Diwali is still one month away but Zerodha employees are already immersed in the festivity mood. This is because the online trading company has issued ESOP of worth more than Rs 200 crore to almost 850 of its employees.
The decision has come barely few months after Zerodha became a public limited company. Previously, the company was being run as a partnership firm with top executives in the management owning substantial chunk of dummy shares.
Zerodha’s Nitin Kamath said that the shares were allocated on the basis of employees’ gross earnings through the years as well as their performance.
Kamath did not shed light on company’s market valuation but said that the latter arrived at a rough valuation after making an internal assessment of the company based on key financial metrics. He also added that the company has no immediate plans to go for an IPO but public listing may be considered four or five years down the line.
Founded in 2010, Zerodha is an online trading firm and is among the few profitable Fintech startups in the country. As per the numbers shared by the company, it clocked a net profit of Rs 350 crore and revenue of approximately Rs 850 crore in financial year 2019.
After digital revolution swept India’s financial markets, many online trading companies have cropped up to simplify trading for investors as well as retailers. However, it is to be seen how these companies can sustain and endure during the current challenging macro-economic environment where Indian stock market is behaving quite erratically.
The Bombay stock market traded in deep red for most part of the last week before rebounding impressively on Friday.
Meanwhile, Zerodha’s main competitor raised Upstox raised $25 Mn from Tiger Global last week. Upstox had last raised funds in 2016.