Your ESOP Partner in Southeast Asia

Congratulations on taking the first step in your entrepreneurship journey! If you are reading this article, you are probably a founder, excited to begin your journey in Southeast Asia’s growing startup ecosystem. As a startup founder, you’d probably have considered giving out stock options to draw talent.

You’re not alone. An Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) is a useful tool for startups to attract, motivate, and retain employees, especially when the company is in an early stage and may not be able to pay high salaries. Besides helping founders get top talents without affecting current cash flows, ESOP gives employees an ownership interest in the company, and reduces compensation differences. This not only creates more wealth for employees, but also spur employees to give their all to create value for the company.

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If you’re not familiar with ESOP or need a quick refresher, check out our simple guide here! A 5-minute guide to ESOP and why they matter.

But there are also challenges and considerations that startups have to face with regards to ESOP. For one, setting up an ESOP is flexible but complex, with many rules, regulations, and scenarios to consider. Administering an ESOP also requires dedicated time, resources, and expertise, which founding teams may not have.

These complexities make it hard for seasoned entrepreneurs to structure and manage an ESOP that creates win-win outcomes for both the company and its employees, let alone first-time founders.

This is where Svested comes in to help. With over a decade of experience in the startup ecosystem, we make ESOP easy and accessible for founders across Southeast Asia. Having been entrepreneurs ourselves, we know how important it is for founders to build companies that employees want to be part of – and a robust ESOP is key for talent attraction and retention.

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Across Southeast Asia, ESOP is gaining popularity due to an increased awareness about alternative forms of compensation. This comes amidst the rise of tech unicorns in Southeast Asia, where early employees in these companies have benefitted hugely from receiving stock options.   

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ESOP enhances company culture and cultivates a sense of ownership within the organization, as employees are inspired to think and act like employee-owners. It is an exciting time for founders to adopt ESOPs, and we are excited to be part of this journey.   

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Svested is launching in Southeast Asia with three key offerings:

Advisory

While ESOP has many advantages and benefits, there are also factors that founders should consider. We help founders understand the key considerations of ESOP, and how it will affect both company and employees. We recognize that every company is unique, and work closely with founders to design customized plans based on their companies’ financial health, needs, roadmap, and objectives.  

Legal Planning and Setup

Partnering with experienced ESOP lawyers, we provide legal drafting and implementation services to bring your ESOP ideas to life. We also develop customized ESOP guidelines for startups, in line with ESOP (technical?) limitations and local regulations. This creates a strong foundation for startups to scale and grow.

Management

Developed in-house, Svested’s ESOP Management Platform helps founders issue, track, and manage equity digitally. In parallel, employees can monitor their stock options, and exercise ESOP with confidence. We understand that ESOP management can be tedious without proper systems in place. Our proprietary platform makes managing ESOP easy and seamless, so that both founders and employees can focus on strategic work that matters.

Having closed two funding rounds with Antler, a global stage venture capital firm, we are confident of our potential to thrive in the market and refine the way ESOP is managed in the startup ecosystem.

With strong financial support from our investors, coupled with our expertise in ESOP administration, we are uniquely positioned to supercharge startups by helping founders and employees better manage their equity. 

We have assembled a passionate and competent team to serve startups across Southeast Asia. We would love to talk to you if you are a startup founder who is keen to explore ESOP, and understand how it can create value for your company, employees, investors, and partners.

Reach out to us at admin@svested.com. We are all about making ESOP easy for you!