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EquityBee

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Equitybee
Company typeLLC
IndustryFinancial services
Founded2018[citation needed]
Headquarters
Palo Alto, California
Key people
Oren Barzilai, Oded Golan, Mody Radashkovich
Websitewww.equitybee.com

Equitybee is an online platform for helping startup employees exercise their stock options and receive pre-IPO shares from privately held companies.[1] It provides education about acquiring earned stock options and funding for acquiring the shares to startup employees.[2][3][4] It was co-founded in 2017 by Oren Barzilai, Oded Golan, and Mody Radashkovich, and is based in Palo Alto, California, United States.[5][6]

History

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Equitybee was co-founded in 2017 by Oren Barzilai, Oded Golan, and Mody Radashkovich.[7] EquityBee helps startup employees receive funding to exercise their stock options before they expire. The platform empowers startup employees with information and capital to participate in the success of the companies they helped build.[8][7][9]

Barzilai and Golan are serial entrepreneurs; Barzilai founded Tapingo in 2012, which was later acquired by GrubHub for $150 million in 2018.[10] Equitybee was initially based in Tel Aviv, Israel.[11] In 2019, it moved headquarters to Palo Alto, California.[12]

Equitybee received pre-seed funding in September 2018, seed funding in February 2020,[2][4] Series A funding in February 2021,[5] and Series B funding in September 2021,[13] totaling $83.3 million cumulatively. Group 11, Greenfield Partners, Battery Ventures, Altair Capital, Zeev Ventures, ICON Continuity Ventures, and LocalGlobe are among its investors.[14][5]

Product

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The Equitybee platform helps startup employees exercise their stock options before they expire. The platform is built and managed by an affiliate of EquityBee Inc. By law, employees have a limited period of time to exercise their stock options when they leave a startup.[3][15] Lack of finances to cover the cost of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and resulting taxes often lead to the expiration of an employee's vested stock options.[3][7] Equitybee matches startup employees with its network of selected investors.[16] The investors provide capital that covers the cost of purchasing startup stock options, as well as the accompanying taxes, for a share in potential future gains.[2][17][18][1]

Equitybee has facilitated funding of employees from companies such as AirBnB,[19] Palantir Technologies,[5] QuantumScape,[8] and DoorDash.[12] The Equitybee investor network comprises 8,000 funds, high net-worth individuals, and family offices.[12][20]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Startup employees are scrambling to offload equity options as layoffs sweep Silicon Valley, but many forget the major tax bills that might come with it". Business Insider. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  2. ^ a b c "EquityBee's 36-year-old CEO saw friends and colleagues lose access to their stock options. He launched a startup to help them and used this pitch deck to raise $6.6 million". Business Insider. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  3. ^ a b c "Employee stock options co EquityBee raises $6.6m". Globes. 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  4. ^ a b "Israeli startup EquityBee launches in US with $6.6M in funding to help startup employees exercise their stock options". Tech News | Startups News. 2020-02-11. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  5. ^ a b c d Orbach, Meir (2021-02-23). "Stock options marketplace EquityBee raises $20 million on back of accelerated growth". CTECH - www.calcalistech.com. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  6. ^ Stoler, Tofi (2018-09-12). "WeWork's Adam Neumann Invests in Stock Option Marketplace EquityBee". CTECH - www.calcalistech.com. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  7. ^ a b c "Breaking the Golden Cage: This Israeli Company Lets Workers Quit and Keep Their Options, Too". Haaretz. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  8. ^ a b Drenik, Gary. "Helping Employees Take Part In The Success Of The Companies They Helped Build". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  9. ^ "אזיקי זהב: אקוויטי־בי תשמור על החלק שלכם באקזיט - גם אם עזבתם את החברה". TheMarker. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  10. ^ "EquityBee raises $20M to help startup employees actually afford their stock options – TechCrunch". California News Times. 2021-02-22. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  11. ^ Solomon, Shoshanna. "Sheryl Sandberg to inaugurate Facebook's new space in Tel Aviv". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  12. ^ a b c "EquityBee raises $20M to help startup employees actually afford their stock options". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  13. ^ "EquityBee Raises Additional $55 Million From Repeat Investor Group 11". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  14. ^ "Employee stock options funding startup EquityBee raises $20M". SiliconANGLE. 2021-02-22. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  15. ^ Milman, Omri (2018-12-19). "Income Taxing of Options Applies to a Small Share of Israeli Tech Employees". CTECH - www.calcalistech.com. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  16. ^ "How much is capital gains tax? It depends on how long you held the asset and your income level". Business Insider. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  17. ^ Zara, Christopher (2021-06-03). "These are the 10 hottest pre-IPO stocks right now". Fast Company. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  18. ^ "Facebook launches Tel Aviv 'Playground' to boost local innovation". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  19. ^ Zara, Christopher (2020-08-26). "Airbnb is the hottest startup for stock options right now, and it's not even close". Fast Company. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  20. ^ Zara, Christopher (2020-09-16). "It's snowing on the NYSE and raining frogs on the Nasdaq". Fast Company. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
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