Meesho announces its largest ESOP buyback worth Rs 200 Cr

Meesho has announced the initiation of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) buyback program of Rs 200 crore (approximately $25 million), making it the company's largest ESOP buyback pool to date.

This marks the fourth buyback at the horizontal e-commerce unicorn. The company bought back shares worth $1 million in February 2020, $5 million in November 2020 and $5.5 million in October 2021.

The new buyback will benefit around 1,700 past as well as present employees across junior-level executives to senior leadership.

Meesho provides small businesses, which includes SMBs, MSMEs and individual entrepreneurs, access to millions of customers, selection from over 30 categories, pan-India logistics, payment services and customer support capabilities.

The Vidit Aatrey-led company recently announced the launch of Valmo, a full fledged logistics marketplace that allows the network of micro-entrepreneurs to become Meesho logistics partners.

In July 2023, Meesho claimed that it was the first horizontal Indian e-commerce company to turn profitable. Since announcing profitability in July 2023, the company continues to remain profitable and cash flow positive. The company also cut its losses in FY23 by 48% but its revenue spiked 77% year-on-year to Rs 5,735 crore in the last fiscal year.

Recently, community management app MyGate rolled out employee stock buyback program for more than 50 employees. As per data compiled by TheKredible, the total EOSP buyback/payout/liquidity stood at nearly $802 million in 2023. In 2021 and 2022, the buyback amount was recorded at $440 and $200 million respectively.