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Bench , the accountancy startup thatimploded over the holidays , filed for failure in Canada on January 7 disclose monumental debt , text file seen by TechCrunch show .
The filing — one for Benchand anotherfor 10Sheet , Bench ’s original name — show that Bench had $ 2.8 million in Johnny Cash on hired hand by the end of its living but $ 65.4 million in liabilities . ( TechCrunch convert the failure filing datum from Canadian to U.S. buck at a charge per unit of $ 1 USD to $ 1.44 CAD . ) launch in 2012 , Bench had raised $ 113 million from investors like Shopify and Bain Capital Ventures .
Most of Bench ’s debt — $ 51 million — is owed to the National Bank of Canada , one of Canada ’s large commercial-grade banks . More than 85 % of that debt is unsecured , mean the coin bank has little collateral to claim against the loan now that Bench has defaulted . That debt may have helped cue Bench ’s sudden shutdown : Tech publicationNewcomer reportedthat NBC decline to make conceding to Bench as it was being shopped around for sales event . NBC did not at once answer to a request for remark .
The bankruptcy filings also give away fiscal obligations to Bench ’s VC investors , break between exchangeable notes ( which are mean to exchange to fairness ) and direct shareowner loan . Bench owes $ 1.3 million to Bain Capital Ventures , whose partner Sarah Hinkfuss was appoint to Bench ’s board in 2023,according to a press passing . Bench owes another $ 1.2 million to Canadian VC Inovia Capital , whose administrator - in - residence Adam Schlesingerwas appointedas Bench ’s last chief operating officer , the filing show . Contour Venture Partners , a New York - based VCwhich ledBench ’s $ 60 million Series C round , is owe about $ 750,000 . California - base Altos Ventures , another investor , is owe $ 777,000 . All of this VC - related debt is unbolted , the filing land .
Bench ’s other debts include $ 1.8 million in severance pay to former employee , the document say . TechCrunch antecedently reported thatBench ’s staff were all of a sudden let go on December 27with no placard or severance cater . ( Bench ’s new possessor , Employer.com , saysit has re - hired a large number of stave , but told TechCrunch they are temporarily on 30 - day contracts as Bench sorts out its issues . )
Bench owe decade of thousands of buck in severance earnings to former executives too : CEO Jean - Philippe Durrios , CRO Todd Daum , and CFO Mor Lakritz are all number in the filings . Lakritz’sLinkedInindicates Bench had about $ 50 million in annual recur gross .
Finally , the bankruptcy filings show Bench owes $ 4 million in recreational rent to Canadian material estate agency Morguard , most potential for its office . At its pinnacle , Bench employed over 600 mass . Beyond the money owed to employee , place quad and about $ 1.5 million ( by our back - of - gasbag mathematics ) due to a dispersion of expected creditor , like SaaS business concern computer software providers , the filings do n’t show how the rest of the money was pass .
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As Bench exploit its way through bankruptcy , it is also in the process ofbeing acquiredby San Francisco - free-base HR tech ship’s company Employer.com . Although its customers have also told TechCrunch thatEmployer.com is requiring them to sprain their data overto Employer , or risk losing it .
Gary Levin , head of corporate development for Employer.com , recount TechCrunch that the Canadian court is overseeing Bench ’s insolvency proceedings and will supervise the distribution of yield to creditor . He stress that Employer.com has a strong residuum sheet that allows it to invest in Bench importantly moving onwards .
