Razorpay Announces ESOPs Worth Rs 1 Lakh For Current Employees On 10th Anniversary

The fintech firm made the announcement as it celebrates its 10th anniversary. The company decided to reward its 3,000 plus employees for their contribution to the decade-long growth journey

Razorpay has announced the allocation of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) worth Rs 1 lakh for all its current employees. The fintech firm made the announcement as it celebrates its 10th anniversary. 

The company decided to reward its 3,000 plus employees for their contribution to the decade-long growth journey, reported Moneycontrol. Typically, ESOPs are considered a popular tool of wealth creation in the Indian start-up ecosystem. This move will make sure that even employees without prior ESOP allocations get a stake in the firm’s future success.

Harshil Mathur, Co-founder and CEO, Razorpay, noted, “The ESOP initiative is our way of ensuring every teammate shares in the success as we continue to innovate, simplify money movement, and create greater value for businesses in India and beyond.”

Further, Shashank Kumar, Co-founder and MD, Razorpay noted that that this measure indicates the company’s long-term culture of value creation and acknowledgment of the team’s contributions.

Several other start-up also announced ESOP buybacks in 2023. PhonePe shared a $200 million ESOP buyback as part of its employee-first approach. Similarly, online brokerage firm, Zerodha, also announced a profit-sharing ESOP program for its employees, including plans to distribute shares annually based on the company performance. In 2024, Swiggy also issued an ESOP offer of about $65 million, while Urban Company shared an ESOP for about 400 employees worth $25 million.

Historically, Razorpay has leveraged ESOPs to provide incentives and rewards to employees. The firm first announced a ESOP buyback in 2018 which allowed 140 employees to liquidate their shares and then gave a larger $75 million buyback in 2022. This benefitted 650 current and former employees. Set up in 2014, Razorpay has grown with an annualised overall payment volume of $180 million.