Fintech major PhonePe has rolled out an employee stock option purchase program valued at Rs 700-800 crore, the Inc42 reported, as it gears up for to float its initial public offering (IPO).

Around 1,000 employees from the company's 12,000-strong workforce are currently eligible to participate in this buyback initiative, though the program scope could potentially expand further, the report said.

This comes as the Walmart-backed company is preparing to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the markets regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its IPO.

According to Bloomberg, the company is planning to raise as much as $1.5 billion via the IPO at a valuation of nearly $15 billion.

In July, PhonePe appointed former Meta India public policy head Shivnath Thukral as vice president for public policy and government affairs, ahead of its IPO.

The Bengaluru-based company, co-founded by Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari in 2015, was acquired by the Flipkart group in 2016 and has raised external funding over the years. In 2023, PhonePe had secured $100 million as part of its $1 billion funding round at a pre-money valuation of $12 billion.