Social media platform ShareChat on Friday announced its first ESOP buyback program worth $19.1 million (nearly Rs 140 crore). All eligible employees can sell up to 100 percent of their vested ESOPs at their present stock valuation.
Sharechat recently raised over $500 million, taking its valuation to $2.1 billion.
Mohalla Tech, the parent company of short video app Moj and ShareChat, will be the sole buyer in this buyback process, the company said in a statement.
Today, ShareChat and Moj are the category leaders in the social media and short video space transforming the lives of millions of users. This ESOP buyback is our way of giving back to our employees by helping them in their wealth creation journey, – Ankush Sachdeva, CEO, and cofounder, ShareChat.
Nearly 200 existing and former employees with vested options are eligible to participate in this process.
ShareChat said it has also revised the existing vesting schedule.
The new vesting policy will allow all qualified employees to vest 25 percent of ESOPs in the first year, followed by 8.25 per cent every quarter.
In case any employee leaves the organisation, the person gets to keep all the vested options and continues to enjoy the related benefits.
ShareChat currently has over 160 million monthly active users while with the highest active user base, Moj is today the market leader in the Indian short video space.