Infosys Approves ₹52 Cr ESOPs for CEO Salil Parekh Amid Pending Wage Hikes

Infosys has approved ₹52 crore worth of ESOPs (restricted stock units) for CEO Salil Parekh as part of his annual performance-linked compensation, even as employee salary hikes for FY27 remain undecided.

Key Details of the ESOP Grant

• Total Value: ~₹52 crore in restricted stock units (RSUs).
• Breakdown: ₹34.75 crore under annual performance equity grant, ₹2 crore linked to ESG targets, ₹5 crore tied to Total Shareholder Return (TSR), ₹10 crore under the 2019 performance plan.
• Vesting Period: 1–2 years, subject to performance milestones.
• Effective Date: May 2, 2026, with units determined by Infosys’ share price before grant date.

Infosys Financial Context

• Q4 FY26 Net Profit: ₹8,501 crore, up 27.8% QoQ.
• Revenue: ₹46,402 crore, up 2% sequentially.
• FY27 Guidance: Revenue growth expected at 1.5%–3.5%.

Employee Salary Hikes

• Status: Decision on FY27 wage hikes is still pending.
• Reason: Infosys CFO Jayesh Sanghrajka cited low-growth environment and pressure on discretionary spending.

Quick Comparison: CEO ESOPs vs Employee Hikes

Aspect	CEO (Salil Parekh)	Employees (FY27)
Grant Value	₹52 crore RSUs	Pending decision
Structure	Performance-linked (ESG, TSR, equity grants)	Salary hikes under review
Vesting Period	1–2 years	N/A
Status	Approved (effective May 2, 2026)	Not finalized

🔎 Sources

• Moneycontrol
• Economic Times

Tech Mahindra Allots 59,082 Equity Shares Under ESOP

Tech Mahindra has recently allotted 59,082 equity shares under its Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP). This allotment was approved by the Securities Allotment Committee of the Board of Directors on August 14, 2024.

ESOPs are a great way for companies to reward and retain their employees by giving them a stake in the company's growth.

As of August 16, 2024, Tech Mahindra’s stock is performing quite well. With current price of ₹1,585.00, Tech Mahindra has Market Cap of ₹1.49 trillion and Dividend Yield of 2.62%.

Earlier in last month (July 13, 2024), Tech Mahindra allotted 44,605 equity shares under its ESOP. 

These allotments are part of Tech Mahindra's ongoing efforts to reward and retain its employees by giving them a stake in the company's growth.

Tech Mahindra determines ESOP (Employee Stock Option Plan) allotments based on several factors. High-performing employees are often rewarded with ESOPs as part of their compensation package. This incentivizes employees to contribute to the company’s success. The number of options allotted can depend on the employee’s role and seniority within the company. Senior executives and key personnel typically receive more substantial allotments.

The stocks of Tech Mahindra has been on an upward trend, reaching new highs and outperforming its sector. This positive performance reflects strong investor confidence and the company’s robust financial health.

The rollout of 5G technology is a significant growth driver for Tech Mahindra as the IT company is heavily investing in 5G solutions, which are expected to unlock new innovations and growth avenues.

The demand for digital transformation services continues to rise. Tech Mahindra is focusing on areas like cloud computing, AI, and blockchain to help businesses modernize their operations.

Earlier, Infosys has allotted 1,33,180 equity shares to eligible employees under the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) on June 14, 2024.

Infosys Allots 1.33 Lakh Equity Shares Under ESOPs

Infosys has allotted 1,33,180 equity shares to eligible employees under the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) on June 14, 2024. This move is part of the company's efforts to reward and incentivize its workforce. Following this allotment, the issued and subscribed share capital of Infosys has been adjusted accordingly.

Earlier in May, Infosys had allotted more than 6.57 lakh equity shares to top-performing employees under two different schemes. These allotments reflect the company's commitment to expanding employee ownership and recognizing their contributions to the company's success.

Infosys has a well-documented ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) program that aims to incentivize and retain key talent by expanding employee ownership within the company. The ESOP program is performance-based and is designed to align the interests of the employees with those of the shareholders, driving execution excellence and competitive business growth.

