Meesho introduces new ESOP plan to include all employees

Social commerce unicorn Meesho has expanded its employee stock option plan (ESOP) under its ‘MeeSOP’ programme.

Under the programme, every full-time employee, irrespective of their tenure in the company or their seniority will be able to convert a maximum of 25 percent of their annual cost to company (CTC) into ESOPs, subject to a minimum of Rs 50,000. ESOPs thus granted, would be greater than 100 percent of the CTC relinquished.

On the fresh initiative, Vidit Aatrey, Founder and CEO, Meesho said, “Our repeated and periodic buybacks ensure our employees continue to grow with us. The MeeSOP programme takes this commitment further, breaking hierarchies to make every employee an owner, and providing more avenues for wealth creation. As we hire more talent, we will continue to provide our team with the means to realise their personal and financial goals with us.”

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According to this unicorn, unlike traditional ESOP plans - the MeeSOP programme is completely inclusive, providing every employee, irrespective of their seniority, to benefit from Meesho’s rapid growth while ensuring 100 percent of the grant is vested by the end of one year. This provides both opportunities and control to opting employees and helps them cash in on Meesho’s frequent ESOP liquidation programmes, it noted.

In October this year, Meesho announced a $5.5 million ESOP liquidity programme for all eligible current and former employees with vested stocks — its second liquidity programme in less than a year. In the same period, the company’s valuation rose 2X time to $4.9 billion after a $570 million Series F fundraise.

This funding round was led by Fidelity Management and Research Company, and B Capital Group. The round also saw participation from existing investors Prosus Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and Facebook. Other new investors include Footpath Ventures, Trifecta Capital, Good Capital, and others.

With an aim to reach 100 million monthly transacting users by December 2022, Meesho expects to utilise the fresh round of funding to grow its technology and product talent by 2.5x, increase its roster to 50+ million products.