Exclusive: Edtech firm Hero Vired launches faculty ESOPs to reward and retain talent

Hero Vired, the edtech firm of the Munjal family-led Hero Group, has launched a faculty ESOP programme to reward and retain talent and decided to offer it as a mode of half yearly and annual appraisal system.

The ESOP will be granted to faculties who have spent six months in the company.

Depending on the individual and organisation performance, the company will grant fresh ESOPs every year. It is also looking at partial buyback or secondary exit in 3-5 years, said Akshay Munjal, founder and chief executive of Hero Vired.

The faculty ESOPs programme comes close on the heels of the one-year-old edtech rolling out a biannual appraisal and increment system to retain talent.

Munjal, who set up the edtech start-up last April, said his company has seen “phenomenal growth" and the faculty ESOPs programme is its way to thank the faculty and ensure wealth creation for them.

"As a learning company focused on live instructor-led sessions, our teaching staff is the backbone of our business. Our ESOPs programme is our dynamic approach to attract, reward, and retain top talent. The Hero Vired employee stocks will hit 20x valuation in three years, and as we prepare for our IPO in the next 5-6 years, their valuation will rise further,” he said.

The move comes as the start-up is entering a fast growth phase, and hiring talent and trying to retaining them on a priority to sustain the growth momentum.

As the talent war heats up in the job market in recent months, the edtech start-up had rolled out a biannual appraisal system for the staff and offering required flexibility.