To increase shareholder value and incentivize, retain, and attract key talent. The allotment of ESOPs is based on certain performance parameters that are aimed at driving business strategy execution and creating shareholder value. The program is not just for top-level executives but has been expanded to benefit lower-level staff as well.

Infosys has a history of granting ESOPs to its employees, including a significant allotment after a gap of 13 Years.

The ESOPs are typically granted in the form of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) and come with certain terms and conditions, including vesting periods and performance criteria. Employees who are granted ESOPs can become shareholders of Infosys and benefit from the company's growth and success.

In A First, Zypp Electric Empowers Its Employees with INR 1.5 Cr ESOP Buyback

Akash Gupta (Co-Founder & CEO), Zypp Electric announced ESOPs for Ramsevak, their office boy, in their recent townhall and even announced the same on his Insta channel (KaashSeAkash)

Around INR 1.5 Crore was allocated to 15 employees who have an old association with the company

The company also extended ESOP benefits to the office boy, Ramsevak, a long-term associate within Zypp

Zypp Electric, India’s leading tech-enabled EV-as-a-Service platform, recently announced its first Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) buyback, allocating around INR 1.5 Crore to 15 dedicated employees who have been associated more than a year of service within the company. This initiative is a step further toward the company's commitment to empowering its workforce and fostering a culture of shared success. Zypp Electric is the first company in the EV segment to offer ESOP buybacks in India.

In the current liquidation, 20% potential is realized with an intent to nurture many millionaires in the journey. This has led to many more employees have come forward to avail ESOP opportunities, showing their commitment to establishing a long-term association with the company and benefitting from its growth. Zypp Electric has also extended ESOP benefits to Ramsevak, a long-term office boy, a testament to their inclusive approach.

Akash Gupta, Co-founder & CEO, Zypp Electric said, "This is like the realization of a long-term personal dream and an accolade to our ambitious journey. I have always been selling ESOPs within the team, however as expected it had few takers on the concept. This realization of the monetary value of ESOPs amidst employees was to make them feel the power of this amazing wealth-creation tool. We aim to continue such initiatives even in future and it's just the beginning. Making millionaires is a dream I see and it is equally important for me to ensure that my team members achieve prosperity as we foray into building the EV revolution, eventually vesting our employees with financial benefits linked to the company's achievements. We believe every team member plays a crucial role in our success, and this ESOP buyback is a step towards ensuring their well-deserved share in the company's growth. Employees have realized the value of up to INR 50 Lacs individually."

The employees at Zypp Electric appreciated this initiative of rewarding their dedication and loyalty towards the company. They expressed it further strengthened their association with the company, motivating them to contribute to its continued growth and success.

Commenting on the company’s progressive initiative, Vishwajeet Singh, AVP, Marketing & Design, Zypp Electric, said, “I’ve been associated with Zypp Electric from its first day and have experienced growth of the company closer than anyone. It’s great to have liquidity coming in as a reward for diligence and motivation for tenure ahead. I’m sure this will motivate other team members and become an example of how ESOPs can be an opportunity for wealth creation along with value creation.”

Speaking about his association and rewarding experience with the company, Sumit Raina, AGM, Business Development, Zypp Electric, said, “A much-appreciated step by the company to reward the loyalty and hard work of the team members. I am about to complete 5 years with Zypp Electric, and this liquidation was exciting for me. I believe this is just the beginning, more is yet to come and more talents will join this journey.”Zypp Electric India’s Leading Tech-Enabled EV-as-a-Service platform, founded in 2017 with a Mission of Zero Emission and to make India carbon-free by using an ecosystem of Electric Vehicles and EV-based technology to make last-mile logistics sustainable and emission-free.

Zypp Electric's business model is to make carbon-free last-mile delivery for local merchants from e-commerce giants to delivery executives and thereby reduce delivery cost and pollution on an asset-light model. The company currently delivers groceries, medicines, food, and e-commerce packages from point A to point B through their fully automated IoT and AI-enabled scooters which are low on maintenance and high on performance. The technology tracks batteries that can be replaced at Zypp swapping stations which are installed at key touchpoints. Eco-friendly EV services also reduce the cost per delivery and help to make the city pollution-free. Currently, it has over 16,000+ (as of June 2023) and increasing Zypp EVs and pilots (delivery executives) working towards this mission.

