Bizongo, the B2B e-commerce and supply chain enablement platform has completed its first Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) monetisation programme worth $3.7 million. Although 102 of its former and present employees were eligible for the buyback, only 70 per cent of them chose to liquidate ESOPs from the pool worth $4.8 million.
The startup aimed to help create wealth for its employees and reap the benefits of the growth the Company witnessed in 2021.
Those who participated were able to generate a significant amount of money and build a second source of income and plan their finances better.
The stock ownerships plan has been a part of the Company’s talent-welfare programme strategy right from the beginning and has been offered to employees across levels at various stages of their employee life cycle, in the form of bonuses and rewards.
Ankit Tomar, co-founder and CTO, Bizongo, admits that “our employees are an invaluable asset and partners, who have helped us achieve newer heights and remain profitable even during the pandemic” and that “this ESOP repurchase is our little way of sharing our success and growth with all who have been a part of Bizongo’s journey so far”.
He acknowledges that Bizongo’s success is a “direct outcome of the hard work and dedication of CULTivators (Bizongo employees, who together form the organisational culture – CULT).”
Bizongo, which was launched in 2015, recently raised funds to the tune of $110 million in a Series D round, making it a soonicorn.
Meanwhile, Axio Biosolutions, has also completed an ESOP buyback programme for employees worth half a million dollars. About 40 per cent of its workforce had been granted ESOPs when the ESOP plan was launched in 2017.
The Indian integrated woundcare company rolled out the buyback programme following a Series B2 funding round last year, wherein it raised $6 million.
Axio’s current and ex-employees, irrespective of rank and tenure, were able to liquidate their ESOPs for a total of $0.5 million. All workers, right from the housekeeping staff to the scientists and sales personnel benefited from the buyback programme, which is the Company’s second.
Leo Mavely, founder and CEO, Axio Biosolutions admits that employees are the Company’s biggest assets “and many have been with us for over five years”, and that it is their “commitment and consistent hard work” that “has enabled us to grow and expand to many territories including the US.”
This ESOP buyback, according to Mavely, is Axio’s “way of showing gratitude and also making them partners in the success of Axio”. He hopes this will set a trend in the medtech industry where “ESOP issuance and buybacks are not so common”.
