Darwinbox Completes INR 86 Cr ESOP Buyback

Darwinbox Concludes INR 86 Cr ESOP Buyback

SUMMARY

Darwinbox claims that the buyback benefited more than 350 employees across its 11 global offices

This is the company’s third ESOP buyback in four years

In March, the company raised $140 Mn funding in an undisclosed round co-led by Partners Group and KKR.

Just a few months after raising $140 Mn in a funding round, HR tech unicorn DarwinBox has now completed an INR 86 Cr (around $ 9.7 Mn) employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) buyback, benefitting more than 350 employees across its 11 offices in India, North America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

This is the company’s third ESOP buyback in four years.

“Even as we invest deeply in innovation and global growth, we remain equally committed to creating meaningful outcomes for our people. This buyback, like the ones before, reflects our belief in sharing success with our people and building a culture of ownership,” said Darwinbox cofounder Jayant Paleti.

Founded in 2015 by Paleti, Chaitanya Peddi and Rohit Chennamaneni, Darwinbox provides a cloud HR technology platform for businesses to manage their day-to-day HR process. The company leverages AI and ML to provide several solutions including recruitment, onboarding, payroll, travel, and people analytics.

It claims to have onboarded more than 1000 companies including Starbucks, McDonald’s, AXA, Cigna, WeWork, Airtel, and Vedanta as its customers across 130 countries.

On the financial front, the startup recorded a 58% jump in its total revenue to INR 393 Cr during the financial year ended in March 2024 (FY24), on the back of overseas expansion as well as research and development investments.

Notably, the company raised $140 Mn in a fresh funding round led by Partners Group and KKR in March. After this fundraise, company’s early backer 3one4 Capital claimed that it clocked its Fund I clocked an internal return rate (IRR) of 65.08%.

The development comes on the back of healthtech startup Even Healthcare recently announcing its first-ever ESOP buyback worth $500 K.

Around the same time, Accel-backed wealthtech startup Dezerv also completed its ESOP buyback plan worth INR 46 Cr.

As per Inc42 data, as many as 23 startups undertook buyback schemes, which helped 3,000+ employees generate wealth worth more than INR 1,448 Cr in 2024.

However, the total worth of ESOP buyback in 2024 declined by 73% from last year. In 2023, ESOP buybacks by a mere 12 startups helped their employees net $850 Mn, although $700 Mn came from Flipkart alone.