Canadian fintech startup Bench announces abrupt closure 

Bench Accounting, North America’s largest bookkeeping service for small businesses, has abruptly closed.The Vancouver-based company posted a “Notice of Service Closure” on its website on Friday. Its Instagram and Facebook pages appear to have been taken down overnight.Customers were also notified in an email, with many left confused and angry at the sudden closure right before tax season.Bench Accounting“We regret to inform you that as of December 27, 2024, the Bench platform will no longer be accessible,” Bench wrote in its service closure notice. “We know this news is abrupt and may cause disruption, so we’re committed to helping Bench customers navigate through the transition.“From the entire team at Bench, it has been an absolute privilege to serve small businesses for the last 13 years. Thank you for being part of our journey.”Bench, founded in 2012 by Forbes 30-Under-30 winner Ian Crosby, provided online accounting services for small businesses. The FAQ section on its now-shuttered website states it served 11,000 small business owners across the US.Bench Accounting’s Vancouver HQAlthough the company hasn’t officially confirmed layoffs in its initial announcement, several former employees have stated on LinkedIn that they and their fellow “Benchmates” are looking for new roles. Others have offered to assist people in finding new jobs through introductions and support.Daily Hive has reached out to Bench for further information. We will update this story once we hear back.The fintech company had scaled to over 650 employees as of 2021 and achieved a total funding of over $100 million by the same year, according to a previous news release. Investors in Bench included Sage, Altos Ventures, iNovia Capital, Shopify, and BMO T&I.Customers were left in shock and anger over Bench’s abrupt closure.Former CEO and co-founder Ian Crosby also posted on X that he “hope[s] the story of Bench goes on to become a warning for VCs.”According to a recent report, Canadian businesses are shutting their doors at a rate the country hasn’t seen since the start of the pandemic.The number of active Canadian businesses this past June fell to just over 929,000, the biggest monthly decrease since May 2020. According to Statistics Canada, 5% of all businesses in the country shut their doors in June.