NowPurchase, a B2B startup, has successfully concluded its first-ever Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) buyback, marking a significant achievement for the company and the broader startup ecosystem in Kolkata. The buyback, valued at approximately 100 times the initial purchase price, has positively transformed employees’ financial outlooks.
This initiative underscores NowPurchase’s dedication to building a high-performing team that directly benefits from the company’s growth and is deeply invested in its future. Recently, the company raised $6 million in funding, bringing its total funding to over $10 million. The funding round included participation from InfoEdge Ventures, Orios Venture Partners, 100 Unicorns, VC Grid, and several family offices and angel investors, all of whom supported the buyback initiative.
Participating employees shared their plans to invest in financial markets, purchase vehicles, and move toward homeownership. Senior team members like Sachin Singh, Prateek Losalka, and Nishant Singh retained the majority of their options, signaling confidence in the company’s long-term vision.
Naman Shah, CEO and Co-founder of NowPurchase, expressed his delight, stating, “Our ESOP program, launched on July 1, 2019, has allowed team members across all roles — from warehouse staff to potential CXOs — to share in our success. This milestone reflects our commitment to creating value and fostering growth for everyone involved. None of this would have been possible without the support of our initial investors, Orios and InfoEdge.”
Co-founder Aakash Shah added, “ESOPs have been a cornerstone of our vision. We’ve worked hard to educate our team on their value as part of our mission to strengthen the startup ecosystem in Kolkata. This buyback is a tangible result of their dedication, with many choosing to retain shares for future growth opportunities.”
Founded in 2017 by Naman Shah and Aakash Shah with an initial investment of $300,000 from Nipha Group, NowPurchase serves as a procurement platform for metal manufacturers, offering high-quality raw materials like metal scrap, alloys, and additives. Leveraging a unique network of scrap processing centers and private labels for additives and alloys, the company enhances transparency and trust in the supply chain.
Its innovations include a WhatsApp bot for real-time stock and price updates, on-ground service and quality assurance, and its proprietary SaaS platform, MetalCloud, which optimizes manufacturing processes. CTO Ankan Adhikari, who joined in 2019, has brought valuable expertise to the team, contributing to the development of NowPurchase’s tech-driven solutions. With a strong foundation and comprehensive services, NowPurchase is poised to expand geographically and establish itself as the premier procurement platform for metal manufacturers.
