Orange Health announces maiden ESOP buyback worth $1 Mn

Healthtech startup Orange Health has announced its maiden employee stock option plan and equity buyback programme worth $1 million. This is the first ESOP buyback by any Indian startup in the second half of 2022.

According to Orange Health, around 25 existing and former employees are eligible to participate in this ESOP buyback and liquidate part of their vested stock options. 

With this buyback, the company aims to recognize the contribution of employees in enabling its growth in the last 2 years along with driving wealth creation.  

The announcement comes on the heels of a $25 million Series B funding round for the Bengaluru-based startup. Launched in December 2020 by Dhruv Gupta and Tarun Bhambra, Orange Health is an on-demand diagnostic firm that provides at-home sample collection across Bengaluru, Gurugram, Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad. As of now, it claims to have provided diagnostic testing services to over 1 million customers.

Unlike the first half of 2022 where ESOP buybacks were quite frequent, the second half saw only one such event. In June, foodtech giant Swiggy announced a $35-40 million ESOP liquidity program for 2022 and 2023.

As per data compiled by Fintrackr, more than 20 startups have announced ESOP buyback, liquidity or sale worth around $200 million in the first six months of 2022 or H1 2022. Last year, the total buyback was worth around $440 million.