Fintech Sorbet lays off majority of staff in structural reset
The vacation-day monetization platform says profitability pressure forced a reset of operations, resulting in the laying off of all of its employees in Israel and most of its staff in the U.S.
Israeli fintech company Sorbet has laid off all of its employees in Israel and most of its staff in the United States. The company had employed dozens of workers and has raised more than $25 million to date. Its investors include Viola, Meron Capital, Global Founders Capital, and Group 11.
Full list of Israeli high-tech layoffs in 2025
Sorbet developed a platform that allows employees to convert their accumulated vacation days into cash, an untapped market estimated at more than $270 billion annually in the United States alone.
The company was founded in late 2019 by Veetahl Eilat-Raichel (CEO), Eliaz Shapira (CPO), and Rami Kasterstein. Eilat-Raichel previously held senior marketing, sales, and business development roles at global companies such as L’Oréal and Lockheed Martin. She also served as Head of Retail Marketing at Bank Hapoalim and Head of Marketing and Customer Experience at Isracard. Shapira served as Co-Founder and CEO of Oneder, a leading educational platform focused on Special education. Rami has been active in the high-tech industry for over 30 years, as both serial entrepreneur and investor.
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In a statement, Sorbet explained: “Sorbet operates in a complex operational and regulatory environment that requires significant capital. For any lending company, and especially for one seeking to create a new financial asset out of unused vacation days, the cost of providing a single loan is almost the same as the cost of providing 100, 1,000, or even a million loans. As a result, companies like ours must carry a disproportionate cost structure until the asset portfolio grows large enough to justify it.
“Unfortunately, in the current market there is pressure on companies to become far more efficient and to demonstrate a clear, immediate path to profitability. Despite these challenges, Sorbet has real assets: extensive distribution channels and partnerships with leading fintech players such as Chime, MoneyLion, and Brightside; thousands of users employed by some of the largest U.S. corporations, including Amazon, Walmart, and USPS; a $25 million debt raise; and a loan portfolio generating several million dollars in revenue.
“The vision of turning unused vacation days into a recognized financial asset is more relevant than ever. To achieve it, we must significantly restructure costs and rebuild the company on a leaner and more efficient basis, with the goal of reaching profitability as quickly as possible.”
