Shadowfax Technologies, a third-party logistics services provider, announced an employee stock options plan (ESOP) buyback program for its employees.

The total value of the ESOP buyback program is estimated at $5 million and is aimed at rewarding its employees as the business recovers to pre-Covid-19 levels. This is the first buyback offering by the company where eligible employees can sell up to 35 per cent of their assigned/vested ESOP shares. Shadowfax employees who have been granted ESOPs and completed more than four years with the company will be eligible to participate in the buyback program, the company said in a statement.

Shadowfax has also announced the appointment of Praharsh Chandra and Gaurav Jaithliya as co-founders, effective December 2020. This move is in the direction to strengthen the leadership team and scale up Shadowfax’s process and quality initiatives. Praharsh and Gaurav are currently Chief of Operations and Chief of Strategy and Investment, respectively.

Praharsh, an ex-ATK consultant and a seasoned e-commerce professional, has helped Shadowfax successfully navigate the highly-competitive hyperlocal and logistics landscape. His expertise and insights have been vital to Shadowfax’s growth and scale. He brings trust, ethics and discipline to the Shadowfax team, while Gaurav leads investment management; he also served Shadowfax as the Chief Financial Officer in the first three years of its inception and effectively steered Shadowfax through a very difficult phase when the market crashed in 2015-16. His deep understanding of finance and the ability to provide strategic direction, have been pivotal in Shadowfax’s fiscal performance.

Speaking on the developments, Abhishek Bansal, co-founder and CEO, Shadowfax, said , “2020 has been a challenging year. But Shadowfax has grown 2X compared to pre-Covid-19 level., We witnessed teams across functions at Shadowfax step up and make an exceptional contribution during this time. We have always believed that our team is one of our strongest assets. Our employees continue to play a key role in the growth journey. The ESOP buyback is our way of reciprocating their efforts and we envisage that it will help unlock value and create wealth for our people.”

“I have known Praharsh and Gaurav for over a decade now and their vision and commitment towards driving the organisation forward have been exemplary. Both of them are key members of the leadership group and have been instrumental in helping us scale new heights. Their elevation to co-founders is a very organic next step for our success and in recognition of their invaluable contribution, as we look ahead to set new benchmarks,” he further added.

Shadowfax, one of the largest crowd-sourced logistics platform, was established in 2015 with the vision of enabling commerce by empowering everyone, everywhere. Its tech-driven platform caters to the logistics needs of brands across verticals such as food, grocery, pharma, and e-commerce by providing a speedy and reliable solution, right from first mile movement to doorstep delivery. Having raised $100 million to date from marquee investors, the company currently services over 500 cities, covering over 7,000 pin codes, has over 1.5 lakh delivery network partners and delivers over five lakh orders per day.

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