Licious introduces a new ESOP scheme that allows one-third of its employees to liquidate their shares at any time

Licious, a recently-minted unicorn run by Delightful Gourmet Pvt Ltd, has unveiled a new employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) called ‘Everyday Vesting, Anytime Liquidation’ that will go into effect next year. Over 1,000 employees who presently hold ESOPs will benefit from the new plan.

“All qualified Licians (workers at Licious) will have their ESOPs vested daily from January 1st, 2022,” the business stated in a statement on Tuesday, describing it as an industry-first in the Indian startup scene.

Every year, the meat and seafood delivery company, which became the first direct-to-consumer (D2C) business to attain unicorn valuation ($1 billion), will set aside a pool of secondary money to permit liquidation at any moment.

“Employees will also have the option of liquidating their ESOPs at any moment, with no terms and conditions attached.” This chance is available once the one-year period mandated by company law expires,” the company stated.

“In addition, all new Licians who get ESOPs will be included in the pool.” All Licians will be actively informed about this possibility so that they can fully benefit from this new project.”

Licious provided a repurchase option worth 30 crores (about $4 million) to 600 employees earlier this year.

Currently, the organization employs over 3,500 people across many specialties and responsibilities.

Several venture capital-backed startups, including Walmart-owned digital payments platform PhonePe, ed-tech start-up Teachmint Technologies Pvt Ltd, FMO-backed fintech firm Innoviti Payment Solutions, social e-commerce platform Meesho, and PB Fintech Ltd, the owner of online platforms Policybazaar and Paisabazaar, have launched their ESOP programs in recent weeks.

The pandemic, according to Licious co-founders Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, has taught them several lessons, including the need of “keeping your staff closest to the organization and rewarding them for their hard work and effort.” “..

“At Licious, we have experienced exceptional growth in a largely unorganized market.” Our staff’s contributions to this growth trajectory have been substantial, and properly incentivizing them is one of our top responsibilities. We are cognizant of assisting Licians in meeting their personal and financial goals through wealth creation as we organize the market, and vesting and purchasing ESOPs on a daily basis demonstrates this “added both in a joint statement.

According to the corporation, this new initiative would not only increase transparency but will also give Licians complete control over their vested ESOPs.

Licious, which became India’s 29th unicorn this year after raising $52 million from new investor IIFL AMC’s PE fund last month, expects to break even in the next 18 months and plans to float an initial public offering (IPO) only after achieving profitability, according to the co-founder in an interview last month.

Licious, founded by Hanjura and Gupta, is India’s first D2C unicorn, focusing on the delivery of meat and meat goods. It can be found in raw and fresh meat and seafood, marinades, and ready-to-eat foods. The corporation owns and manages the entire supply chain of its more than 300 stock-keeping facilities (SKUs).