The ESOP buyback event by HomeLane was planned as part of its recent Series E round of funding
HomeLane, a Bengaluru-based home interiors firm, has announced the completion of its Rs 27 crore ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) repurchase event. The event was organised as part of IIFL AMC’s Late Stage Tech Fund, Oman India Joint Investment Fund, and Stride Ventures’ $50 million Series E investment round.
The magnitude of the secondary transaction that was part of the deal was not disclosed by the company.
Tanuj Choudhry, co-founder and COO of HomeLane, told YourStory that the buyback event, which was open to both former and present employees, had benefited a double digit number of employees. Active employees could exercise up to 35% of their vested ESOPs, while former employees were given 100% liquidity.
“During the second wave of COVID, discussions about ESOP buybacks were taking place, but only half of the employees, particularly active employees, agreed to sell their vested shares. “Those who sold their shares made 2.5 to 4.5 times the returns they were given, resulting in a significant increase in value,” Tanuj told Yourstory.
HomeLane, which was founded in 2014 by Tanuj and Srikanth Iyer, provides tech-enabled home interiors services in 19 locations through 34 experience centres. ESOPs are often given to mid- to senior-level managers at the organisation.
“A few components of our ESOPs, such as quarterly vesting beyond the one-year cliff, have worked effectively for us.” In addition, 25% of the shares vest each year,” Tanuj explained.
With the buyback, HomeLane joins a select group of firms that have acquired growth capital and held ESOP liquidity events to help employees build wealth. During the calendar year 2021, Indian entrepreneurs spent approximately $220 million on reported ESOP buyback activities, according to Yourstory’s calculations. The figure does not include companies that went public in 2021. Courtesy: www.yourstory.com
