In a blog post on Monday, July 24th, the foodtech giant Swiggy announced the launch of the second tranche of its committed Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) liquidity programme valued at $50 million.
Under the planned liquidity programme, Swiggy employees, including those from Dineout, which was acquired by Swiggy last year, will have the opportunity to avail liquidity of up to $50 million against their Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOPs). It is estimated that over 2,000 employees will be eligible to participate in this programme.
Swiggy had introduced the ESOP liquidity programme back in 2021, and as of 2023, it has completed two tranches. The first tranche was launched in June 2022, with a value of $23 million, and it provided benefits to approximately 900 employees. This marks Swiggy’s fourth liquidity event since 2018.
Girish Menon, Head of HR at Swiggy, said, “Two years ago, Swiggy announced a one-of-its-kind ESOP program to enable consistent wealth creation for employees through two distinct liquidity events in 2022 and 2023.”
“Our team is Swiggy’s most valuable asset, and we are happy that macroeconomic conditions notwithstanding, we’re able to keep our commitment of sharing Swiggy’s success and growth through these wealth creation opportunities,” he added.
As of March 2023, the foodtech giant revealed that it achieved EBITDA positivity in its food delivery business. Additionally, Swiggy announced the successful integration of Dineout with its main product.
Read More: Swiggy’s strategic initiatives pay off as food delivery business turns profitable
Swiggy also entered India’s food and grocery retail market by venturing into an acquisition deal with LYNK Logistics, a well-known FMCG retail distribution company. Retaining its autonomy, LYNK will continue to operate independently post-acquisition. The company plays a pivotal role in facilitating the growth of FMCG brands by providing access to its vast network of over 100,000 retail stores situated across eight prominent cities in India.
Read More: Swiggy acquires LYNK Logistics to tap into lucrative food and grocery retail market
“With this acquisition, Swiggy enters India’s food and grocery retail market, which is amongst the world’s largest and fastest-growing, estimated to be more than $570 Bn in size and expected to grow at 8% year-on-year,” the company said.
The ESOP liquidity initiative introduced by Swiggy emerges amidst a trend of prominent startups facilitating wealth generation opportunities for their employees.
One notable example is Flipkart, which is distributing $700 Mn among its numerous employees. Some employees who hold ESOPs (Employee Stock Ownership Plans) at the e-commerce giant are eligible for this payout due to the separation of fintech decacorn PhonePe from Flipkart. As a result of this separation, the value of the ESOPs has experienced a significant surge, prompting Flipkart to initiate the payout to eligible employees.
During the previous week, Paytm, the fintech giant, granted an additional 1.7 million ESOPs as part of its ESOP program, which was originally introduced in 2019.