Swiggy, a major player in foodtech, has begun implementing the second phase of its committed $50 million ESOP liquidity program. The company, which has its headquarters in Bengaluru, announced a two-year ESOP liquidity program for 2022 and 2023 in 2021.
When the company permitted its employees to receive liquidity of up to $23 million against their ESOPs in June of last year, the first tranche of the ESOP liquidity program was launched. This is Swiggy’s fourth liquidity event overall since last year.
According to a press release from the company, eligible Dineout employees who Swiggy acquired last year will also take part in this event.
For an undisclosed sum, Swiggy acquired the Times Internet-backed Dinout last year to mark its entry into the table-booking market. By integrating Instamart and Dineout, the company improved its position in Q-commerce.
Swiggy has joined a small group of businesses this year that have successfully used ESOP liquidity programs despite challenging macroeconomic conditions. More than 80 startups have bought back ESOPs worth $1.45 billion since 2020, according to data compiled by a media outlet. A $200 million ESOP buyback program was announced by 25 startups last year; this is a significant decrease from the $440 million in 2021. The amount spent on ESOP buybacks in 2020 was $50 million.
Flipkart, which is owned by Walmart, recently announced an ESOP payout to employees in the amount of $700 million. This served as restitution for the value that had been lost following the PhonePe spin-off. Two consecutive ESOP buyback and payout events at Swiggy and Flipkart would boost confidence in the startup ecosystem, which is experiencing a funding winter and mass layoffs even though the total value of ESOP buybacks was only about $50 million up until the first half of 2023.
