GoKwik ESOP Clause Puts Vested Options at Risk Across Nine Rivals

GoKwik has amended its ESOP Plan 2021 so that employees who join any of nine named rivals can forfeit both unvested and vested-but-unexercised options. The restriction applies retroactively. It also runs for two full years after an employee leaves the company.

The ecommerce enablement startup named Razorpay, Shiprocket, CRED, Cashfree Payments, BiteSpeed, Snapmint, WebEngage, Shopflo and Pine Labs as restricted companies. Employees cannot join, advise or invest in them without risking the loss of outstanding options. Notably, the policy reaches back to grants issued before the amendment existed.

What does the clause mean for employees?

For staff holding significant ESOPs, the math is stark. Many are weighing offers from larger, better-known companies against the risk of forfeiting options they have already earned the right to exercise. Career mobility now carries a direct price.

Timing compounds the unease. GoKwik has seen several senior-level departures in the recent past. A layoff earlier this year has further unsettled staff.

The legal footing is uncertain. Non-compete clauses are common in Indian employment agreements, but explicitly linking rival firms to the forfeiture of vested options is unusual. Legal experts believe the amendment could face legal scrutiny if GoKwik uses it to penalise employees for joining a competitor.

There is a governance question too. By converting earned equity into an aggressive retention tactic, startups risk eroding the trust that underpins employee wealth creation. GoKwik has not said whether it will keep the clause or roll it back.

Who now runs Unacademy?

Barely two months after upGrad completed its acquisition of Unacademy, Gaurav Munjal is stepping down as CEO. He will become executive chairman and, in his words, will "help" with upGrad's IPO.

Chief business officer Akhilendra Kumar takes over as chief executive of the recently acquired edtech platform. The transition ends Munjal's decade-long run as top executive.

Unacademy raised billions of dollars at the peak of the pandemic. It then ran into monetisation issues and ballooning losses as soon as schools reopened.

Why did RentoMojo's profit fall 63%?

Recently listed furniture rental company RentoMojo posted a 62.6% year-on-year drop in net profit, to INR 18.2 Cr in Q2 FY27. The decline was largely accounting-driven: a deferred tax expense of INR 6.2 Cr this quarter against a deferred tax credit of INR 32.8 Cr in the year-ago period.

Operating revenue grew 52.8% year on year to INR 142.1 Cr, driven by customer orders, live subscribers and rental inventory. Expenses rose almost as fast, up 53.2% to INR 119.8 Cr.

Operationally, the picture was stronger:

• Store network expanded to 96 stores at the end of September 2026
• Live subscriber base grew 43% year on year to 3.2 Lakh
• Users ordered 3.8 Lakh gross items during the quarter, up 45%

What is at stake in Cult.fit's trademark fight?

The Madras High Court has directed IPO-bound Cult.fit to respond to a petition seeking cancellation of the CULT trademark held by one of its subsidiaries. The next hearing is set for December 2.

The petitioner, Deepak Poduval, cofounded the CULT fitness business in 2015. He alleges that his signatures on 2017 assignment deeds, which purportedly transferred the brand to Cult.fit, were forged. Cult.fit has not publicly answered that allegation.

If the challenge succeeds, the case could affect Cult.fit's right to use the trademark. The gym chain could also face SEBI scrutiny, because it has already acknowledged that its DRHP did not correctly describe the ownership of the CULT trademarks.

Why did India ban black mass exports?

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade has prohibited exports of black mass, a mineral-rich product of recycled EV batteries. The order applies immediately to all outbound shipments.

Black mass comes from shredding end-of-life lithium-ion batteries. It is rich in lithium, cobalt and nickel, metals that can be recovered and reused in new batteries, saving costs and reducing foreign dependence.

The restriction could keep critical raw materials inside India's borders. But the source notes a gap: India still has limited capacity for black mass extraction and refining. Capabilities will have to be built before the country captures the full economic value.

How bad was Diwali for phone retailers?

Mobile phone retailers saw sales volumes decline 18-20% over the four-day Diwali period from November 6 to November 9, according to industry body AIMRA. Weak consumer demand and rising prices weighed on the season.

Overall sales value stayed broadly in line with last year, thanks to higher average selling prices. But AIMRA noted the volume contraction squeezed margins and store profitability across retail channels.

The sub-INR 20,000 segment was hit hardest, hurt by a shortage of fresh, competitive 5G models from leading brands. Financing added another constraint: only 60-70% of loan applications were approved.

Can Qucev electrify India's heavy trucks?

Hyderabad-based Qucev, founded in 2022, designs and manufactures electric commercial vehicles indigenously: delivery and refrigerated vans, heavy-duty trucks, electric tractors and electric concrete mixers. It serves logistics, manufacturing, construction and cold-chain customers, and adds charging support, financing partnerships, fleet tracking and after-sales services.

The company operates two manufacturing facilities and a service network spanning 17 cities. Qucev claims its vehicles have clocked over 1.3 Mn kms and serve more than 20 enterprise customers, including DHL, Blue Dart, Mondelez and Godrej. These are company claims; no independent verification accompanies them.

Backed by Singularity AMC, Qucev plans to scale manufacturing and develop new products. It faces Tata Motors and Euler Motors as rivals, and heavy payloads, long duty cycles and patchy charging infrastructure remain hard constraints. Its next test is whether purpose-built electric trucks can deliver dependable economics at scale.

Separately, Indian startups are experimenting with less wasteful packaging, from seed paper to reusable boxes, a trend Inc42 highlighted in its infographic of the day. Whether GoKwik retreats from its restrictive ESOP clause, and whether Poduval's forgery claim survives court scrutiny on December 2, will shape both retention practice and brand governance for India's startups in the months ahead.