Unacademy launches ₹50 crore Esop buyback after two-year turmoil
₹50 crore employee stock ownership plan (Esop) buyback, offering liquidity to employees at a time when the company’s valuation has fallen significantly below its 2021 peak.“Grateful to the Board for carving out a cash pool for the employees even though the valuation is significantly less than our last fundraise,” co-founder and chief executive Gaurav Munjal said in a post on X on Thursday.The buyback signals an attempt by the company to reward and retain talent after two years of turmoil owing to the founders’ plans to exit the firm.According to Munjal, eight employees will receive over ₹1 crore each under the programme, 17 will receive more than ₹50 lakh, and 38 more than ₹10 lakh.The company will reach out to employees over the coming weeks to facilitate participation, he added.Unacademy had earlier revised its Esop policy to require former employees to exercise vested stock options within 30 days of departure drawing criticism. The company subsequently reinstated its earlier policy, allowing former employees to exercise options for up to 10 years.The Temasek-backed firm has faced a difficult internal environment over the past two years.
In November, upGrad had proposed a share-swap deal valuing Unacademy at $300–400 million, sharply below its $3.4 billion peak valuation in 2021.The talks fell through earlier this month. Separately, upGrad has continued its acquisition strategy and recently acquired a 90% stake in Internshala through a stock transaction.Multiple sales discussions involving Unacademy have failed amid a gap between seller expectations and buyer pricing in a weaker private market.Munjal recently told employees that the company is shutting down company-operated offline centres and transitioning them into
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