Bengaluru, July 12, 2025 – Food delivery and quick commerce giant Swiggy is doubling down on talent retention and internal motivation, having announced a fresh round of Employee Stock Option (ESOP) grants valued at approximately Rs 150 crore ($17.5 million).
According to filings with the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the company has granted 38.86 lakh stock options under its newly launched ESOP 2024 plan, at an exercise price of just Rs 1 per share. These options convert into fully paid-up equity shares upon vesting and can be exercised anytime post-vesting until a company liquidation event.
This latest move reflects Swiggy’s continued efforts to empower employees with a sense of ownership, even as the startup ecosystem becomes increasingly competitive in attracting and retaining high-quality talent.
The new grant follows a much larger ESOP rollout of Rs 443.4 crore (around $52 million) announced earlier in April, bringing the company’s 2024 stock rewards to nearly Rs 600 crore so far.
Swiggy’s push comes on the heels of its entry into the travel concierge and lifestyle services segment with a new app called Crew, as exclusively reported by Entrackr last month. The diversification marks Swiggy’s intent to go beyond food and groceries, tapping into a broader urban consumer lifestyle segment.
However, the financial picture remains a work in progress. The company posted a Rs 1,081 crore loss in Q4 FY25, up 95% year-on-year, despite a solid 45% revenue increase to Rs 4,410 crore. For the full fiscal year, Swiggy’s revenue stood at Rs 15,227 crore.
In contrast, rivals like Zomato and Zepto have shown signs of financial discipline, with Zomato reporting a Rs 39 crore profit in Q4 FY25 and Zepto narrowing its annual losses to Rs 1,248 crore.
At the end of trading on Friday, July 11, Swiggy’s shares were priced at Rs 385.3, giving the company a market capitalization of nearly Rs 96,080 crore (~$11.3 billion).
As Swiggy continues expanding its footprint across verticals, its latest ESOP strategy reaffirms a key message: employees remain at the heart of the company’s next phase of growth.
-By Muskan Dengra
