ShareChat's parent, Mohalla Tech, has added fresh employee stock options for its employees, as per a report by Entrackr. This is part of the existing ESOP plans.
As per the report, a special resolution to add 2,60,000 stock options to the existing plan that will bring the total ESOP pool to 8,46,300 options has been approved by the board. Significantly, at a later time specified in the agreement, each of the 100 stock options will be converted into one (1) equity share.
The intent behind increasing the ESOP pool is to increase employee ownership, and retain, attract, and motivate talent. The newly added ESOPs are valued at Rs 1,017 crore, or $123 million, as per Fintrackr's report.
As of now, Sharechat has raised $1.8 billion from investors that include Alkeon Capital, Moore Strategic Ventures, and Tencent. Recently, in April 2024, the company raised around $49 million from the existing investors in debt. The debt round saw the participation of existing investors, including Lightspeed, HarbourVest, Rimco, Moore Strategic, and Alkeon.
Read: ShareChat Raises $49 Million Via Convertible Debentures From Existing Investors
Similarly, during its latest fundraise, the company unveiled a proposal to quadruple the ESOP ownership of all of its present workers through an organization-wide bonus scheme.
Ankush Sachdeva, CEO and cofounder of ShareChat and Moj, said that their employees have been the single most important force that has been powering 2X revenue growth. Sachdeva said, “We wanted to recognize their efforts and incentivize our teams to continue this momentum and push the company to profitability in the next 4–5 quarters and then to an IPO." We are excited to announce a special bonus grant that will double the total ESOP grant for every employee. We are setting aside an ESOP pool equal to 3.5 per cent of the cap table to be disbursed as bonus grants.”
