Salt Labs raises $10M in pre-seed funding to enable hourly workers earn rewards for every hour worked

Just two years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic brought national attention to the crucial role of frontline workers. These dedicated individuals, including nurses, paramedics, hospital staff, police officers, firefighters, grocery store workers, delivery drivers, and public transportation employees, put their lives on the line to provide essential services that were necessary for the well-being of the community, while many others were able to work from the safety of their homes.

However, unlike white-collar workers who are afforded several opportunities to build long-term wealth through company stock plans, partnership interests, or even a 401k plan, it is often the case that frontline workers aren’t afforded those same opportunities for a variety of technology or cost reasons. This has resulted in the growing wealth gap disparity. That’s why one tech startup is on a mission to eliminate the wealth gap disparity for frontline workers.

Enter Salt Labs, a New York-based fintech startup on a mission to enable hourly workers to own the long-term value of their work. Salt Labs was founded by Jason Lee and Rob Law who previously co-founded unicorn company DailyPay which created the on-demand pay industry to address income inequality for hourly workers.

To further grow its rewards platform aimed at hourly workers, Salt Labs announced today it has closed a $10 million pre-seed funding round led by Fin Capital. In conjunction with the funding, Salt Labs also announced that Logan Allin, Managing Partner and founder of Fin Capital has joined its Board of Directors, along with media veteran Gary Ginsberg, who is also joining Salt Labs’s board as an advisor.

Set to launch this spring, the Salt platform will provide contract workers with the opportunity to earn rewards for every hour worked. These rewards can be redeemed for goods and experiences, much like other rewards programs, or transferred to family and friends.

Commenting on the funding, Logan Allin, Managing Partner and founder of Fin Capital said, “We back repeat founders and having collaborated successfully with Jason and Rob at DailyPay, we are thrilled to support them in building Salt Labs – the future of worker equity.”

Salt Labs CEO Jason Lee said: “Fin Capital was an ideal partner for us given their full life cycle investment strategy. We are looking forward to partnering with them from pre-seed to IPO. We are also excited that 100% of our institutional investors are DailyPay investors who have backed us before.”