Tide launches ESOP secondary sale programme in India, Bulgaria and UK

By Leandra Monteiro

Tide, UK based business financial platform, which began operations in India in 2020, recently facilitated the secondary sale of Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOPs) to investors for its employees in India, Bulgaria and the UK, following its recent Series C funding, due to oversubscription. Approximately 50% of all permanent employees have been allotted ESOPs at various levels across all departments.

Earlier in July 2021, Tide raised more than $100 million in Series C funding, which brought the company’s total funding to date to over $200 million. Tide’s post money value is now over $650 million, after only four years of operation. The last funding round was led by Apax Digital, the growth equity team of Apax Partners. Existing investors, including Anthemis, Augmentum, Jigsaw, Local Globe / Latitude, SBI, and SpeedInvest also participated in the round.

Liza Haskell, Chief Administrative Officer, Tide said, “Due to our oversubscribed Series C round, we had enough investor interest to give Tideans (employees) an opportunity to sell a portion of their vested shares to investors.”

These shares were across all departments but varied by levels in each division. Considering the complex nature of the secondary share sale programme, Tide held in-depth training to help employees assess the options available to them. Tide also covered the financial advisor and processing fees for those who chose to sell their vested shares.

Commenting on the development, Liza Haskell further emphasised, “At Tide, we believe in the value of working as one team, and strive to be an employer of choice. Tide has been offering ESOPs to many employees since inception as this ensures we share in the success of our combined hard work to get us where we are today. Especially during Covid times, it is one of the best ways to keep employees motivated, engaged and living by the #oneteam value.”

Earlier this year, Tide announced it will create over 1,000 jobs in India in the next five years. These positions will be across a wide variety of roles, including product development, software development, marketing, risk & compliance, and member support.