Meesho announces Rs 200 crore ESOP buyback, rewarding 1,700 employees

• ByStartupStory     |    March 14, 2024

Meesho, an online shopping platform based in Bengaluru, has announced its largest Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) buyback pool to date, totaling Rs 200 crore. This buyback initiative extends to both current and former employees, providing wealth creation opportunities for approximately 1,700 individuals. Ashish Kumar Singh, Meesho’s Chief Human Resources Officer, emphasized the company’s commitment to rewarding its teams, stating, “At Meesho, our employees are the driving force behind our success.” Singh further highlighted the company’s dedication to providing opportunities for wealth creation despite prevailing macroeconomic conditions.

This marks the fourth wealth generation opportunity at Meesho, with the size of the buyback program increasing each year. In previous years, Meesho conducted buybacks worth over Rs 8.2 crore in February 2020, Rs 41.4 crore in November 2020, and Rs 45.5 crore in October 2021. Meesho’s profitability journey began in July 2023, making it the first horizontal Indian e-commerce company to achieve profitability. Despite turning profitable, Meesho continues to maintain positive cash flow and focuses on enhancing efficiencies across various cost items.

The company’s revenue from operations for FY 2022-23 witnessed a remarkable growth of 77% over the previous year, amounting to Rs 5,735 crore. This growth can be attributed to Meesho’s leadership position as the most downloaded shopping app in India in both 2022 and 2023, increased transaction frequency among existing customers, and a diversified category mix. Additionally, Meesho’s focus on improving monetization through value-added seller services contributed to its revenue growth.

Meesho also disclosed its audited performance for the first half of FY 2023-24, reporting consolidated revenues from operations of Rs 3,521 crore, marking a 37% year-over-year increase. The company achieved profitability in Q2 FY24, with a significant reduction in losses compared to the previous year. Furthermore, Meesho recorded impressive app download numbers, reaching 145 million downloads in India in 2023 and surpassing 500 million downloads in H1 FY 2023-24.

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