IIT placements bring startups into a hiring war with the bigwigs, who wins?

In IIT placements, venture-backed startups like Razorpay, Fractal Analytics, Battery Smart, OYO, Navi, Meesho and SpeakX are aggressively competing with tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Nvidia as well as high-frequency trading (HFT) firms to secure the best engineering talent.​​

While startups have been recruiting from IITs for a long time – Flipkart had floated more than 100 offers across campuses for the 2014 batch alone – they are now more assertive and often share prime slots with established players and HFT majors, offering a host of benefits towards initial public offerings (IPOs). Mint‘s review of job descriptions for IITs shows that these firms lure candidates with generous Esops that promise stocks, bonuses, rapid career advancement and quicker rewards than the slower paths at older companies.

Co-founder of Flipkart Sachin Bansal’s Navi is among the top recruiters of IITs this season. Bansal, an IIT Delhi graduate and poster boy for Indian startups, is looking to hire for multiple roles in fintech and offers salaries in the range: ₹38.2-45.2 lakhs, plus additional benefits like bonuses, relocation allowances and Esops.

In reply MintNavi’s group head of HR, Subeer Bakshi, said the company is hiring from IITs this year and is present in all major campuses including IIT Bombay, Delhi, Madras, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Roorkee, Guwahati and Hyderabad.

Navi has also recruited IIT interns from the 2026 batch, but pre-placement offer decisions are still pending. Average salaries have increased this year, with performance-related pay and Esops at the center of the pay structure, Bakshi said.

“We continue to maintain both a performance- and wealth-based compensation structure through Esops, ensuring long-term incentives remain a core part of how we attract and retain talent.”

talent shortage

Razorpay is looking for software engineers to join its Bengaluru office. Founded by IIT Roorkee graduates Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar, the IPO-bound fintech sector is expected to offer approx. ₹20 lakh compensation and participation bonus ₹3 lakhs and ₹20 lakh Esops with a vesting period of four years. The company declined to comment on this matter MintEmailed inquiries from .

SpeakX, an edtech startup that is more than 1 year old in its current form, did its IIT hiring this year but struggled to close top candidates despite increased salaries. The English learning platform is expected to hire backend software engineers for its Gurugram office and ₹10 lakh joining bonus and ₹10 lakh Esops along with his compensation.

“Upwards ₹50 lakh CTC including Esops,” the company said, adding, “Even this cannot compete with the highest-paying recruiters.” But the company managed to find a spot on Day Zero.

Still, most of the top 20 students at IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur “either withdrew or were already placed” and some did not show up despite clearing the online test.

The company eventually hired five engineers but said interest in early-stage startups was stronger at the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs). “Enthusiasm for startups is much higher in NITs and IIITs than in IITs.” With AI now writing “70% of our code internally,” SpeakX said companies increasingly need fewer but exceptional hires.

“We had to upgrade our comparison groups… If you want to play in that league, there’s no other way. But because we’re hiring fewer people, the cost structure balances out.”

IPO appeal

Battery Smart, a battery replacement company founded by IIT Kanpur graduates Pulkit Khurana and Siddharth Sikka, may also offer positions to data analysts and strategy and operations employees in its Gurugram office. ₹25 lakhs, incl. ₹2 lakh performance bonus, ₹1 lakh joining bonus and Esops value ₹7 lakhs.

“At Battery Smart, IITs continue to be a key talent pool as we scale the next phase of India’s EV transition. This placement season, we are hiring across product, technology, supply chain and operations at selected campuses,” said Nitasha Sharma, director of talent acquisition.

To attract top talent in a competitive environment, Battery Smart focuses on more than compensation, he added. “Through Esops, we offer a well-rounded compensation package of fixed salary, performance-based incentives and long-term value. Beyond competitive roles and career progression, we offer a culture where innovation, autonomy and purpose come together and the chance to help shape a category-defining business from the ground up.”

While more traditional firms use Esops, bonuses and clawbacks to retain employees and prevent them from leaving early. Mint For startups headed for an IPO, this is a way to attract candidates to the firm, it was reported Tuesday. Of the 23 IITs, the new ones, along with some other major engineering colleges including NITs, started their placements in September, ahead of the old IITs.

Mumbai-based AI and analytics firm Fractal Analytics, which is also exploring an upcoming IPO, is looking for AI engineers for its Mumbai, Gurugram and Bengaluru offices. The company may offer a salary ₹35 lakhs with retention bonus ₹3 lakh after 13 months with a clawback period of 12 months. The company declined to comment on the queries shared by. Mint.

storage tool

IPO-bound OYO Rooms is looking for candidates to join its leadership program in Gurugram and can offer salaries of around $200 million. ₹11.5 lakhs. Similarly, Meesho has multiple openings that are likely compensation ranges. ₹37.25-60 lakh ahead of IPO. “The majority of our hires are tech-savvy. Approximately 57% of our entire headcount is tech and product. So our focus will be solely on acquiring the best talent within tech,” said Vidit Aatrey, co-founder and CEO of the multi-category online retailer. Mint in an interview.

Razorpay and OYO’s Esops may become more attractive as IPO timelines approach; This is something both companies are confident will stand out.

Questions sent to OYO Rooms on Tuesday morning remained unanswered.

Aditya Singh, co-founder and partner at venture capital firm All in Capital, said demand for Esops is coming not just from startups trying to make their offerings more attractive, but increasingly from students.

He said students see Esops as the real owner of the company, but it is important for them to have a clear understanding of the terms. Unlike big tech restricted stock units (RSUs) Most startup Esops from companies like Amazon or Google require employees to purchase their shares before they can be exercised, and options only gain value if the stock becomes liquid through an IPO or other exit. “Esops may not turn into a meaningful financial gain if the company never gets listed,” he said.

RSUs are a holding device in which employees are given a fixed number of shares after a certain period of time, provided they meet performance criteria.

Still, Singh said the trend is positive. Simply put, early-stage valuations benefit from strong teams, while later-stage valuations are driven primarily by financial metrics.

Placements at IITs are a barometer of how campus recruitment in India will shape up over the next few months. Older IITs (Delhi, Mumbai, Madras, Kharagpur, Kanpur, Roorkee and Guwahati) started their final placements from the early hours of December 1.

Da Vinci Trading, technology giants Tesla Inc. and Apple Inc. and high-frequency trading companies such as aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing are among the companies that will compete to acquire the best engineering talent. Mint It was reported on Monday.