Pine Labs allots $14 Mn worth ESOPs to its CTO, CFO and a dozen others

Over the years, point of sale (POS) device company Pine Labs has emerged as a wealth creator for its stakeholders. Early backer Sequoia scored a jackpot on its investment in the Delhi-based unicorn. So far, it has offloaded shares worth $180 million to PayPal, MasterCard, Temasek and Madison India.

Several of Pine Labs’ top rung officials including Executive Chairman Lokvir Kapoor, Chief Technology Officer Sanjeev Kumar and Vice-President Rakesh Sharma had raked in around $31 million through a secondary stake sale in May.

While the growth story continues for the company, Pine Labs has rewarded its employees with more stock options this year. Regulatory filings show that the company has allotted 60,430 ordinary shares of Pine Labs’ parent entity to 15 senior executives as ESOPs. 

Fintrackr estimates that the fresh allotment of ESOPs is worth around $13.9 million. CTO Kumar stood out as the largest beneficiary with the allotment of 24,000 shares worth nearly $5.52 million, the filings in Singapore show. 

Arun Sarin, former Vodafone India CEO and a board member of Pine Labs, is the second-largest beneficiary with an allotment of $4.78 million worth ESOPs. Kush Mehra, a chief business officer for over 8 years, received stocks that are valued at $2.07 million.

CFO Sameer Maheshwary has been allotted ESOPs worth $9,10,000. Some existing and former employees were part of the fresh allotment too. 

It’s worth noting that besides Sequoia and the aforementioned top executives, around 85 employees across levels also made money during secondary transactions in the last five years. 

According to Fintrackr’s estimates, Pine Labs was valued north of $1.5 billion by Mastercard in May this year. During its last fundraise, Mastercard Asia Pacific had infused $70 million in Pine Labs via primary stake acquisition while the rest of the $100 million round came via secondary transactions where Sequoia and many individuals diluted their stake. 

Of late, the rate and size of ESOPs allotment have increased. Many growth-stage startups including Paytm, Byju’s, Rivigo, Swiggy and Zomato have allotted fresh ESPOs whereas several firms allowed employees to divest as well. 

On Monday, Entrackr had exclusively reported on hospitality startup Oyo expanding its ESOP pool by adding over Rs 1,053 crore to its employee stock option scheme.