Slice announces its first ESOP buyback prog worth $8.5 mn

By Kaushiki Chatterjee

  • 14 Feb 2022
Credit: 123RF.com

GaragePrenuers Internet Pvt. Ltd, which runs digital payment portal slice, has announced its first buyback of employee stock options (ESOPs) worth Rs 65 crore (around $ 8.5 million).   

The unicorn said that around 60 of both former and existing employees, holding vested stocks in it, are eligible for the buyback.  

“We are on a mission to build the best financial products for India’s newest generation - the MZs. Our team's relentless passion and hardwork has been instrumental in our rapid growth.   

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," said Rajan Bajaj, Founder and CEO of slice.   

The platform facilitates loans for its customers in order to enable them to buy products and services online from designated merchant portals or e-wallets.  

In November 2021, slice entered the unicorn club (startup with a valuation of $1 billion and above) after raising $220mn in its Series B fundraise co-led by Tiger Global and Insight Partners. It was the eleventh fintech in India to turn unicorn in 2021.  

slice claimed that it had registered a 40% month-on-month growth and over seven million registered users.   

The company plans to roll out its UPI product in 2022 to further enhance the payments experience of the millennials and Gen-z in India.  

Recently, slice reported revenue from operations of Rs 35.35 crore during FY21, which has grown by more than 18% from Rs 29.88 crore in FY20, according to regulatory filings studied by VCCircle

The company's non-banking finance unit Quadrillion Finance Pvt. Ltd. has more than tripled its revenue from operations to Rs 38.81 crore during FY21 from Rs 12.01 crore in FY20. However, the reported profit after tax declined from Rs 0.65 crore in FY20 to Rs 0.38 crore in FY21, as disclosed by a CARE ratings report.