Sorbet has announced a $21 million seed round – said to be the largest seed round ever for a Fintech in Israel. Sorbet said that funding of $6 million was announced in April and the round was subsequently extended garnering the additional $15 million. Simultaneously, the company said it would be expanding operations into the US and Australia.
Dovi Frances’ Group 11 led the funding that saw participation from current investors, including: Viola Ventures, Meron Capital and Global Founders Capital.
Sorbet is a service that enables employees the option to convert unused PTO or Paid Time Off – into cash. The company estimates that in the US there is a total amount of unused PTO of $270 billion.
The COVID-19 health crisis exacerbated the situation as more people started working from home and simply did not take the allotted time off. For employers, they must hold these sums on their balance representing a liability.
Sorbet integrates with employers’ existing calendar, HR, and payroll systems, so it can identify habits and analyze time management patterns. Sorbet seeks to proactively suggest personalized, pre-approved 3-6 hour “Micro Breaks”, 1-4 day “Micro Vacations” and +1 week vacations that fit the employees’ personal preferences, without disrupting their work. This process can increase 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.
Cashed out days can be loaded on a virtual prepaid card which can be used anywhere and can unlock curated experiences and activities through brand partnerships.
Sorbet reports that it currently employees 28 of which 16 are in Israel. Sorbet said it will be recruiting dozens of new employees this year, the majority of which in Israel, with others joining the US and Australian operations.
Veetahl Eilat-Raichel, Founder & CEO of Sorbet, said:
“It’s clear that we’re in the midst of a tectonic shift in employer-employee dynamics and with inbound global interest exceeding our wildest expectations, I had the great privilege of picking and choosing the best investors to help us expand and accelerate. I can think of no better partner than Dovi and the entire Group 11 team to join us, and am thrilled and humbled to have them alongside our already stellar group of investors.”
Sorbet was founded in 2019 by Eilat-Raichel, Eliaz Shapira (CPO), and Rami Kasterstein.