On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on the TechTO stage in 2018. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Erica ↗
In their words
Over a year ago I left the capital market space because I wanted to help people live happier, more balanced lives.
As we started to pitch this in front of tech CEOs in Toronto, it slowly evolved, because employers said, you know what, no, I think this is a company benefit.
How can you get people to trust you as a start-up? How do you get people to trust you with their money, with their information?
Around the web ×3
Quick answers
Who is Erica Pearson?
The co-founder and CEO of Vacation Fund, as she introduced herself on the TechTO TravelTechTO stage in May 2018, where she said she had left capital markets a little over a year earlier to start it. CBC News reported in June 2019 that she co-founded the company in 2017. Her current role could not be verified from a first-party source, so none is given here.
What was Vacation Fund?
An employer-matched vacation savings benefit. Employees chose an after-tax payroll deduction that went into a Vacation Fund account; the employer set a match percentage, an annual cap and how long someone had to work there before they could withdraw the matched money. CBC reported that the company charged employers a monthly subscription based on headcount.
Why did it become an employer benefit?
Because employers asked for it. Pearson said she first pitched the idea as Wealthsimple for people's travel goals, but tech CEOs in Toronto told her they wanted to contribute themselves — to get staff to actually take their vacation days and to attract new talent. CBC reported that Vacation Fund relaunched as an employer-matched tool in January 2018 and had been adopted by at least nine Canadian organizations by mid-2019.
What numbers did she share?
On stage in May 2018 she said early employers were matching 50 per cent of contributions up to $500 a year, and most were setting a six-month to one-year wait before the match could be withdrawn, as a retention lever. Her first pilot company's twelve employees named 35 different travel sites they would want to book with. By June 2019 she told CBC that clients were seeing an 80 per cent opt-in rate.