Create your ESOP and option grant agreements and use our DocuSign integration to collect signatures. Oh yeah, enjoy automatic cap table updates, too, when you manage your ESOP on Clara.
Complete the process digitally in a few clicks, including Board approvals.
Every time you issue a grant, the vesting schedule will automatically appear on your cap table with all the math done for you.
You’ll be reminded of upcoming vesting dates and Clara will pre-populate exercise notices – ready to be signed by your team members.
Make ESOP allocation a seamless part of your onboarding process. Generate grants for new team members in a few clicks with everything signed through the platform.
Clara’s ESOP documents comprise of an option plan, board resolution approving the plan, grant agreements and an FAQ document.
The plan sets aside a pool of share options that you can allocate to employees, directors, advisors and consultants. Once your plan is in place, you can issue grant agreements to allocate options from your plan’s pool to team members.
An ESOP allows you to attract talent, incentivize your team to contribute to your company’s success and retain them through time-based vesting. An ESOP can also be used for consultants and advisors, not just employees.
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Login into your account (or sign-up, if you don’t have one).
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Click the blue (+) button, choose the relevant jurisdiction from the dropdown and select Share Incentive Plan or Equity Incentive Plan for Delaware.
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Complete each field in the form and select your various options, including the pool of shares you want to set aside for your ESOP.
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Once you generate the plan, you can save it in draft, edit it and when final, send it for signature through our built-in DocuSign integration. It will be signed by way of a board resolution adopting the plan (the actual plan itself is not signed). Clara will take care of all that for you.
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Now that your plan is in place and ESOP pool set aside, you can start issuing options to team members. Just go back to the Generate Documents tab, select Grant Agreement, complete the form and sign it when you’re ready.
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Clara will automatically remind you when an upcoming vesting date is near and pre-populate an exercise notice ready for your team member to sign and send back to you, right on the platform.
Starting a company is hard enough, but managing legal processes shouldn’t be. With Clara’s dedicated accelerator onboarding solution, companies can get the support and infrastructure they need to efficiently and professionally complete their legal due diligence and finalize an investment. Amal Dokhan General Partner MENA, 500 Global
Starting a company is hard enough, but managing legal processes shouldn’t be. With Clara’s dedicated accelerator onboarding solution, companies can get the support and infrastructure they need to efficiently and professionally complete their legal due diligence and finalize an investment.
Clara is a one-stop shop for everything equity related. All our data is safe and securely stored and accurately recorded. And our investors love having direct access. It has saved us countless hours and kept our cap table mistake free. Jessica Anuna CEO & Founder, Klasha
Clara is a one-stop shop for everything equity related. All our data is safe and securely stored and accurately recorded. And our investors love having direct access. It has saved us countless hours and kept our cap table mistake free.
We spend a lot of time educating founders on basic legal concepts: what they need to do for us to invest in them. Clara automates these functions. As Clara’s first institutional investor, we knew intuitively from inception, this company will be a game changer. Vijay Tirathrai Managing Director, Techstars
We spend a lot of time educating founders on basic legal concepts: what they need to do for us to invest in them. Clara automates these functions. As Clara’s first institutional investor, we knew intuitively from inception, this company will be a game changer.
You can’t beat Clara’s ESOP functionality. It allows us to grant options to our team in a few clicks while automatically updating our cap table. Truly next level. Michael Hunter Co-Founder & CEO, Holo
You can’t beat Clara’s ESOP functionality. It allows us to grant options to our team in a few clicks while automatically updating our cap table. Truly next level.
Founders often struggle with managing their legal function due to lack of expertise and resources. And we’ve seen poor legal structures create hurdles to our investing in otherwise healthy startups. Investors like ourselves love that Clara gives founders the tools they need to establish, grow and scale their startups from day one on a best-practice basis. Shane Shin Founding Partner, Shorooq
Founders often struggle with managing their legal function due to lack of expertise and resources. And we’ve seen poor legal structures create hurdles to our investing in otherwise healthy startups. Investors like ourselves love that Clara gives founders the tools they need to establish, grow and scale their startups from day one on a best-practice basis.
