Udaan announces Rs 175Cr ESOP plan

B2B ecommerce firm Udaan has announced an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) liquidity programme worth about Rs 175 crore.

In an email to employees, Udaan co-founders Amod Malviya, Sujeet Kumar and Vaibhav Gupta said leading investors have shown interest in taking part in Udaan's organisational journey ahead, through a secondary stock buyout programme.

"All active employees who are not serving notice period and who have vested stocks as of March 31, 2021, will be eligible to participate in this programme," the email said.

ALSO READ

Udaan Co-Founder on various challenges across the value chain during lockdown

While details of the investors and the size of the ESOP plan were not disclosed, sources said Catamaran Ventures has invested in Udaan through the secondary route by purchasing employees' stocks.

They added that the size of the ESOP programme was about Rs 175 crore.

"Over the years, our employees have worked relentlessly to transform the way trade is done in the country and empowering businesses of Bharat. We want to take this opportunity to reward our employees for their continuous effort and significant contribution with a meaningful wealth creation opportunity through an ESOP liquidity programme," an Udaan spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Comments from Catamaran could not be immediately ascertained.

In January, Udaan raised $280 million (about Rs 2,048 crore) in funding from investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Tencent, DST Global, GGV Capital, Altimeter Capital, Octahedron Capital and Moonstone Capital. The company, which has raised $1.15 billion in total to date, was valued at over $3 billion post the transaction.

While Udaan did not disclose its GMV numbers, a report by Bernstein stated that the company's GMV was at about $2.1 billion ARR (annual recurring revenue) in December 2020.

GMV is a term used in online retailing to indicate the gross merchandise value of products sold through the marketplace over a certain period.

Udaan -- which has 30 lakh businesses on its platform -- has operations across categories, including lifestyle, electronics, home and kitchen, staples, fruits and vegetables, FMCG, pharma, toys and general merchandise. Of these, 17 lakh are small retailers, including kirana shops, chemist shops, small hotels and restaurants. It has over 2,600 employees on its payrolls.