Hissa, an innovative equity management platform, has launched its first initiative, Hissa Fund I, a groundbreaking $35 million fund dedicated to offering liquidity to employees holding vested stock options in high-growth startups. This initiative aims to provide an essential solution to a common challenge faced by startup employees: the uncertainty surrounding the real value of their stock options, often dependent on IPOs or acquisitions that may take years to materialize.
With this fund, Hissa is addressing the gap between paper wealth and real financial opportunities by offering liquidity to employees, enabling them to unlock the value of their stock options sooner rather than waiting for an IPO or acquisition to happen.
Hissa Fund I is designed as a SEBI-registered Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), allowing it to offer liquidity with T+5 settlement cycles, which ensures rapid and efficient transactions. The fund will initially target investments in 15-20 growth-stage startups, working closely with these companies’ founders to ensure that liquidity events are aligned with both talent retention and business growth strategies.
The newly launched fund has already made its first move by investing in Miko, an AI-powered robotics company. This initial investment provided liquidity to 32 employees, allowing them to realize the value of their stock options.
Founded in 2019 by Satish Mugulavalli and Srinivas Katta, Hissa is part of Rulezero, a platform that simplifies ownership management for startups. The platform automates key tasks such as issuing shares, managing stock options, tracking company ownership records, and handling transactions, thereby easing the operational complexities for startups and their employees.
Hissa Fund I is poised to transform the startup landscape, providing employees with much-needed liquidity and empowering them to fully benefit from their contributions to the growth of their companies.
