South-east Asian startups explore early stock option cash-out to retain talent

Singapore

SOUTH-EAST Asian startups are exploring ways to allow employees to partially cash out stock options earlier, even before a listing or trade sale, industry players told The Business Times.

This means that buybacks and secondary sales of Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOP) are likely to become more common, as the South-east Asian startup ecosystem matures and the pool of "soonicorns" - or private companies nearing a US$1 billion valuation - increases.