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Whatfix rolls out $58 Mn liquidity event for employees and investors

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Whatfix rolls out $58 Mn liquidity event for employees and investors
Medial

Whatfix, a digital adoption platform (DAP), has introduced a $58 million liquidity program for its employees and investors. This marks the company’s fourth buyback of employee stock options (ESOPs). The Bengaluru-based company stated that eligible current and former employees now have the chance to sell a portion of their vested units at a premium over the earlier Series D valuation. This announcement comes on the heels of the company’s recent $125 million Series E funding round, led by Warburg Pincus, with contributions from existing investor SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Consequently, the firm’s valuation increased to $900 million from $600 million during Series D fundraise. It has raised over $265 million to date Whatfix introduced its first employee stock ownership plan or ESOP buyback scheme worth $4.3 million in July 2021. The firm did not announce the other two buybacks in the media. Founded by Khadim Batti and Vara Kumar, Whatfix provides in-app guidance and performance support for web applications and software products. Its tools are used by large companies to drive efficiency. The company asserts that it has been awarded five patents by the US Patent Office, with an additional 18 patents in the works. Despite facing macroeconomic challenges over the past two to three years, Whatfix claims to have kept its cash burn low while sustaining growth. The firm has doubled its workforce to over 960 employees, and has opened four new offices in Singapore, Germany, Australia, and India since its Series D funding round. This is the second largest ESOP buyback in 2024. In July, IPO-bound food delivery and quick commerce firm Swiggy announced an ESOPs liquidity programme worth $65 million. In the ongoing calendar year, Urban Company, MyGate, Classplus, Meesho, The Sleep Company, XYXX, Purplle, Dehaaat, Leverage Edu, Pocket FM and Adda247 bought back ESOPs from their employees.

Edtech startup SpeakX announces $1 Mn ESOP buyback for 15 employees

EntrackrEntrackr · 13d ago
Edtech startup SpeakX announces $1 Mn ESOP buyback for 15 employees
Medial

Edtech startup SpeakX announces $1 Mn ESOP buyback for 15 employees Edtech company SpeakX (formerly Yellow Class) has launched its first ESOP buyback program worth $1 million, offering early liquidity to employees. According to the company, 15 out of its 20 employees will benefit from the buyback. The buyback comes on the heels of SpeakX’s recent $16 million pre-Series B round which includes performance-linked stock grants, tenure-based allocation, and a long-term ownership structure. Employees who complete two years at the company receive ESOPs with a 10-year exercise window, and grants extend across all departments instead of being limited to senior roles. Till date, SpeakX had raised a total of $23.3 million which includes $1.3 million in seed funding led by India Quotient and then a $6 million Series A round led by Elevation Capital in 2021. SpeakX said the initiative is designed to provide liquidity earlier than typical startup exits or late-stage rounds. The company added that its 20-member team collectively holds 6% equity, and the ESOP pool will expand as it raises new rounds. Founded by Arpit Mittal, SpeakX simulates real-world conversations and provides automated speech correction and multilingual support. The platform reports high engagement, with learners spending about 15 minutes per session. SpeakX initially began as a live learning platform but later pivoted in 2023 to an AI-powered learning app to make English learning more accessible and scalable. SpeakX’s app is currently available in India and select international markets, with plans to expand further across Asia and the Middle East. The firm also shared updated business metrics: CAC payback in one day, 3.7x LTV/CAC within six months, and 35% retention at Month 3.

Decoding Rapido’s $120 Mn unicorn round

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Decoding Rapido’s $120 Mn unicorn round
Medial

Mobility startup Rapido recently turned unicorn after raising $120 million in a Series E funding round from WestBridge Capital through its various investment vehicles including SETU AIF and Konark. While the firm didn’t announce the funding officially, Entrackr has sifted through its regulatory filings to decode every detail of the round which was entirely led by WestBridge —an uncommon deal in the ecosystem. The board at Rapido has passed a special resolution to issue 10 equity, 95,479 Series E, and 95,489 Series E1 compulsory convertible preferred shares at Rs 52,467 each to raise Rs 1,002 crore (approximately $120 million) from WestBridge Capital through its 3 investment vehicles including SETU AIF, Konark, and MMPL Trust. Notably, shares issued worth Rs 501 crore were fully paid-up shares while the other 50% is partly-paid up. This essentially means that Rapido will receive the partly paid amount (Rs 501 crore) in tranches. Rapido will use the proceeds for expansion and growth, as per filings. According to the startup data intelligence platform, TheKredible’s estimates, Rapido was valued at around Rs 8,517 crore (approximately $1.02 billion) in the series E round. With this investment, WestBridge remained the largest external stakeholder with 32.88%, followed by Swiggy and Nexus Ventures, which own 12.32% and 8.19%, respectively. See TheKredibe for the complete shareholding pattern. Rapido also claimed to have left Ola behind and became the number two player after Uber in the overall ride-hailing space (bike, auto, and cabs). As of March 2024, Uber processed 19.3 lakh rides on a daily basis while Rapido did 16.5 lakh rides a day followed by Ola which did 13 lakh rides, as per Rapido’s internal documents reviewed by Entrackr. While Rapido is yet to disclose FY24 numbers, the firm’s operating revenue surged 3X to Rs 443 crore during FY23. The steep growth in scale also caused a 54% spike in losses, which stood at Rs 675 crore in FY23.

