Edtech startup SpeakX (formerly Yellow Class) has announced its inaugural Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) buyback program, amounting to $1 million. This initiative aims to provide early liquidity to its employees.
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Employee Impact: 15 out of 20 employees—a full 75% of the team—are set to benefit from this buyback.
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Context: The program follows SpeakX’s recent $16 million pre-Series B funding round, which featured performance-linked stock grants and a long-term ownership structure.
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ESOP Details: Employees who complete two years with the company receive ESOPs with a 10-year exercise window. The grants are extended across all departments, not just senior roles.
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Equity Pool: The current 20-member team collectively holds 6% equity in the company, with plans to expand the ESOP pool in future funding rounds.
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Total Funding: SpeakX has raised a total of $23.3 million to date, including $1.3 million in seed funding and a $6 million Series A round in 2021.
About SpeakX
Founded by Arpit Mittal, SpeakX offers an AI-powered learning app that simulates real-world conversations, providing automated speech correction and multilingual support for English learning.
The company pivoted in 2023 from a live learning platform to its current scalable, AI-driven model to enhance accessibility. Learners currently demonstrate high engagement, spending about 15 minutes per session.
The company shared positive business metrics:
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Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Payback: One day.
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Lifetime Value (LTV)/CAC: 3.7x within six months.
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Retention: 35% at Month 3.
SpeakX is currently available in India and select international markets, with expansion planned across Asia and the Middle East.
By: Sandhya Bharti
