HomeLane Concludes ESOP Buyback worth INR 27 Crores for Employees

HomeLane, India's choice for on-time home interiors, announced its Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) buyback worth INR 27 crores. This is the second time ESOPs have been bought back by the company. This round was initiated as part of its recent Series E investment led by IIFL AMC’s Late Stage Tech Fund, OIJIF II (Oman India Joint Investment Fund) and & Stride Ventures.

HomeLane provided liquidity to all those who held vested ESOPs including active and former employees. Former employees were offered 100% liquidity, while active employees had the option to exercise up to 35% of their vested ESOPs. However, the active employees liquidated less than 50% of their eligible ESOPs. This ESOP buyback has been a noteworthy feat for the company. The sale proceeds have helped employees in more ways than one, enabling them to use the nproceeds towards buying homes & cars, investing in retirement funds and donating to causes they feel strongly about.

Commenting on the buyback, Srikanth Iyer & Tanuj Choudhry, Co-Founders, HomeLane said, “We are deeply humbled by the response of our team, with a majority of them deciding to stay vested in the company through only partial liquidation of their stock options. Our team’s conviction and relentless efforts have powered HomeLane’s exponential growth. We facilitated the ESOP buyback to acknowledge their enduring contribution. This is our way to express gratitude, by supporting them in their wealth creation journey.”

The co-founders also added, “We have always believed that a strong vision can only be realized by a great team. As India’s largest and fastest-growing home interiors brand, we will continue to invest in high-quality talent across business, product & technology, design and operations, across the country. Despite the temporary resurgence of COVID-19, we are confident that the need for branded home interiors will continue to grow rapidly.”

It has been a spectacular year for HomeLane, despite the uncertainties of the pandemic. The company’s tech and asset-light model allowed the business to scale and record cash profitability in November 2020, making it the only startup in the home interior segment to be so. Growing consumer demand for branded interior services, reduction in fixed costs, increase in average order value, and bundling of supplementary services to its flagship home interior offerings helped the company make its business operations agile. Being able to meet customers virtually has also helped the company become resilient to the challenges thrown up by the current pandemic.