In a move that reflects both maturity and foresight, fintech startup Univest has completed its first-ever Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) buyback, worth ₹1.61 crore—sending a powerful message of gratitude to its earliest team members.
The buyback allowed employees from the seed and pre-Series A days to liquidate a portion of their equity, offering them tangible financial returns for the value they helped create. This milestone is not just about numbers—it’s about trust, recognition, and building a culture where ownership is more than a buzzword.
“These were the folks who took a bet on us when we were just an idea on a whiteboard,” said Pranit Arora, co-founder and CEO of Univest. “The decision to offer early liquidity was based on recognizing the role of employee ownership in shaping organizational stability.”
From engineers writing code that shaped the platform’s early architecture to customer support teams building trust with first-time users, the buyback is a nod to those who helped build Univest’s foundation.
Launched in 2022 by Pranit Arora, Avneet Dhamija, and Vikash Agarwal, Univest has grown into a promising retail investment advisory platform, delivering research-backed insights through its SEBI-registered RA entity, Uniresearch. In December 2024, it raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), bolstering its position in the competitive wealth-tech space.
The ESOP initiative follows the introduction of Univest’s formal equity policy in late 2024, and is part of a broader strategy to attract and retain top talent across tech, product, and marketing functions—domains where innovation is fast-paced and retention is often challenging.
With peers like INDmoney, Tejimandi, Liquide, and Waya competing for the same user base, Univest’s move stands out. It signals that in the race to scale, the company isn’t losing sight of the people who got them to this point.
Future ESOP buybacks are on the horizon, linked to upcoming fundraising rounds. But for now, this ₹1.61 crore payout is a quiet, yet powerful reminder that early bets—when backed by belief—can indeed pay off.
