Logistics firm Shadowfax on Tuesday announced an employee stock sale programme worth USD 5 million (Rs 36.8 crore).
The ESOP buyback programme is aimed at rewarding employees as the business recovers to pre-COVID levels, a statement said. “This is the first buyback offering by the company where eligible employees can sell up to 35 per cent of their assigned/vested ESOP shares. Shadowfax employees who have been granted ESOPs and completed more than four years with the company will be eligible to participate in the buyback programme,” it added. Shadowfax currently has 300 employees in the corporate team, and 18 employees are qualified for the ESOP buyback.
The company said the ESOP buyback is a “gesture to show gratitude and appreciation towards our employees and the shares remain with the company”. Shadowfax has raised USD 100 million till date from investors such as Flipkart, NGP Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, Mirae Asset Financial Group, Eight Roads Ventures and IFC.
It currently services 500-plus cities, has more than 1.5 lakh delivery network partners, and delivers 5 lakh orders daily. Shadowfax has also announced the elevation of Praharsh Chandra and Gaurav Jaithliya as co-founders, effective December 2020. “This move is in the direction to strengthen the leadership team and scale up Shadowfax”s process and quality initiatives by supporting the current and prospective business units responsively and reliably. Praharsh and Gaurav have been an integral part of the leadership team at Shadowfax since inception,” it added.
Chandra is currently the Chief of Operations, while Jaithliya is the Chief of Strategy and Investment. “2020 has been a challenging year. But Shadowfax has grown 2X compared to pre-COVID levels, we witnessed teams across functions at Shadowfax step up and make an exceptional contribution during this time. We have always believed that our team is one of our strongest assets,” Shadowfax co-founder and CEO Abhishek Bansal said.
He added that the company’s employees continue to play a key role in its growth journey. “The ESOP buyback is our way of reciprocating their efforts and we envisage that it will help unlock value and create wealth for our people. It is because of our team and their strong resolve in the company’s vision, we have excelled in an intensely competitive environment and gained substantial impetus in the logistics industry in a short span of time,” he said.