EquityBee raises $20M Series A Funding
Silicon Valley: EquityBee, the startup employees’ stock options funding solution, announces its Series A financing round, raising $20M to accelerate growth, make additional hires across all departments, and expand product offerings. The round is led by Group 11 with participation from Oren Zeev Ventures, Battery Ventures, and ICON Continuity Fund. The round brings EquityBee’s total funding to more than $28M.
Founded in 2018, EquityBee saw high triple-digit growth in 2020, growing capital raised to fund employee stock options by over 560%, and the number of employees funded through the platform by over 360%. EquityBee’s Investor Community, which comprises family offices, funds, and high net-worth individuals, grew by 700%.
After launching in Israel in 2018, EquityBee has grown quickly, expanding to the US market in 2020. To date, EquityBee has funded employees from hundreds of companies, including recently IPOed companies such as Airbnb, Palantir, QuantumScape, Unity, and jFrog among others.
EquityBee provides funding to startup employees who have helped build successful pre-IPO companies by leveraging its Investor Community. The employees receive 100% of the needed capital to cover the cost of exercising their stock options and taxes, and in return, the investors and employees share future gains in liquidity events.
“As a serial entrepreneur who has been part of the startup ecosystem for the last 15 years and experienced it from all levels, from employee to founder, I have witnessed countless colleagues and friends lose out on a significant portion of their compensation because they didn’t understand the convoluted stock options system, and couldn’t afford to exercise the options they worked so hard to earn. EquityBee is removing this barrier and helping startup builders access the equity they have earned” says Oren Barzilai, CEO of EquityBee.