Yellow.ai Rolls Out $43 Mn in ESOPs, Democratising Wealth Creation for its Global Workforce

Yellow.ai rolls out USD 43 million in ESOPs, democratising wealth creation for its global workforce

Program rolled out with the aim of creating wealth and long-term value for employees

Yellow.ai, a leading enterprise-grade Conversational AI platform trusted by 1000+ enterprises globally, today announced the roll out of its ESOPs program for its global workforce, worth USD 43 million.

With this initiative, Yellow.ai aims to empower its employees, irrespective of their tenure in the company or their designations, to create wealth in line with the business growth. The focus is to promote collective success by ensuring that employees think about long-term value and wealth creation for themselves, customers, and for Yellow.ai. Along with a very competitive ESOP plan, Yellow.ai is providing maximum flexibility to its employees by extending quarterly vesting post a one-year cliff period.

Commenting on the ESOP roll out, Raghu Ravinutala, CEO and Co-founder, Yellow.ai, said, “Yellow.ai is witnessing exponential growth globally and our employees have played a pivotal role in achieving this. Taking our commitment to be an employee-first organisation further, we are democratising wealth creation for our employees to recognise their valuable contribution to this upward journey. At the same time, we aim to empower our employees to achieve their personal goals and contribute to the company’s business goals. We are confident that this will help drive further accountability, hire the right talent, create wealth for our employees, and implement our long-term vision more effectively.”

As a Great Place To Work certified organisation, Yellow.ai continues to stay committed to its goal of creating a people-first culture where its employees get the best support to achieve personal and professional milestones. With physical, financial, and emotional well-being as its top priority, the company is actively investing in a myriad of activities such as focus-learning weeks, no-meeting Fridays, group challenges including photography contests and fitness challenges, and partnerships with best-in-class partners for health insurance and other benefits catering to physical and mental wellness. For instance, the company recently partnered with Cult.fit for a year-long membership where Yellow.ai employees have access to Cult Centres and Live Classes across India. The ESOP program is a part of its 360-degree experience initiative that holistically focuses on wellness, learning & development, rewards & recognition, and employee wealth creation options, generating true moments of delight for its employees.

Neeru Mehta, Chief Human Resource Officer, Yellow.ai also added, “We are committed to creating the best opportunities for our current employees and attract future talent that will bolster Yellow.ai’s position as a market leader. In the face of complex global shifts such as the Great Resignation and the Great Reshuffle, adopting a people-first approach is crucial today, and we are proud to launch an employee centric programme that not only accelerates growth but makes it easier for employees to be part of the journey too.”

Commenting on this, an employee at Yellow.ai Apoorva Shrivastava, Product Manager said, “I was asked if I wanted more salary or equivalent ESOPs, and I went with the latter, of course. I truly believe in the product and w, ant to participate in the growth of the company. I have always felt like Yellow.ai is my company, and this ESOPs initiative just makes this belief stronger.”

With a 900+ global workforce, Yellow.ai is looking to touch the 1000 employee mark by the end of this year. Recording a 3X YoY growth, the company is exponentially expanding across Australia, Japan, Africa, Latin America, the US, UK, and Europe markets while strengthening its presence in India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.

About Yellow.ai

Yellow.ai is an enterprise-grade Conversational AI Platform, enabling enterprises to make every conversation fulfilling and delightful for customers and employees. The platform is trusted across 85+ countries by 1000+ enterprises, including Domino’s, Sephora, Hyundai, MG Motors, Bajaj Finserv, Food Panda, Bharat Petroleum, Waste Connections US and Tata. Powered by Dynamic AI agents for enterprises, the company aims to deliver human-like interactions that boost customer satisfaction and increase employee engagement at scale, through its no-code platform. Recognised by Frost & Sullivan, Gartner, Forrester, IDC, and G2 as a leader, the company has raised more than $102M from blue-chip investors and has offices across six countries.

