Online lending platform Biz2Credit Inc on Tuesday announced an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) worth $12.25 million for over 500 employees in India.
Backed by private equity players such as WestBridge Capital and Nexus Venture Partners, the US-headquartered Biz2Credit said in a statement that the program will cover its entire workforce, rewarding people for their commitment and contribution.
Founded in 2007 by Rohit Arora and his brother Ramit Arora, the company provides small business loans and financing to the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) along with lending solutions.
Biz2Credit’s Esop program for employees comes on the heels of the company cutting its pre-IPO fund-raising target to $150-200 million (Rs 1,147-1,529 crore) compared to $500 million-$1 billion (Rs 3,828-7,658 crore) it had planned in October, VCCircle reported in April.
"The Esop plan reflects our company's priorities and balances key financial measures with individual performance and tenure considerations. We have announced the plan to allow our employees to participate in the organizational success of Biz2Credit,” said Rohit Arora, co-founder and chief executive officer, Biz2Credit and Biz2X.
“It has always been our endeavour to make an employee focused organization, where everyone feels valued and rewarded for their contribution. We are delighted to launch our employee stock option plan which has the potential for long term wealth creation for all our employees,” said Anupama Garg, senior vice president & head - human resources (India).
In June 2019, WestBridge Capital led a $52 million (about ₹360.25 crore) Series B round in Biz2Credit.
The company’s Series A round was led by Nexus Venture Partners through its Nexus India Capital Advisors which invested around $9.4 million in the fintech player in December 2013.