Ninjacart announces ESOP buyback worth Rs 100 crore

Fresh produce supply chain company Ninjacart has announced an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) buyback of Rs 100 crore for its employees. This is the company’s second ESOP buyback after its first one in 2019.

2021 saw a huge number of ESOP buybacks from startups like Swiggy, Cred, Meesho, Razorpay among many others.   Startups are increasingly announcing ESOP buybacks to retain and hire top talent amid the growing competitive market.

The Tiger Global-backed company said that both current and former employees with vested ESOPs as of December 2021 are eligible to participate in the ESOP buyback programme. 

Thirukumaran Nagarajan, co-founder and CEO of Ninjacart said, “This ESOP buyback programme is a small gesture of our gratitude towards our employees because, without them, we will not be where we are today."

"ESOP buyback plans offer people a true chance at wealth creation and it allows employees to participate in the company's success which has only been possible through their hard work and loyalty.”

He added, “We intend to invest in employee experience, work tools, and positive workplace initiatives. We encourage our employees to give importance to their mental and physical well-being by retaining a proper work-life balance. We implore our teams to adopt a problem-solving and tech-driven attitude that can eventually help them to excel in their professions and focus on becoming leaders in the agritech space."

Ninjacart works closely with the farmers and has till date helped over one lakh farmers across 150 villages to generate better revenues. Its supply chain technology has helped solve problems such as distribution inefficiency and price risk.

Last December, Flipkart India and Walmart invested $145 million in the Bengaluru-based company. Prior to that, Walmart and Flipkart Group had pumped in an undisclosed amount. The company had earlier said that the capital will be used to build technology and infrastructure to organise, empower and enhance the lives of millions of agri value chain participants including farmers, resellers, retailers, consumers, and supply chain participants.