[THE INVESTOR] Viva Republica, the operator of popular mobile payment app Toss, said on Jan.14 that it will offer 1 billion won (US$8.90 million) worth of stock options to all employees, in addition to hiking salaries by 50 percent. 

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The unicorn startup will offer its 180 employees the right to exercise options on 5,000 company shares worth 20,000 won apiece. After two years, they can exercise their rights at the current share price. After four years, they can exercise rights to trade the entire lot. This new incentive plan will also be applied to 120 incoming employees.  

“My wish is to attract talented human resources with the new incentive policy,” Lee Seung-gun, co-founder and CEO of Viva Republica, said in a statement. “It is aimed to provide proper compensation for our workers’ dedication and passion.”

Viva Republica rolled out its flagship app Toss in February 2015, which began as a Venmo-like peer-to-peer money transfer app and evolved into a financial platform. It has more than 10 million registered users -- about one-fifth of Korea’s population -- and a whopping 30 trillion won in accumulated transactions. Last year, its sales hit 56 billion won, while its market value is estimated at 1.3 trillion won.

By Yoon Yeun-jung (kairos07@heraldcorp.com)