Employee stock options matchmaker EquityBee raises $20m

Dollars Photo: Shutterstock
Dollars Photo: Shutterstock

The Israeli startup helps high-tech employees exercise equity options worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Israeli startup EquityBee has raised $20 million to help high-tech employees exercise equity options worth tens of thousands of dollars. The financing round was led by Group 11 with the participation of Oren Zeev Ventures, Battery Ventures and ICON Continuity Fund. The company has raised $28.3 million to date and previous investors include WeWork founder Adam Neumann and Playbuzz founder Shaul Olmert.

Employees leaving high-tech companies and startups often have three months to pay large sums in order to exercise their stock options or lose them. EquityBee matches the employees with investors to back them and in that way helps the tech employees eventually earn tens of thousands of dollars. These are shares that cannot only be realized when the company holds an IPO or is acquired.

EquityBee was founded in 2018 by CEO Oren Barzilai, CPO Oded Golan and COO Modi Radashkovich.

Barzilai said, "An employee who takes part in a successful exit, which is for him a life-changing event and one day he receives five or six years' salary and that's something that impacts him and his family and we are proud that we have helped dozens of employees in the past year to take advantage of this potential. Otherwise these people would have left the company and not seen the money."

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 23, 2021

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2021

Dollars Photo: Shutterstock
Dollars Photo: Shutterstock
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