Equity management startup Qapita acquires Indian peer ESOP Direct

QAPITA, a Singapore-based equity management startup, has acquired India-based peer ESOP Direct for an undisclosed full-cash sum.

With this deal, Qapita will be expanding its customer base from 800 to over 1,200, it announced on Wednesday (Jul 27). It will manage over US$12 billion in employee stock option plans (ESOPs) for more than 130,000 employees.

Qapita will also be doubling its headcount from 100 to more than 220. It will expand its product and engineering team to more than 100 employees, while building its presence in the Indian cities of Bangalore, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Chennai.

Founded over 20 years ago, ESOP Direct operates in India as a provider of end-to-end ESOP services, from plan conceptualisation and design, to administration and compliance. It has designed over 1,000 plans and manages over 500 plans on its platform, My ESOPs.

Harshu Ghate, co-founder and managing director of ESOP Direct, said that the acquisition is “a logical progression of our current business model and in line with the global trends in this domain”.

Qapita expects the value of private securities in this region to exceed US$1 trillion, with the presence of 200 to 250 unicorns – or private companies valued over US$1 billion – within the next few years.