US cap table solutions aren’t tailored to the differentiated needs of international startups. Clara is the only cap table provider we found that had emerging market startups in mind. Add to that all the other things you can do on the Clara platform, from building your ESOP to data room management, and switching was a no brainer. Omar Rifai Co-founder, GrubTech
US cap table solutions aren’t tailored to the differentiated needs of international startups. Clara is the only cap table provider we found that had emerging market startups in mind. Add to that all the other things you can do on the Clara platform, from building your ESOP to data room management, and switching was a no brainer.
From company formation to maintaining the cap-table, by using Clara founders can digitally form their companies in a range of jurisdictions, create and manage their cap-tables and generate legal documents. Clara is quickly becoming an integral part of the startup software stack. Daniel Dos Reis Investment Director, Wamda Capital
From company formation to maintaining the cap-table, by using Clara founders can digitally form their companies in a range of jurisdictions, create and manage their cap-tables and generate legal documents. Clara is quickly becoming an integral part of the startup software stack.
Clara is a must-have for founders. Not only does it provide all the legal tools you need in a single platform, using Clara also signals to investors that you are a serious startup. Mazen AlDarrab Founder & CGO, Zid
Clara is a must-have for founders. Not only does it provide all the legal tools you need in a single platform, using Clara also signals to investors that you are a serious startup.
IP Assignments, what? I didn’t even know they existed before Clara. For startups, setting up governance, corporate structures, data rooms and fundraising are all hard to get right. Clara’s legalOS is premium. It pays for itself. Zohare Haider Co-Founder & CEO, Jalebi
IP Assignments, what? I didn’t even know they existed before Clara. For startups, setting up governance, corporate structures, data rooms and fundraising are all hard to get right. Clara’s legalOS is premium. It pays for itself.
Binance uses Clara to incorporate and manage ADGM entities. The team at Clara are extremely efficient and go the extra mile to ensure we always have a smooth experience and meet our deadlines. Top-notch service! Vishal Sacheendran Head of Strategy and Operations, Binance
Binance uses Clara to incorporate and manage ADGM entities. The team at Clara are extremely efficient and go the extra mile to ensure we always have a smooth experience and meet our deadlines. Top-notch service!
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We have put together some commonly asked questions
An ESOP helps you attract, incentivize and retain team members, and empower them as part-owners aligned with the interests of your company. ESOPs tend to be especially important for early-stage companies given the inherent risks and lower salaries associated with these types of roles.
Every situation is different. It generally makes sense to have one as soon as you feel you need to start attracting talent and hiring and growing your team.
This depends on how you choose to structure your ESOP and there are important tax implications both for your company and team members, so please always obtain professional tax advice (and your team members should too). However, it is common for some payment to be made, either based on the fair market value of your company at the time the grant of options was made – more typical for jurisdictions with tax – or at the very least the par value of the shares (a small nominal amount that is typically between US$0.001 to US$0.00001 depending on the jurisdiction) as this is usually a legal requirement – more typical for low or no tax jurisdictions.
While they hold only the options, their only rights will be the right to exercise the options as they vest and receive the corresponding shares. Once they become shareholders, the rights they have will depend on how you choose to structure your ESOP. It’s not uncommon to give very few little rights, including no voting rights, as the main purpose of the ESOP is to provide economic incentives and not governance rights.
While options remain outstanding subject to vesting, you have to look at your “acceleration” provisions. The most typical ones are “single-trigger acceleration” which immediately accelerates all vesting so that your team members take all their shares immediately prior to the sale and can sell them at the same time as the sale or “double-trigger acceleration” which means that a team member’s vesting schedule continues as is under the new buyer and would only accelerate if their engagement is terminated as part of the sale or within a period of time after (typically between 6 to 12 months).
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