Foodtech major Swiggy has started rolling out the second tranche of its committed ESOP liquidity program worth $50 million. In 2021, the Bengaluru-based firm had announced a two-year ESOP liquidity program for 2022 and 2023.
The first tranche of the ESOP liquidity program was initiated in June last year when the firm allowed its employees to receive liquidity of up to $23 million against their ESOPs. Overall, this is Swiggy’s fourth liquidity event since 2018.
This event will also see eligible employees from Dineout which Swiggy acquired last year participate, the company said in a press release.
Last year, Swiggy took over Times Internet-backed Dinout for an undisclosed sum to mark its foray into table booking. The company integrated Dineout and strengthened its position in Q-commerce with Instamart.
Swiggy joins a handful of companies this year that have been able to exercise ESOP liquidity programs despite tough macroeconomic conditions. As per data compiled by Fintrackr, more than 80 startups have bought back ESOPs worth $1.45 billion since 2020. Last year, 25 startups announced an ESOP buybacks scheme worth some $200 million — a steep fall from $440 million in 2021. In 2020, the value of ESOP buybacks stood at $50 million.
Recently, Walmart-owned Flipkart’s announced $700 million worth ESOP payout for its employees. This was a part of compensation for the loss of value after the PhonePe spin off. While the total value of ESOP buybacks stood at barely $50 million till first half of 2023, two back-to-back ESOP buyback and payout events in Swiggy and Flipkart would restore the confidence among the startup ecosystem which is going through funding winter and mass layoffs.
