Innoviti expands ESOP pool to $10 mn post Series C funding by FMO, Bessemer

Innoviti Payment Solutions announced on Monday that it has expanded its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) pool to $10 million.

This follows its recent Series C round of funding from Netherlands based entrepreneurial development bank, FMO and returning investor Bessemer Venture Partners. Bengaluru based Innoviti provides digital payment solutions to retailers. 

The ESOP pool was constituted ahead of its Series A fundraise and is open to all full-time employees, a statement from the company said. With the recent enhancement in the size of the pool, 30% of the company’s employees across the level of senior leader to call centre executives will be covered. 

“We allow employees to offer shares on sale at any time. In the past, this has been done at least five times with more than 30 employees having exercised and benefitted from the event,” a spokesperson for Innoviti told TechCircle.

ESOPs are usually used as retention instruments by startups, especially to reward top talent. These agreements allow employees to purchase shares of the company at a discounted price, decided by the employer. Employees also need to wait for a certain period of time called the vesting period before they can exercise the right to purchase the shares.

“As a startup, our team members fight against several odds to create successes...ESOPs are a small token to make those victories that much sweeter,” Rajeev Agrawal, CEO of Innoviti said in the statement. 

Agrawal, an alumnus of IIT Bombay, founded Innoviti in 2002.

The company has so far raised over $37 million from investors including Catamaran Ventures, SBI Venture Capital, FMO Netherlands and Bessemer Venture Partners among others, according to data from on VCCedge. 

The company claims to process over $6.5 billion annualised offline merchant payment volume for merchants across 1000 cities. 

With the Covid-19 related economic slowdown, an increasing number of startups are leveraging ESOPs to attract and retain talent. Earlier this month, budget hospitality chain OYO announced ESOP issuance worth $18 million for active and furloughed employees. Companies such as ed-tech platform Unacademy, food delivery platform Swiggy and ride-hailing service Ola also expanded ESOP pools as annual cash payouts in the form of bonuses and appraisals are likely to be subdued.