Innovaccer Fuels Employee Wealth with INR 600 Cr Buyback

Healthtech unicorn Innovaccer has finalized an employee secondary buyback valued at INR 600 crore, approximately $75 million. This transaction provides much-needed liquidity to an undisclosed number of current and former employees who hold vested stock options.

Employee Liquidity Milestone

The core objective behind the exercise, according to CEO Abhinav Shashank, was to transform employee ownership into tangible outcomes while simultaneously fueling aggressive investment in its platform and customer base. "If people are helping build long-term value every day, they should have the opportunity to participate in that value along the way," Shashank told Inc42. "Liquidity and secondary buybacks are simply an extension of our belief in people, not just as employees, but as long-term partners in the company's journey."

An ESOP buyback is a corporate action where a company repurchases shares from employees who exercised their stock options. This process offers liquidity without issuing new shares, thus avoiding dilution of existing shareholding patterns.

Strategic Rationale and Vision

Founded in 2014 by Shashank, Kanav Hasija, and Sandeep Gupta, Innovaccer specializes in helping healthcare organizations streamline data for improved patient care and operational efficiency. Its proprietary Healthcare Intelligence Cloud and Data Activation Platform consolidate information from various health systems into a unified source.

The California-headquartered startup serves major clients including CommonSpirit Health, Kaiser Permanente, and Banner Health. Earlier in 2025, Innovaccer secured $275 million in a Series F funding round from investors like B Capital Group and M12, capital designated for expansion, new AI and cloud capabilities, and scaling its developer ecosystem.

Innovaccer's Growth Trajectory

Since its last funding round, Innovaccer has actively pursued mergers and acquisitions. Notable acquisitions include Story Health and Humbi AI in September 2025, aimed at enhancing specialty care management and adding AI copilots. In 2024, the company acquired Cured for patient experience and CRM functionalities, and Pharmacy Quality Solutions for pharmacy performance management.

This past year also saw the launch of three new products: Innovaccer Gravity, a healthcare intelligence platform for operationalizing AI; Flow, an AI-driven prior authorization solution to reduce revenue-cycle friction; and Comet, an AI-powered access center to automate scheduling and front-office interactions.

Broader Startup Ecosystem Trends

While Innovaccer is not currently pursuing an initial public offering (IPO), its buyback mirrors a trend observed among numerous new-age tech companies in 2025. Data indicates that twelve Indian startups, including PhonePe and Flipkart, conducted ESOP buybacks in 2025, enabling over 9,200 employees to unlock wealth exceeding INR 1,409 crore ($158 million). This contrasts with 2024, when 23 startups offered similar buyback programs, highlighting a slowdown in the overall buyback activity year-over-year.