Urban Company is valued at $2.8 billion after the sale of Esop

It valued the startup at $2.8 billion, up from the $2.1 billion earmarked during the funding round in June.

The sold Esops was bought by existing institutional investors, the company said on Sunday.

All contained ESOPs were eligible for sale. However, only 4.4% of the vested ESOPs held by current employees and about 10% with former employees were eliminated through sales.

Urban Company has issued Esops to 940 current and former employees over the past seven years. Of these, about 550 people have ESOPs and are eligible to participate in the current secondary sale program, the company said.

The value of vested ESOPs held by current employees is roughly 380 crore, with vested options vested by ex-employees, the value of which 390 crores according to the company.

“This is our fourth and largest ESOP secondary sale to date. Since 2017, we have provided ESOP secondary facilities worth approx. 100 crores. In our experience, such liquidation opportunities reinforce the trust that team members have in Esops as a wealth-creation tool,” said Raghav Chandra, Co-Founder, Urban Company.

Urban Company’s first ESOP sale took place in June 2017, followed by sales in December 2018 and August 2020.

“We have focused on creating an employee-friendly ESOP program that has features such as exercise value 1, a linear vesting schedule and an unlimited hold period for using ESOPs after an employee leaves the company,” Chandra said.

The secondary sale came just months after Urban Company raised $255 million in June this year, led by Prosus Ventures, Dragoneer and Wellington Management. The round was valued at $2.1 billion for the startup and also saw participation from existing investors Vy Capital, Tiger Global and Steadview.

The fundraising also included a secondary sale of approximately $67 million by Angel and early investors.

Following the funding, the company said it would explore plans to expand its services outside India with a focus on entering Saudi Arabian and Southeast Asian markets.

According to co-founder and CEO Abhiraj Singh Bhal, the company aims to be profitable on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) level by the second half of next year, and aims for a public listing by 2023. .

Bhal expects international efforts to contribute about a quarter of revenue by 2023. Currently, India operations account for up to 90% of the company’s revenue.

In FY20, Urban Company’s consolidated loss widens 155.17 crore to 78.48 crore in FY19. revenue doubled from FY19 to . 132.04 crore in 263.07 crore in FY20, as per regulatory filings filed by the company.