Edtech unicorn Unacademy announces ESOP buyback for current, past employees

Edtech unicorn Unacademy, which recently raised $150 million from SoftBank and Facebook said it will have an ESOPs (employee stock ownership plan) buyback on December 10, for its current and past employees. This is the second such liquidity event at the company founded five years ago. All vested ESOPs until December 10 will be eligible for the buyback and current and past employees may liquidate between 25 per cent and 100 per cent of vested ESOPs, based on a specified scheme. 

The size of the buyback pool is likely to be Rs 25-30 crore, based on the number of ESOPs liquidated by employees. Unacademy had conducted its first ESOP buyout in September 2019. At that time, the buyback pool was about a tenth of the current buyback size. Unacademy employees who have been granted ESOPs and have completed more than one year with the company will be eligible to participate in this liquidity round.

Making the announcement in an internal note, Gaurav Munjal, co-founder and CEO, Unacademy, thanked employees for playing a crucial role in the company’s growth, and encouraged them to continue their efforts to democratise education in the country.

The Bengaluru-based start-up was founded by Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, and Hemesh Singh in 2015, initially on YouTube in 2010. Last month, it became a unicorn after raising $150 million in a round led by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank valuing it at $1.45 billion, a three-fold jump in just six months. This also made the firm the second unicorn in the country’s edtech space after Byju's. The firm now claims to have become the largest learning platform in India with a network of more than 45,000 registered educators and 40 million learners.

Unacademy proposal at a glance

• ESOPs buyback on December 10, second liquidity event in the company’s history.
• Current and past employees may liquidate between 25% and 100% of their vested ESOPs.
• Unacademy now claims to have a network of more than 45,000 registered educators and 40 million learners.