Policybazaar Gets Green Light For Additional 5.44 Lakh ESOPs

The board of PB Fintech, insurtech major Policybazaar’s parent company, on Monday (July 31) approved an additional 5.44 Lakh stock options for its employees under its Employees Stock Option Plan (ESOP) 2020 and 2021.

“… This is to inform you that (the) nomination and remuneration committee… has approved the grant of 5,44,929 stock options under PB Fintech employees stock Option Plan 2020 and PB Fintech Employees Stock Option Plan 2021,” said the company in a regulatory filing. 

Of the total, 1.47 Lakh options will be earmarked under ESOP 2020 while the remaining 3.79 Lakh options will be set aside under the ESOP 2021 scheme. 

Under each scheme, the stock options have been distributed into five vesting events, each accounting for 20% of the total. These events range from a vesting period of employees who have completed one year to those who have worked with the company for more than five years. 

The options can be exercised within five years from the date of respective vesting.

“The vested option may be exercised at any time on or before the Closing Date, i.e. March 31, 2030. The stock options will be exercisable by the employees through written application to the company in order to exercise the vested stock options and on payment of exercise price, if applicable,” the insurtech startup said. 

Meanwhile, the startup’s B2B arm, Policybazaar for Business, has reportedly appointed former Oriental Insurance general manager Ajit Kumar to its advisory board.

Kumar is expected to guide the company on critical processes and technical aspects to build guardrails against financial loss. 

In a statement, PolicyBazaar said that Kumar will work alongside existing teams to scale ‘service levels’ offered to corporates and startups. He is also expected to help the company drive growth, and enable end-to-end modernisation of the platform and acceleration of their digital solutions.

Commenting on his appointment, Kumar, as per Adgully, said, “Business Insurance remains a highly critical yet underpenetrated market in India. A platform like PB for Business is the need of the hour. I am hopeful that in my role as an advisory board member, I will be able to further make a difference to the industry where it counts.”

Chiming in, head of PB for Business Sajja Praveen Choudhary said, “… We are pleased to have Mr Kumar onboard. His expertise in general, health insurance and liability products will help us challenge the status quo within the corporate world.”

Kumar counts more than 37 years of experience in the general insurance category and has so far worked with big names in the space, including New India Assurance and Oriental Insurance. An MBA from Patna University, he has also served as the government-nominated director on the board of Oriental Insurance’s arm. 

The development comes at a time when the insurtech platform has emerged as a darling of investors as it has been able to rein in losses while scaling revenues. In Q4 FY23, the company trimmed its consolidated net loss to INR 9 Cr, a far cry from INR 220 Cr in the previous quarter last year. 

On similar lines, operating revenue zoomed 61% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 869.1 Cr in the quarter ended March 2023.

As a result, the company’s stock has risen to 5% in the past month. The scrip closed 2.31% higher at INR 732.20 on the BSE on Monday (July 31). 

The constitution of the advisory board will enable it to further scale its operations while strengthening corporate guardrails at the company. The move could also be envisaged to assuage investors who have seen a slew of corporate governance emerge in the Indian startup ecosystem lately. 

As Policybazaar focusses on its next stage of growth, it remains to be seen which other high-profile names are elevated to Policybazaar’s B2B arm’s advisory board. 

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