CarDekho Offers $3.5 Mn To Employees Under ESOPs Scheme

Jaipur-based auto-tech company GirnarSoft, the parent company of CarDekho, BikeDekho etc, on Tuesday (February 11), announced the second cash-out scheme under the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) of the financial year 2020. The cash-out scheme will reward employees of the start which have invested their time and energy in building up the company.

Currently, the company is offering employees to cash out 50% of their vested options under ESOP exercise and secondary sale plan. According to CarDekho, the cash-out is estimated to be worth $3.5 Mn.

This cash-out plan is available for both existing and former employees of CarDekho who held ESOPs vested as of January 31, 2020. Current employees who have worked for over two years and former employees who have worked for over four years can avail these ESOPs benefits.

Prior to this, employees of CarDekho have availed benefits of ESOPs in April 2019. At that time, ESOPs worth $2 Mn were bought back by CarDekho from its employees.

Founded in 2008, CarDekho has built a complete auto eco-system to give its consumers an easy and complete access for buying and selling new as well as used cars.

CarDekho’s online platform provides all sorts of information related to cars. Besides CardDekho, the Girnar Software group currently operates in various leading Indian auto sites such as Gaadi.com, ZigWheels.com, BikeDekho.com, InsuranceDekho.com, PowerDrift.com and more.

In December 2019, the startup had raised a $70 Mn Series D funding round led by Ping An’s Global Voyager Fund with participation from Sunley House Capital Management and existing investors Sequoia India and Hillhouse to strengthen its Indian business and expand in Southeast Asia.

Recently, in her Union Budget 2020 speech, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government is easing the burden of taxation on the employees by deferring the tax payment by five years or till they leave the company or when they sell their shares, whichever is earliest.

The move, which was in a bid to boost the Indian startup ecosystem, received a positive nod from many industry voices. For instance, Siddarth Pai, managing partner of 3One4 Capital, said, “Taxing ESOPs at the point of sale will help make ESOPs attractive again and help create employee wealth while ensuring taxes are paid when the employee makes money, not on notional values.”

Other individuals who acclaimed the government for bringing this norm included Paytm’s founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, cofounder of Indian Angel Network Padmaja Ruparel, among others.