Visit www.yellow.ai for more information. Contact us at contact@yellow.ai

Spinny Announces Stock Option Plan For All

Spinny, a used car retailing platform in India, announces the launch of Spinny - Stock Option Plan for all team members

The ESOPs pool was constituted to ensure that team members are rewarded for their belief in Spinny’s vision, and relentless hard work that goes behind turning the vision into reality. Spinny’s belief from the beginning is to build an institution that earns trust by providing complete transparency and a standard car buying and selling experience to each of its customers. It is imperative to nurture a working culture that inspires each team member to do the best work and have a say in all internal processes and decisions with a shared ownership approach in the truest sense

Imbibing the above philosophy into our reward system, all team members would be eligible to receive stocks through the Spinny Stock Option Plan for All.

Commenting on this development, Niraj Singh, Founder & CEO, Spinny said “Since the inception, we have focussed on nurturing a healthy working environment and a robust value system where we work to build a trusted relationship amongst all team members. Our reward philosophy is centered around modern thinking fuelled by compassion, team-work, and shared ownership. Nothing is more important to us than bringing the right solutions for our customers and creating value for the team members."

In December 2021, company had facilitated 1st ESOP buyback and total value of the buyback was $12M. Lot of early team members even from the entry-level blue-collar roles were able to generate handsome cash and purchased their own houses etc. This encouraged the company to come up with ESOP for all policy irrespective of role and designation of any team member.

Aside from ESOP for all, the company has also implemented a few other employee-friendly benefits in the recent past, such as the Spinny Education Sponsorship Program, which provides education assistance to employees seeking higher education to advance their careers, salary advances and loans. The company provides Flexi Basket Policy, Employee Referral Policy, Parental Medical Insurance Policy, Group Personal Accident Policy, and Term Life Insurance.

Additionally, they offer free specialised doctor consultations & mental wellness sessions at their employee assistance program. 

Founded in 2015, Spinny is a used car retailing platform that aims to bring about transparency and convenience in the car buying and selling process in India. Spinny operates across the entire value chain of used cars, embedding superior technology and processes to deliver a premium experience to customers.

As a testimony of Spinny’s commitment to transparency and quality, every car on the Spinny platform comes with a 200-point inspection checklist, 5-day no questions asked money-back guarantee and 1-year after-sales warranty. Spinny has 36 car hubs and is operational in 22 cities, including Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Chandigarh, and Indore, among others. Last year, Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar partnered with Spinny as a strategic investor and a lead brand ambassador. Sports icon, PV Sindhu, a believer, and customer of Spinny, is also a part of the series of marketing initiatives focused on realizing the aspirations of a billion car dreams.

Edtech Unicorn LEAD Announces ESOP Liquidation Plan of USD 3 Million

India’s foremost School EdTech Unicorn, LEAD, announced an ESOP Liquidation Plan of close to USD 3 million for its employees. The announcement comes at a time when LEAD is aiming to move towards a high growth trajectory post the recent Series E Fundraise of $100 million led by WestBridge Capital with participation from GSV Ventures. The company attained Unicorn status with this funding at a valuation of $1.1 billion, making it India’s first Edtech Unicorn of 2022.

LEAD is known to have a more broad based ESOP approach with close to 20% of its employees owning ESOPs. It has in the past awarded generous performance ESOPs to reward employees for their results. The current ESOP liquidation plan is a significant opportunity given that LEAD's valuation has doubled in the last nine months on the back of solid growth in its operating and financial metrics.

LEAD Cofounder & CEO, Sumeet Mehta said, “Our success would not have been possible without the relentless efforts of our teams. I'm delighted that we are in a position to offer significant wealth creation opportunities to those who have joined us on our mission to provide an excellent education to every child. We have also included our Alumni in the Liquidation Plan because they continue to remain ambassadors of LEAD.”

Sumeet Mehta CEO and Co-founder LEAD

LEAD has created a niche for itself in the EdTech industry over the years by transforming core schooling in India with its innovative full-stack School EdTech solutions. Over the years, LEAD has been making international standard education accessible and affordable to students, especially in non-metro cities. The curriculum in a LEAD Powered School is at par with the best in the world, including schools in Singapore, Canada, and the USA.

