Sorbet Closes $21M in Funding

sorbet
Veetahl Eilat-Raichel (CEO) left , Eliaz Shapira (CPO) / Credit: Kfir Ziv

Sorbet, an Israeli fintech startup, closed a $21M in financing.

In April, the company announced that it had closed a $6M round, which has now been extended by another $15M, led by Dovi Frances’ Group 11, along with current investors, including: Viola Ventures, Meron Capital and Global Founders Capital.

Founded in 2019 by Veetahl Eilat-Raichel (CEO), Eliaz Shapira (CPO) and Rami Kasterstein, Sorbet provides a platform that allows employees to convert their unused Paid Time Off (PTO) into cash. The platform integrates into and syncs with employers’ existing calendar, HR and payroll systems, so it can identify habits and analyze time management patterns. The company then begins to proactively suggest personalized, pre-approved 3-6 hour “Micro Breaks”, 1-4 day “Micro Vacations” and +1 week vacations which fit the employees’ personal preferences, without disrupting their work. By doing this, Sorbet both increases Time Off usage by an average of +15%, and is able to predict the portion of time-off which will never be used by the employee, and will end-up accruing.

Once Sorbet offers to buy out the unusable portion of the employees PTO, it is able to refinance these liabilities for employers so they can manage their cash flows, save on financing costs and increase tax deductions. At a time when everyone can use some extra cash, employers are able to offer their employees a financial benefit without having to bear the burden of a significant cash expense.

Sorbet is also announcing its expanding its operation from the US to Australia as well, where labor laws allow employees to accrue PTO indefinitely. The company, which currently employs 28 people, of which 16 are in Israel, will be recruiting dozens of new employees this year, the majority of which in Israel, with others joining the US and Australian operations. 

FinSMEs

24/06/2021