The Antler Investor Memo Series: Bit.leave is helping companies tackle excess leave & burnout

Early stage investment company Antler Australia recently backed 13 startups as part of its ongoing program to build great local tech companies. Over six weeks, Startup Daily will share the details of each venture in the “Antler Investor Memos” series.

You can also meet the founders on the Startup Daily show on ausbiz.com.au every Monday and Wednesday.

This series is designed to give you a quick, sharp understanding of the startups and people involved, with many seeking follow up capital following Antler’s initial pre-seed investment.

Company: Bit.leave

Formation date: 2022

Stage of business: Pre-Seed

Founders: Brett Turley and Kushal Vaghani

Current investors: Antler, Minimum Viable Product Grants awarded by the NSW Government

Currently raising: Yes

The business

Market conditions and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have left companies to grapple with excess leave liabilities, team burnout and employee churn. To address this, Bit.leave has launched a benefits platform that automates excess leave management, optimises organisations’ balance sheets, and turns leave into a tradable currency.

The “leave-as-a-currency” solution helps companies retain top talent, predict departments at risk of burnout, instantly cash out excess leave and time in lieu, and reduce balance sheet liabilities. And with the ability to rapidly scale into new regions regardless of industry and the size of the organisation, Bit.leave’s platform will be able to help organisations solve this problem worldwide.

Antler investment thesis

“From inception, Brett and Kushal had an ambitious vision, the capability to build a product at scale, and unwavering determination to carve out an entirely new category: ‘leave-as-a-currency’,” said Bede Moore, Managing Partner of Antler APAC.

“We see strong opportunities for Bit.leave to enhance employee perks, help organisations curve burnout and empower employees to take control of their unused leave. The early traction from customers and investors alike is a testament of this.”

Traction/milestones, to date

At the pre-product stage, Bit.leave has secured its first customers and 10 innovative accounting partners committed to the company’s vision and ability to enhance employee benefits. Bit.leave has launched its closed beta this month and is rapidly preparing for a wide scale release in early 2023.

Bit.leave recently secured a Minimum Viable Product Grants awarded by the NSW Government.

Due diligence resources

Explore Bit.Leave’s pitch video and investor deck via The Antler Portfolio Reveal Platform.

Latest funding

Pre-Seed from Antler

Use of funds

The initial investment from Antler Australia will enable bit.leave to launch the beta version of its product, and develop strategic partnerships to grow its initial customer base.

The founders say:

“There is more than $29 billion of excess leave liabilities in Australia alone. This affects the balance sheet of an organisation and has a direct correlation to burnout and churn,” said Brett Turley, cofounder and CEO of Bit.leave.

“At Bit.leave, we are the only company in the world turning leave into a trade-able currency. With the ability to work alongside any HRIS system, our platform is compliant and can rapidly scale regardless of location, headcount and industry.”

“This wouldn’t have been possible without Antler. In January, I met my co-founder Kushal and together we discovered the right problem and product fit to bring health and financial equality to the workplace. Ultimately, leading to the inception of Bit.leave.”

What’s next?

Antler, a global early-stage VC, recently showcased the latest investments it’s made in ambitious Australian founders and startups. Bit.leave featured as one of Antler Australia’s newest portfolio companies.

Explore how Bit.leave optimises leave, wellbeing and the balance sheet via the Antler Portfolio Reveal Platform.