Meesho announces $5.5 mln ESOP liquidation programme

E-commerce company Meesho on Friday announced a USD 5.5 million (about Rs 41.1 crore) ESOP liquidation programme, its second such initiative in less than a year. In November last year, the company had announced a USD 5 million ESOP dilution programme.

The latest ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) liquidation programme will be open for all eligible current and former employees with vested stocks. The programme will start in early November and will be completed by December. The company, which has nearly 1,200 full-time employees, did not disclose how many people are expected to be benefitted by the initiative. The development comes close of the heels of a USD 570 million fund raise by Meesho.

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Last month, Meesho had raised its series F round of investment from Fidelity Management and Research Company, B Capital Group, and other new and existing partners like Prosus Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Facebook, growing its valuation to USD 4.9 billion. We continue to see meteoric progress not only as a business but also in our efforts to democratise internet commerce for everyone. Our employees have been at the forefront of driving this momentum, and we want to give them ample opportunities to celebrate and grow with us,” Meesho Founder and CEO Vidit Aatrey said.

He added that as the company hires across the board and scales its tech and product talent by 2.5X, ESOPs will give employees high ownership, while providing more opportunities for wealth creation. Over the last six months, the company has seen 2.8X growth in monthly transacting users and a 2.5X rise in monthly orders. The company now aims to reach 100 million transacting users by December 2022 and increase its roster to over 50 million products.