The company envisions transforming the lives of 25 million students in 60,000 schools by 2026 through School EdTech.

About LEAD

LEAD is India's foremost player in the School EdTech category promoted by Leadership Boulevard. LEAD was started in 2012 by Sumeet Mehta and Smita Deorah, with the mission to transform school education in India. It combines technology, curriculum, and pedagogy into an integrated system of teaching and learning, thus improving student learning outcomes and teacher performance in schools across the country. 

Today, LEAD serves 3000+ schools across 400+ cities, reaches 1.2 million+ students, and empowers 25k plus teachers. LEAD's innovative and highly-effective Integrated Learning System significantly strengthens the role of schools, teachers, and parents in advancing the overall growth and development of every child by providing quality education.

Trell Concludes ESOP Buyback Worth 12 Cr

Bengaluru-headquartered Trell, India’s largest lifestyle social commerce platform, has concluded an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) buyback option for its employees worth 12Cr. The team, which has grown from 50 to 700+ members strong since the pandemic began, witnessed massive growth and scale on its influencer-led social commerce platform in 2021.

The initiative demonstrates the company's dedication to the concept of inclusive growth, in which every employee feels valued and motivated to excel in their area of expertise and empower them to play an important role in the company’s shared future.

Speaking on the latest ESOP plan, Pulkit Agrawal, Co-Founder, and CEO of Trell, said, “Our people have stood with us during the most unprecedented times and their continuous support made this possible today. Their conviction and unwavering efforts have fueled our exponential growth; making Trell the largest and fastest-growing social commerce platform in the country. This is only but a small gesture of gratitude for the team by assisting them in their wealth-creation journey, while they are having a tremendous positive influence in the ecosystem with their contributions at Trell”

Trell’s 4-year growth trajectory has been nothing short of remarkable. Today, Trell has 60 million+ Monthly Active Users (MAU) and offers content in multiple categories across 12 languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Kannada, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Punjabi and English. The platform has raised more than USD 62 million from marquee investors such as Mirae Asset, H&M Group, Samsung Ventures, LB investments among others.

About Trell

Trell is India's largest lifestyle social commerce platform; enabling millions of Indians to create and consume relevant and meaningful content across categories like Fashion, Beauty, DIY, Health & Wellness, Movies & TV reviews, Food, Travel and many more in 12 regional languages. The platform has grown rapidly and has 100 million+ downloads and 60 million+ monthly active users. In August 2020, Trell launched ‘Shop’ section, marking its foray into the social commerce segment, and has 1000+ brands in beauty, wellness, fashion, and mom & baby care categories.

Honasa, the Parent of Mamaearth and The Derma Co, Announces Stock Options for All Employees

The partnership program will give stock-based value creation to 100% employees

Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. (HCPL), parent company of Mamaearth and The Derma Co. and the fastest growing House of Brands for personal care, announced stock-based value creation under the Stock Appreciation Rights Program for all employees.

HCPL has enabled the wealth creation program for all employees and has distributed stocks worth 20Cr., in addition to the ESOPs previously allocated. The stock-based value creation will be a top-up component over and beyond the employee CTC, setting the HCPL program apart from the industry programs.

Through this partnership program, Honasa facilitates every employee with ownership and inclusivity. This initiative aims to ensures all employees, irrespective of their role, seniority and time spent in the origination, has a stake in the organization and enables value creation for everyone as the organization grows.

Along with all current employees, the company will provide the stock appreciation rights to all the future employees joining the organization going forward.

Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. has established itself as a beacon of pride, trust, and honesty and was recently certified by ‘Great Place to Work’. The prestigious award is based entirely on what the current employees say about their experience working with the organization. With a trust index of 88 percent, this was the second consecutive year of this certification.

