Cashfree Payments rolls out ESOP buyback programme a year after fundraise

Fintech firm Cashfree Payments has announced an ESOP buyback plan covering over 400 current and former employees, offering liquidity as the company completes a decade of operations

Fintech company Cashfree Payments is set to implement an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) buyback programme for current and former employees as the firm completes a decade of operations.

 

Who will be covered under the ESOP buyback programme? 

The plan will cover over 400 employees, including 175 former employees, the company said in a statement.

 

“As a company that has always put employee wellbeing first, we see ESOPs not merely as a retention tool or a future promise, but as a tangible way to participate in wealth creation and ownership,” said Akash Sinha, chief executive officer and co-founder, Cashfree Payments.

 

What is an ESOP buyback and how does it work? 

An ESOP buyback allows employees to sell vested stock options to the company, subject to the terms of the arrangement, offering them liquidity in exchange for their shares.

 

What has been Cashfree Payments’ recent funding history? 

Last year, the Bengaluru-based fintech raised $53 million in a funding round led by Korean digital entertainment company Krafton and existing investor Apis Growth Fund II, a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners Group (UK). Prior to that, it had raised $44 million.

 

The company had said the fresh capital would allow it to expand its payments offerings and market outreach.

 

What licences and scale does Cashfree Payments operate with? 

The company holds licences including prepaid payment instruments authorisation, online and physical payment aggregator approvals, and a payment aggregator licence for cross-border payments.

 

It claims to power more than $80 billion in annual payment volumes and serve over one million businesses, including firms such as Zepto, RedBus, Swiggy, Nykaa and BigBasket. It also said it processes transactions worth $80 billion annually across more than one million merchants.