Urban Company (formerly UrbanClap) has announced an employee stock sale programme worth $5 million (₹37.5 crore). Under this programme, employees would be given the option to liquidate their vested ESOPs, which would be purchased through a secondary transaction by existing investor Vy Capital.
All existing employees who have vested ESOPs are eligible to participate in the current sale programme. About 180+ employees are eligible to participate in this programme.
“This is our third and largest ESOP sale event, and re-affirms our commitment towards creating a world-class ESOP programme. The previous two ESOP sale events were held in June 2017 and Dec 2018 respectively. Additionally, Urban Company’s ESOP programme has very employee-friendly terms, such as an exercise price of ₹1, accelerated vesting, a flat 4-year vesting schedule (25 per cent each year) and an infinite hold period to exercise the ESOPs after the employee leaves the company. Approximately 450 employees, or 40 per cent of the company's full time staff have ESOPs, from customer service representatives to our SVPs,” said Abhiraj Singh Bhal, co-founder of Urban Company.
ESOP value
The latest ESOP sale values each ESOP at ₹1,10,000, which is the same price as the Series E secondary transaction which took place in June 2019. Urban Company’s first ESOP sale event occurred in June 2017, coinciding with the Series C round of funding, and valued each ESOP at ₹24,500. During this sale approximately 25 employees were eligible. The second ESOP sale event occurred in Dec 2018, valuing each ESOP at ₹61,864. This coincided with the Series D round of funding, during which approximately 100 employees were eligible. To date, the Company has awarded ESOPs to 670 employees, including 450 current employees.
At Urban Company, employees are awarded ESOPs at the time of recruitment, during an appraisal cycle, and as part of various internal recognition programmes. The objective is to provide ownership and economic rewards to those who are contributing to the company’s success.
Founded in November 2014, Urban Company (formerly UrbanClap) is India and the UAE’s largest home services company, with recent expansion into Australia and Singapore. The company offers services such as beauty and spa at home, cleaning, plumbing, carpentry, appliance repair, painting, etc. through its mobile app and website. It operates in 18 metropolitan cities in India and 4 international cities (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sydney and Singapore). It has a service partner network of over 30,000 hand-picked service professionals, who are provided training, tools, financing, insurance, product procurement etc., apart from a steady stream of business.