Commenting on the program, Varun Alagh, Co-Founder and CEO, Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. said,” Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. has experienced meteoric growth over the last 5 years, and we wanted our team to grow along with the company. Unlike some programs which require employees to contribute a part of their CTC as investment towards stock options, we have made this as a top-up component, beyond the CTC. We want the employees to have equal chance to participate in any upcoming liquidation opportunity to build their personal wealth portfolio.”

ABOUT HONASA CONSUMER PVT LTD

Honasa Consumer Pvt Limited (HCPL), is a digital-first consumer brands company creating the FMCG conglomerate of the future. A company built on the values of Honesty, Natural ingredients and Safe care, HCPL caters to the needs of millennial consumers through innovative products, evolved propositions, direct to consumer marketing, and e-commerce fulfillment. Currently catering to over 500 cities in India with brands like Mamaearth & The Derma Co., HCPL is building an ecosystem that helps benefit the consumers and community at large. Backed by Sequoia Capital India, Fireside Ventures, Stellaris Venture Partners, and Sharrp Ventures, HCPL is set to become a billion-dollar FMCG conglomerate in the next 5 years — spread across the globe but connected through a digital center of excellence.

Netcore Reinforces Employee-Centricity with Blockbuster ESOP Buyback Plan

Netcore Solutions Private Limited, a pioneer in SaaS-based Multi-Channel Marketing Automation and Personalisation, today announced the completion of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) buyback for its past and existing employees.

Employees were given the opportunity to encash a major portion of their stock options. This buyback exercise has been a welcome wealth creation opportunity for Netcore employees, boosting personal liquidity and employee morale. The buyback saw a return of upto 250 times for employees, depending on the price at which they were given the options. In a parallel exercise, Netcore’s holding company also completed a buyback scheme of shares held by current and ex-employees.

This extremely rare buyback scheme, particularly in the SaaS space, has delivered one of the largest returns ever seen in the history of private companies in India. It also reinforces Netcore’s stance on employees being equal stakeholders in Netcore’s evolving growth story.

Kalpit Jain, Group CEO of Netcore Solutions, stated, “Netcore has built a unique growth model centred around 3 elements: profitable growth, long-term focus, and extreme employee-centricity. These three aspects have enabled us to create a high-growth, high-performance organisation which has consistently delivered exceptional value to all our stakeholders, including our employees."

Added Kalpit, “Being profitable for the past 10 years, Netcore is 25% owned by its employees. While every company has to be customer-centric to thrive, there are few that are employee-centric at this scale – both in terms of ownership in the company and delivering wealth creation. We aim to continue to grow our email and marketing automation business globally by 30-40% in the years to come, thus continuing to deliver high returns to our employees."

He concluded by saying “Netcore is driven by long-term objectives and exhibits an ‘infinite mindset’, a concept underscored by management guru, Simon Sinek."

About Netcore Solutions 

Netcore Solutions is a global Marketing Technology company that offers solutions to help brands and enterprises in customer acquisition, engagement, and retention. The first and leading Marketing Automation, Analytics and AI/ML solutions provider in India, Netcore was established in 1998 by Rajesh Jain, an Internet pioneer. Netcore’s product suite includes Smartech and Pepipost. Smartech is an AI-powered growth marketing platform. Pepipost is an API based Email delivery platform.

Netcore serves a strong base of 5000+ enterprises across industry verticals, like Thomas Cook, GoAir, Cleartrip, HDFC, Kotak, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, MakeMyTrip, Lenskart, Swiggy, Myntra, Dream11, Reliance, Vodafone, ITC, OLA, Pfizer along with International brands PizzaHut Malaysia, Malindo Air, Philippine Airlines, Seek Asia, Tokopedia, Standard Chartered, FCMB, GT Bank and many more. Netcore with its innovative marketing technology, delivers 8+ Billion emails & 3+ Billion SMS’s a month, creating 11+ Billion Customer Connects monthly and handles 50+ Billion Events a month. Netcore is headquartered in Mumbai, India with offices in SEA, USA, MEA and an employee base of 550+.

Digital Tech Firm TO THE NEW offers ESOPs to All Employees Post 1 Yr Completion

TO THE NEW, a leading digital technology company, widely acknowledged for consistently contributing to its employees’ (internally referred to as ‘Newers’) growth and welfare, has announced its employee stock option scheme. As per the scheme, the company will provide stock options to all Newers who complete 1 year with the company.

