ideaForge Allots INR 49.3 Lakh Worth Of Equity Shares

Drone manufacturing startup ideaForge has approved the allotment of 8,198 equity shares under its existing employee stock option plan (ESOP).

Based on the stock’s closing price yesterday (January 9), the newly allotted equity shares are worth INR 49.3 Lakh.

In an exchange filing today (January 10), the startup said that its board approved the allotment of 8,198 equity shares at a face value of INR 10 each to eligible employees upon exercise of vested options under the ideaForge Employees Stock Option Scheme, 2018.

After the fresh allotment, the issued and paid-up equity share capital of the drone maker has increased to INR 43.04 Cr from INR 43.03 Cr earlier.

Shares of ideaForge fell as low as 3.4% to INR 581 apiece during the intraday trading session on the BSE today. Its shares were trading 2.5% lower at INR 586.2 at 2.23 PM IST.

ideaForge shares are set to end in red for the third straight session if the losses hold.

Founded in 2007 by Ankit Mehta, Ashish Bhat, Rahul Singh, and Vipul Joshi, ideaForge makes unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems for inspection, surveillance and mapping. Its offerings span across sectors such as defence, construction, mining and agriculture.

The Mumbai-based company recently allotted 4,126 equity shares under the same ESOP plan in December 2024.

Prior to that, ideaForge also allotted 2,608 equity shares in November, 1,450 shares in October and 3,936 shares in September, respectively.

The drone manufacturer reported a consolidated net loss of INR 13.7 Cr in the quarter ending September 2024 (Q2) as against a net profit of INR 89.20 Lakh in the year ago period. 

Its operating revenue rose about 56.52% to INR 37.1 Cr during the quarter from INR 23.7 Cr in Q2 FY24.

This development comes at a time when numerous startups have been allotting ESOPs in the past few months to retain their employees, where companies like Paytm, Zomato and Delhivery have introduced multiple rounds of stock options.

Earlier this month, fintech giant Paytm allotted 1.48 Lakh equity shares to its eligible employees under its various ESOP schemes.

Meanwhile, Peak XV Partners-backed fintech unicorn Razorpay announced the allocation of ESOPs worth INR 1 Lakh to each of its current employees to mark its 10th anniversary, last month.

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