About Sparkmate:
Sparkmate provides comprehensive support to innovators, empowering them to envision, create, and successfully launch exceptional products while significantly reducing their time to market.
Location
Hong Kong, Paris, Sydney
Industry
IT Services and IT Consulting
Key features used in Sprout (Andy to check if its correct)
ESOP consultation
Full service onboarding
ESOP grants and vesting management
Equity tracking and management
Summary
Sparkmate encountered a problem updating their cap table and implementing a creative compensation idea for an employee share option plan. To address this, they engaged in a series of design and consultation sessions with Sprout consultants and their legal counsel, leading to the development and launch of a custom share compensation scheme. Sprout provided a solution by offering a comprehensive solution that uniquely combines a powerful digital platform for tracking and managing equity, professional advisory services and documentation support. They successfully onboarded Sparkmate employees onto the platform, ensuring transparency and educating them about the value of equity.
Pain Points
- Update their cap table
- Unusual idea for option plan
- Needed to create it and document it
- Series of design and consultation sessions
- Led to finalizing and launching the program
The Solution
Sprout offers a full service that combines a state of the art platform to track and manage equity alongside full professional advisory services, structuring guidance, and documentation support to assist organizations in structuring their equity and ESOP. Sprout onboarded Sparkmate employees onto the platform, providing transparency and education to reinforce the value of equity.
Sprout provided a comprehensive solution to address the pain points of Sparkmate, which included the following steps:
1. Update their cap table:
Sprout helped Sparkmate update their cap table by conducting a thorough assessment of their existing shareholder structure and equity ownership. They ensured that all equity allocations and ownership stakes were accurately reflected in the cap table. This process involved verifying the equity grants, exercising options, and accounting for any changes in ownership due to funding rounds or employee stock transactions.
2. Creative ideas for employee options:
Sprout’s innovative solution tailored to Sparkmate’s unique requirements of employee share option plan. They collaborated with Sparkmate’s management team to understand their specific needs and designed an option plan that aligned with the company’s goals and vision. Their plan included creative incentive elements such as performance-based vesting, extended exercise windows, or other unique features to incentivize and retain key employees while adhering to their culture and values.
3. Creation and documentation of the option plan:
Sprout took responsibility for creating and documenting the option plan in accordance with legal and regulatory requirements. They prepared all necessary legal documentation, such as option agreements, grant letters, and employee communication materials. Sprout ensured that the option plan was clearly defined, compliant with relevant laws and regulations, and easy for Sparkmate employees to understand.
4. Series of design and consultation sessions:
To ensure the option plan met Sparkmate’s specific needs, Sprout conducted a series of design and consultation sessions with key stakeholders, including the management team and legal advisors. These sessions allowed for open discussions, brainstorming, and refinement of the plan’s structure, terms, and provisions. Sprout leveraged their expertise and industry knowledge to guide Sparkmate through the decision-making process and ensure that the final option plan was well-suited to the company’s requirements.
5. Finalizing and launching the program:
Based on the insights gathered during the design and consultation sessions, Sprout finalized the option plan, incorporating all the agreed-upon modifications and enhancements. They worked closely with Sparkmate’s legal team to ensure the plan’s compliance and regulatory adherence. Once everything was in order, Sprout helped Sparkmate launch the option plan, including communicating the details to eligible employees, handling the administration and execution of option grants, and providing ongoing support for any queries or concerns.
“By addressing our problem set and pain points around cap table management, Sprout collaborated and over delivered and assisted with the creation, documentation, and launch of our ESOP program. Sprout provided Sparkmate with a comprehensive solution that optimized our equity management ideas and to drive employee satisfaction, retention and alignment.”
Morgan Pellesier, CEO & Co-Founder of Sparkmate