Another distinct feature of the employee stock option scheme is that it allows option holders to apply for cash settlement of their vested options -- within the employment period or at the time of separation.

As per the projections, the company expects to continue its CAGR of around 50% and plans to go public once it hits the annual revenue run-rate of US$ 100 million in 2022.

With its innovative ESOP, TO THE NEW aims to promote inclusivity and incentivize everybody towards their contribution to the growth of the company.

TO THE NEW has also been a regular feature on the list of Great Place to Work in India and has been awarded:

• Top 100 Great Place to Work-Certified - Large-Size Workplaces - 2019


• India’s Top 50 Great Mid-Size Workplaces – 2018


• India's Best Workplaces in IT & IT-BPM- 2018


• India’s Top 50 Great Mid-Size Workplaces – 2017


• India’s Top 50 IT-BPM Companies – 2015

 

Satya Sharma, CHRO & Co-founder, TO THE NEW, stated, “We are really excited to roll-out the Employee Stock Option Plan and believe that it will not only reward our people for their contribution but will also enhance the sense of ownership and belonging.”

Deepak Mittal, CEO & Co-founder of the company, stated, “Our people are our most important stakeholders. We are always trying to improve & upgrade the facilities & benefits that we offer and hence we enhance our benefits program on a continuous basis. We are glad to roll-out our Employee Stock Option plan that will help us share the wealth with everyone at TO THE NEW.”

TO THE NEW provides end-to-end product engineering services. TO THE NEW leverages the power of experience design, cutting-edge engineering and cloud to build disruptive web and mobile products and enable digital transformation for businesses across the US, UK, Europe, Middle East, Asia, and India.

TO THE NEW practices agile methodologies to develop innovative products with a faster time to market. With a team of 1000+ passionate technologists, TO THE NEW constantly challenges the status quo to empower Fortune 500 companies as well as startups across the globe.

In the last FY, TO THE NEW has witnessed 55% growth and aims at targeting multi-fold growth in the coming few years.

How A Startup's ESOP Made Its Peon A Millionaire

Shyam Kumar's story is the quintessential rags to riches story. From a 10×10 room in a slum in Mumbai suburbs to a 1 BHK rented flat in Mumbai. From earning a salary of rupees 8000 per month to 5 million, Kumar couldn't have ever imaged that his loyalty towards his employer of seven years would earn him such fortunes.

Kumar is a 42-yr-old peon working in Mumbai-based mobile wallet startup Citrus Pay since its inception in the year 2010. Last year, the startup struck gold when it was sold to PayU, the payments subsidiary of South Africa’s Naspers, making millionaires out of many of its employees. Kumar was one of these 15 employees.

A school-dropout, Kumar couldn't even land a steady job before he joined Citrus Pay. His driver brother's banker boss who was a close friend of Citrus Pay founder Jitendra Gupta helped Kumar in landing the job as a peon. Back then, Gupta was just into the initial stages of setting up the startup and Kumar was one of the first employee to be signed up for the company's employee stock ownership plan [ESOP]. Even though Kumar didn't fully understand what this meant, but he did grasp that this might be beneficial for him in the future.

For the uninitiated, an ESOP is a qualified defined-contribution employee benefit (ERISA) plan designed to invest primarily in the stock of the sponsoring employer. According to investopedia, ESOPs are "qualified" in the sense that the ESOP's sponsoring company, the selling shareholder and participants receive various tax benefits. ESOPs are often used as a corporate finance strategy and as means to align employees' interest with those of the company's shareholders.

When Citruspay got acquired last year, its CEO personally called Kumar and shared the news of him getting 5 million for his stake in the company. At that time, neither Kumar nor his wife could believe the news. But when Rs 2.6 million of the 5 million appeared in Kumar’s bank account on Nov. 30, that is when it finally sink in.

Currently, Kumar is planning to buy a new house in outskirts of Mumbai. He also plans to take his family for a much-deserved vacation time very soon, preferably to Goa.