2200+ full time employees at @PhonePe_ own ESOPs in the company now.
1500 Crores worth of ESOPs issued overall. Incredibly emotional and gratifying moment for @rahulchari9 and myself as founders. Shared wealth creation feels awesome. Karte Ja Badhte Ja! https://t.co/wH2vK3xxAz— Sameer.Nigam (@_sameernigam) February 4, 2021