Udaan closes Series G round at $114 Mn

EntrackrEntrackr · 6m ago
Udaan closes Series G round at $114 Mn
Medial

Udaan closes Series G round at $114 Mn: B2B e-commerce platform Udaan has announced the closure of its Series G round at $114 million, led by M&G Investments and Lightspeed, with participation from other existing and new investors. In February, the Bengaluru-based company raised $75 million as the first tranche of the Series G round at a flat valuation. According to Entrackr’s estimate, Udaan was valued at around $1.8 billion in the previous round, when it raised $340 million led by M&G Plc, with participation from Lightspeed and others. The fresh capital will be deployed to strengthen Udaan’s category and customer footprint, with focus on fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) category and hotel, restaurant, and catering (HoReCa) customer segment, the company said in a press release. Udaan will also accelerate its private label brands initiatives in the staples category. This capital raise will also fortify Udaan’s balance sheet, providing enhanced financial flexibility as the company advances toward its public market debut. “Over the last 3 years, we have transformed the business by building cost as a capability and a competitive advantage. We have reduced our EBITDA burn by 40% every year for the last 3 years and are on track to achieve full group EBITDA profitability in the next 18 months,” said Vaibhav Gupta, co-founder and CEO, Udaan. Udaan claims to have clocked more than 60% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in CY 2024, alongside a contribution margin improvement of over 300 basis points. Along with this margin growth and operating leverage at scale, Udaan also reduced its fixed costs by 20%, resulting in a 40% reduction in EBITDA burn in CY 2024 and an additional 20% reduction year-to-date in CY 2025. While Udaan has yet to disclose its FY25 numbers, its gross revenue (GMV) grew only 1.7% to Rs 5,706.6 crore in FY24, compared to Rs 5,609.3 crore in FY23. However, it managed to control its losses by 19.4% to Rs 1,674.1 crore in the same period.

Pocket FM completes its first ESOP buyback worth $8.3 Mn

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Pocket FM completes its first ESOP buyback worth $8.3 Mn
Medial

Audio series platform Pocket FM announced that the company has completed its first ESOP buyback worth $8.3 million. The buyback of stock comes soon after $103 million Series D funding announced by the Bengaluru-based company. Former and existing employees, holding vested stocks in the company, participated in this process, the company said in a press release. The company was valued at $750 million during the latest fundraise and has been growing at a high speed. According to PocketFM, it surpassed $150 million (Rs 1,250 crore) ARR, and is growing at 57% QoQ. In 2023, it processed over 20 million transactions and claimed that its US revenue crossed $100 million in average revenue run rate (ARR) during the last calendar year. The buyback has come at a time when Pocket FM is reportedly in late-stage conversation to raise a new round which would catapult it to the unicorn club. Pocket FM is the fourth growth stage company that has announced stock buyback in 2024. Recently, e-commerce company Meesho rolled out its largest ESOP buyback worth $25 million for 1,700 employees (past and current). Community management app MyGate and edtech company Classplus also announced their employee stock buyback program earlier this year. As per data compiled by TheKredible, the total EOSP buyback/payout/liquidity stood at nearly $802 million in 2023. In 2021 and 2022, the buyback amount was recorded at $440 and $200 million respectively. Pocket FM claims 2,000 exclusive audio series and more than 400,000 episodes across genres and languages. While the company’s real financial picture could be decoded when it discloses full-fledged FY24 results, Pocket FM’s revenue zoomed 8X to Rs 148.7 crore in the fiscal year ending March 2023. The firm also improved unit economics and reduced its losses by about three-fourths in the last fiscal year.

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