Slice, Bizongo complete their first Esop buybacks

Bengaluru: Fintech firm Slice and supply chain enablement platform Bizongo on Monday announced the completion of their first employee stock ownership plan (Esop) buyback programmes.

Slice, which offers credit cards to new-to-credit customers, said around 60 current and former employees were eligible for its buyback programme, worth Rs 65 crore (around $8.6 million). Close to 54 existing and current employees participated in the buyback exercise, the company said.

Bizongo said that 102 of its current and former employees with vested options were eligible for its buyback. However, a little over 70 individuals participated in it, the company said. The total value of the buyback stood at Rs 27.9 crore ( roughly $3.7 million).


“This buyback plan is our little way of saying ‘thank you’ to our teams, who have not only contributed to slice but also to the larger financial ecosystem. I cannot help but feel grateful for this opportunity to give back to the people who have shared the same vision and got on the journey from early on,” Rajan Bajaj, founder and chief executive of Slice, said in a statement on Monday.

Last November, Slice joined India’s growing list of unicorn startups, after it raised $220 million as a part of its Series B fundraise, co-led by Tiger Global Management and Insight Partners at a valuation of more than $1 billion.

The company, which claims to have seven million registered users and focuses on improving payment and credit experiences for Gen-Z and millennial audiences, was planning to launch Unified Payments Interface (UPI)-based payments on its app this year.

Bizongo meanwhile raised $110 million in December from New York-based Tiger Global and others at a valuation of $600 million.

“Bizongo has witnessed hyper-growth in revenue over the past few years and this is a direct outcome of the hard work and dedication of our employees, This Esop repurchase is our little way of sharing our success,” said Ankit Tomar, cofounder and chief technology officer at Bizongo.

Data analytics firm TheMathCompany also announced its Esop buyback programme on Monday. With the latest exercise, the total value of its buyback programme this year stood at Rs 93.2 crore (around $12.3 million), the company said.