Meesho announces largest ESOP buyback worth Rs 200 crore
NEW DELHI: Ecommerce marketplace Meesho on Wednesday announced an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) buyback program valued at Rs 200 crore, its largest ESOP buyback pool initiative.
This will benefit about 1,700 present and past employees. Meesho said that eligible current and ex-employees across the spectrum, from junior-level executives to senior leadership can voluntarily participate in this programme.
This marks the fourth buyback at Meesho. Previously, the company bought back shares worth $1 million in February 2020, $5 million in November 2020 and $5.5 million in October 2021.
Ashish Kumar Singh, CHRO at Meesho, said, “At Meesho, our employees are the driving force behind our success and we’re thrilled to announce our biggest ESOP buyback program undertaken till date."
Meesho 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 remains positive.
Backed by SoftBank, Prosus Ventures and Meta, Meesho has been gaining traction as the fastest growing e-commerce platform in the country, according to the latest report by Alliance Bernstein.
The report says that Meesho currently has a GMV run rate of over $5 billion and around 120 million average monthly active users. In December 2023, Meesho exhibited 32% y-o-y growth in monthly active users, higher than 21% growth for Flipkart and 13% for Amazon.
In January, Meesho announced a series of initiatives that include multiple strategies to create a more secure marketplace. The company said it has set up stringent quality checks and uses a mix of technology and operational processes to ensure a secure shopping experience.
The evaluation of poor or unsatisfactory quality was conducted through a comprehensive analysis of customer reviews, ratings, and feedback. Post evaluation, Meesho delisted nearly 2 lakh products. The company also announced that it has invested in the power of artificial intelligence to fortify quality checks while continuously working to improve keyword databases and detection capabilities on the platform.