Jaro Education announces second ESOP grant worth Rs 150 mn for employees

Jaro Education, the edtech company that offers executive education to working professionals, has announced a second grant of employee stock option plan (ESOP) worth Rs 150 million to its existing employees.

Employees will be able to vest their ESOPs over a period of three years. The grant of ESOP will be in the range of Rs 3 lakhs to Rs 3 crores per employee, basis various performance parameters determined by the Company.

Sanjay Salunkhe, chairman and managing director, Jaro Education admits that the organisation’s growth in the last 12 years is because of the “dedication and outstanding performance” of its team members, for which “they deserve to be rewarded”.

It is hoped that the ESOPs will “create a sense of ownership and motivate them to achieve substantial growth in the years to come,” feels Salunkhe.

The Company —which offers over 28 management and tech programmes in collaboration with reputed institutes — had issued shares to its key employees in 2018, at a rate of Rs 50 per share. In the financial year 2021-2022, Salunkhe offered to buy back those shares at Rs 250 per share providing a 400 per cent return on their investment.

Ranjita Raman, CEO, Jaro Education, also acknowledges the contribution of the employees in the Company’s dramatic growth. She says that the ESOPs are a way of “expressing our gratitude to our employees and, as a result, making them stakeholders in our success”.

The number of ESOP holders has gone up since the last grant, by over 125 per cent, and the Company expects the numbers to rise further in the coming years.

Jaro has set aside a marketing budget of about Rs 1,000 million to acquire learners around the world, enhance corporate offerings, expand portfolio, and accelerate brand awareness activities.

The self-funded Indian edtech company has been witnessing profits ever since its inception in 2009.