Indian fintech giant Paytm said on Tuesday its Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) valuation surged to $604 million after it added new stock options to its plan.
Paytm tweaked its ESOP strategy last year to a performance-based one in an attempt to create a meritocratic organisation and to retain talented professionals.
The addition of 242,904 stock options took its existing ESOP pool to 2.4 million equity options, the company said.
"We consider our ESOP scheme as a great way to promote the spirit of wealth creation among employees and truly believe that every employee is a stakeholder in the company,” a Paytm spokesperson said.
Paytm plans to reward the expanded stock options to more employees during its annual performance appraisal, the digital financial services platform said, adding that ESOPs will be awarded at the time of hiring or during its appraisal cycle.
Paytm said that it linked ESOPs to individual goals that would be reviewed and approved by its business heads and all key roles across different levels were eligible for it.
Paytm, which began as a service for people to top up their mobile phones, offers a digital payment platform for merchants, money transfers and bill payments across India. Its lending businesses include credit cards, personal loans and merchant cash loans in partnership with other lenders.
Its shareholders include SoftBank, SAIF Partners, Berkshire Hathaway, T Rowe Price and Discovery Capital
Paytm was valued at about $16 billion during a private fundraising round in 2019.