Urban Company (Formerly UrbanClap) has announced an employee stock sale programme worth US$5 million (INR 37.5 crore). Under this programme, employees would be given the option to liquidate their vested ESOPs, which would be purchased through a secondary transaction by existing investor Vy Capital.
All existing employees who have vested ESOPs are eligible to participate in the current sale programme. About 180+ employees are eligible to participate in this programme.
The company has also altered the terms of ESOP Scheme 2015 to provide accelerated vesting for options that have been granted on or prior to November 30, 2020, or any other options, granted after November 30, 2020, with the specific approval of the board. According to the company, options granted pursuant to this ESOP 2015 would vest not earlier than one year and not more than five years from the date of grant of such options. This is our third and largest ESOP sale event and re-affirms our commitment towards creating a world-class ESOP programme. The previous two ESOP sale events were held in June 2017 and December 2018 respectively. Additionally, Urban Company’s ESOP programme has very employee friendly terms, such as an exercise price of Re. 1, accelerated vesting, a flat 4-year vesting schedule (25% each year) and an infinite hold period to exercise the ESOPs after the employee leaves the company. Approximately 450 employees or 40% of the company’s full-time staff have ESOPs, from customer service representatives to our SVPs,” says Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Co-founder of Urban Company.
At Urban Company, employees are awarded ESOPs at the time of recruitment, during an appraisal cycle, and as part of various internal recognition programmes. The objective is to provide ownership and economic rewards to those who are contributing to the company’s success and to use it as an instrument to attract and retain top talent.
