Bench, the accounting startup that exploded over the holidays, filed for bankruptcy in Canada on Jan. 7, revealing massive debts, documents seen by TechCrunch show.
The filings — one for Bench and another for 10Sheet, Bench’s original name — show that Bench had $2.8 million in cash at the end of its life, but $65.4 million in liabilities. (TechCrunch converted Canadian bankruptcy filing data to US dollars at a rate of $1 USD to $1.44 CAD.) Founded in 2012, Bench had raised $113 million from investors such as Shopify and Bain Capital Ventures.
Most of Bench’s debt — $50 million — is owed to National Bank of Canada, one of Canada’s largest commercial banks. More than 85% of this debt is unsecured, meaning the bank has little collateral to call against the loan now that Bench has failed. That debt may have helped lead to Bench’s sudden shutdown: The publication Tech Newcomer reported that NBC refused to make concessions on Bench as it was being put up for sale. NBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The bankruptcy filings also reveal financial obligations to Bench’s VC investors, split between convertible notes (which are intended to convert to equity) and direct shareholder loans. Bench owes $1.3 million to Bain Capital Ventures, whose partner Sarah Hinkfuss was named to Bench’s board in 2023, according to a press release. Bench also owes another C$1.2 million to VC Inovia Capital, whose executive residence Adam Schlesinger was named as Bench’s last CEO, the filings show. Contour Venture Partners, a New York-based VC that led Bench’s $60 million Series C round, is owed about $750,000. California-based Altos Ventures, another investor, is owed $777,000. All of this debt related to the VC is unsecured, the filing states.
Bench’s other debts include $1.8 million in severance payments to former employees, the documents say. TechCrunch previously reported that Bench staff were suddenly let go on Dec. 27 with no notice or severance. (Bench’s new owner, Employer.com, says it has rehired a large number of staff, but told TechCrunch they are temporarily on 30-day contracts while Bench works out its issues.)
Bench owes tens of thousands of dollars in severance payments to former executives as well: CEO Jean-Philippe Durrios, CRO Todd Daum and CFO Mor Lakritz are all listed in the filing. Lakritz’s LinkedIn shows that Bench had about $50 million in annual recurring revenue.
Finally, bankruptcy filings show that Bench owes $4 million in unpaid rent to Canadian real estate agency Morguard, most likely for her office. At its peak, Bench employed over 600 people. Beyond money owed to employees, office space and about $1.5 million (by our back-end math) due to a distribution to expected creditors such as SaaS business software providers, the filings don’t show what the rest of the money was like spent.
As Bench navigates its way into bankruptcy, it is also in the process of being acquired by San Francisco-based HR technology company Employer.com. Although its customers have also told TechCrunch that Employer.com is requiring them to hand over their data to Employer, or risk losing it.
Gary Levin, head of corporate development for Employer.com, told TechCrunch that the Canadian court is overseeing Bench’s bankruptcy proceedings and will oversee the distribution of proceeds to creditors. He emphasized that Employer.com has a strong balance sheet that allows it to invest in Bench significantly moving forward.
