Bench, the accounting startup that imploded over the vacations, filed for chapter in Canada on January 7 revealing huge money owed, paperwork seen by TechCrunch present.
The filings — one for Bench and one other for 10Sheet, Bench’s authentic title — present that Bench had $2.8 million in money readily available by the top of its life however $65.4 million in liabilities. (TechCrunch transformed the chapter submitting knowledge from Canadian to U.S. {dollars} at a fee of $1 USD to $1.44 CAD.) Based in 2012, Bench had raised $113 million from buyers like Shopify and Bain Capital Ventures.
Most of Bench’s debt — $50 million — is owed to the Nationwide Financial institution of Canada, one among Canada’s largest business banks. Greater than 85% of that debt is unsecured, that means the financial institution has little collateral to assert in opposition to the mortgage now that Bench has defaulted. That debt could have helped immediate Bench’s sudden shutdown: Tech publication Newcomer reported that NBC declined to make concessions to Bench because it was being shopped round on the market. NBC didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The chapter filings additionally reveal monetary obligations to Bench’s VC buyers, cut up between convertible notes (which are supposed to convert to fairness) and direct shareholder loans. Bench owes $1.3 million to Bain Capital Ventures, whose associate Sarah Hinkfuss was appointed to Bench’s board in 2023, in response to a press launch. Bench owes one other $1.2 million to Canadian VC Inovia Capital, whose executive-in-residence Adam Schlesinger was appointed as Bench’s final CEO, the filings present. Contour Enterprise Companions, a New York-based VC which led Bench’s $60 million Collection C spherical, is owed about $750,000. California-based Altos Ventures, one other investor, is owed $777,000. All of this VC-related debt is unsecured, the filings state.
Bench’s different money owed embrace $1.8 million in severance pay to former staff, the paperwork say. TechCrunch beforehand reported that Bench’s employees have been immediately let go on December 27 with no discover or severance supplied. (Bench’s new proprietor, Employer.com, says it has re-hired a lot of employees, however advised TechCrunch they’re briefly on 30-day contracts as Bench types out its points.)
Bench owes tens of hundreds of {dollars} in severance pay to former executives too: CEO Jean-Philippe Durrios, CRO Todd Daum, and CFO Mor Lakritz are all listed within the filings. Lakritz’s LinkedIn signifies Bench had about $50 million in annual recurring income.
Lastly, the chapter filings present Bench owes $4 million in unpaid lease to Canadian actual property company Morguard, almost definitely for its workplace. At its peak, Bench employed over 600 individuals. Past the cash owed to staff, workplace house and about $1.5 million (by our back-of-envelope math) attributable to a scattering of anticipated collectors, like SaaS enterprise software program suppliers, the filings don’t present how the remainder of the cash was spent.
As Bench works its manner by way of chapter, additionally it is within the technique of being acquired by San Francisco-based HR tech firm Employer.com. Though its prospects have additionally advised TechCrunch that Employer.com is requiring them to show their knowledge over to Employer, or threat shedding it.
Gary Levin, head of company improvement for Employer.com, advised TechCrunch that the Canadian courtroom is overseeing Bench’s insolvency proceedings and can supervise the distribution of proceeds to collectors. He emphasised that Employer.com has a robust stability sheet that enables it to spend money on Bench considerably transferring ahead.
