Perfios Makes 62 Millionaires With Its INR 154 Cr ESOP Buyback

Fintech SaaS startup Perfios has conducted an ESOP buyback of shares worth INR 154 Cr.

“The move exemplifies Perfios’ commitment to acknowledging and appreciating the exceptional efforts of its workforce, making it a truly people-first and employee-centric organisation,” the startup said in a statement. 

According to Perfios, 80 of the 135 beneficiaries from the ESOP buyback are women, while 98 of the total beneficiaries are under 30 years of age. As per the company’s claims, with this buyback, it has created 62 millionaires.

The move comes weeks after the fintech startup raised $229 Mn in its Series D funding round from Kedaara Capital through the combination of a primary and a secondary sale. While the exact breakdown between the two was not disclosed, the investment came 19 months after Perfios raised $70 Mn at a valuation of $400 Mn.

The secondary sale may have resulted in the ESOP buyback, though the startup did not specify the same in the statement it issued.

Sabyasachi Goswami, CEO of Perfios, said on the move, “I am immensely proud of our team at Perfios for their unwavering dedication and hard work, which enabled us to achieve remarkable growth and hence allowed us to reward our people. The buy-back reaffirms our dedication to placing our employees first and fostering a work environment where everyone can excel.”

The startup added that the buyback has benefitted both current and former team members from various departments. VR Govindarajan, cofounder and chairman, added that the latest round of ESOP payout was another validation of the startup’s commitment to its employees’ success and prosperity.

Founded in 2008, by VR Govindarajan and Debasish Chakraborty, Perfios is a credit decisioning and analytics startup which operates in B2B and B2C segments. It reported a jump of 88% in revenue to INR 136 Cr in FY22, while its losses fell 62% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 12.36 Cr.

The move also comes mere days after Perfios acquihired Chennai-based open finance platform Fego.ai in its third acquisition overall. As part of the deal, Fego.ai founders have taken up product and strategy roles at Perfios and the Fego.ai team is now a part of the Perfios team.

Perfios’ ESOP buyback comes as many Indian startups have chosen the equity route as a means to compensate employees and drive retention. Some of the latest buybacks within the Indian startup ecosystem have happened at Betterhalf, CaratLane (driven by the Titan acquisition), Zypp Electric and Swiggy, among others.