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Economic Audit: Empathy

Using the research memo directly to draft the audit - no skill in the available list applies to this content-drafting task, so proceeding per the explicit instructions given.
# Empathy — V-ECON Audit

## Supply Chain & Sourcing Relationships
Empathy operates as a software and AI-driven B2B2C platform providing grief- and bereavement-support services, distributed primarily through partnerships with insurance carriers, rather than as a retailer, distributor, or manufacturer of physical goods [^9][^20]. As a digital service company, it has no agricultural, produce, or physical-goods supply chain to audit. No public evidence identified of direct supplier relationships with Israeli agricultural exporters such as Mehadrin, Hadiklaim, Galilee Export, or Agrexco successors, consistent with the company's non-physical-goods business model. No public evidence identified of an importer-of-record structure for regional goods, seasonal sourcing patterns, or third-party/indirect sourcing of Israeli-origin goods, as none of these categories are applicable to Empathy's service-based operations.

## Product Origin, Labeling & Regulatory Compliance
Empathy does not manufacture, sell, or distribute physical or agricultural products, and therefore country-of-origin labeling regimes (e.g., DEFRA, customs authorities, Who Profits, Corporate Occupation) do not apply to its business [^9][^20]. No public evidence identified of settlement-origin product labeling issues, since the company's offering is a digital application and companion service rather than a tangible good [^10][^14]. No public evidence identified of a corporate labeling policy addressing occupied-territory goods, as this category is not applicable to the company's operations.

## Investment, Capital & Financial Exposure
Empathy was founded as an Israeli, Tel Aviv-based startup, launching publicly around 2021 [^1][^3][^4][^6][^8]. Its funding history spans four disclosed rounds. The seed round raised $13 million, co-led by General Catalyst and the Israeli VC firm Aleph, in 2021 [^3]. The Series A round raised $30 million in September/October 2021, led by Entrée Capital (managing partner Avi Eyal) with participation from General Catalyst, Aleph, LocalGlobe, and Primetime Partners, alongside angel investors Shai Wininger (Lemonade co-founder/CEO), Sir Ronald Cohen, John Kim (former New York Life president), and Micha Kaufman (Fiverr co-founder/CEO) [^5][^6][^11][^12][^13]. The Series B round raised $47 million in March 2024, led by Index Ventures with participation from General Catalyst, Entrée Capital, Latitude, and Brewer Lane, plus strategic investment from insurers Allianz, MassMutual, MetLife, New York Life, Securian, and Sumitomo [^17][^18][^19]. The Series C round raised $72 million in May 2025, led by Adams Street Partners with participation from General Catalyst, Index Ventures, Entrée Capital, Brewer Lane, SemperVirens, Latitude, and LionTree, and included the newly unveiled "Empathy Alliance" strategic participants Aflac Ventures, Allianz Life Ventures, Citi Impact Fund, Munich Re, MetLife, New York Life, Securian, and TIAA Ventures, bringing cumulative funding to $162 million [^20][^21][^22]. The company maintains an R&D presence at its Tel Aviv office (Rubinstein Tower, 21st floor, approximately 1,100 sq. m, built out in 2022), and job postings reference R&D team collaboration [^16][^15]. No public evidence identified of a formally branded innovation lab or accelerator distinct from normal engineering operations, nor of a company-specific Israel Innovation Authority grant or Preferred Technological Enterprise (PTE) tax-status designation [^15][^16]. Empathy has no parent company, being privately held and VC-funded; No public evidence identified of treasury or portfolio holdings in Israeli sovereign bonds, OHCHR-listed companies, or settlement-active firms. No public evidence identified of any connection between Empathy and the Israel Bonds (Development Corporation for Israel) program [^29].

## Operational Presence & Market Activity
Empathy maintains a confirmed physical footprint across three locations: New York, Tel Aviv (Ha-Arba'a Street 28 / Rubinstein Tower, 21st floor, Tel Aviv-Yafo), and Dallas, with an early-stage snapshot reporting approximately 23 total staff across all three sites, a figure likely dated to 2022 and not independently re-verified post-Series C [^15][^16]. The company operates a registered Tel Aviv office and R&D team, though no specific tax-registration filings were located; No public evidence identified beyond this office presence regarding employment or tax status in Israel [^16][^15]. Empathy positions itself as serving the U.S./North American insurance and employee-benefits market, with partnerships spanning major global insurers including MetLife, Allianz, New York Life, MassMutual, Guardian, Sumitomo, Munich Re, and TIAA [^17][^20][^28]. Israel is referenced in company materials only as an engineering and R&D location, not as a target consumer market, while the UK is the only non-U.S. market explicitly cited on the company's own site (via "Empathy LifeVault™ Now in the UK") [^9]. No public evidence identified of Empathy characterizing Israel itself as a growth or strategic market.

## Corporate Structure & Foundational Ties
Empathy was co-founded in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2020 by Ron Gura and Yonatan Bergman, both of whom previously built "The Gifts Project" (acquired by eBay in 2011) and subsequently held roles at PayPal and eBay — with Gura running eBay's Israel innovation center — and later at WeWork, where Gura served as a senior executive and Bergman as VP Engineering, having also set up WeWork's Israel R&D center [^1][^4][^8]. The company operates a dual-hub structure, with New York serving as commercial/corporate headquarters and Tel Aviv as the engineering/R&D hub; some sources describe it simply as "Tel Aviv-based," while others describe it as "New York and Tel Aviv," but this reflects a genuine dual-headquarters arrangement rather than merely a legacy Israeli office [^1][^4][^8][^9]. Ron Gura served as a 1st Lieutenant in the Israeli Air Force [^23]; Yonatan Bergman's professional profile references military service without further detail, and no evidence was found connecting either founder to Unit 8200, defense-technology units, or the defense industry. No public evidence identified of Israeli government ownership stakes, government board appointees, government contracts, or critical-national-infrastructure designation involving Empathy. No public evidence identified of structural governance features such as golden shares or founder shares tying the company to Israeli state policy.

## Profit Repatriation & Economic Contribution
Empathy's revenue model is B2B2C, delivered through U.S. and global insurance-carrier partnerships covering a stated "9M+ employees" and "50M+ policyholders," overwhelmingly concentrated in North America [^9][^20]. No public evidence identified of Israel-sourced revenue attribution. The company is U.S./Israel dual-domiciled, privately held, and VC-funded, and is not yet profitable per available public reporting; No public evidence identified of profit-repatriation flows in either direction. Empathy is regularly referenced in Israeli technology press — including Globes, CTech, NoCamels, and ISRAEL21c — as a notable Israeli startup in the "grieftech"/insurtech-adjacent space, but no government or industry-body designation identifying it as a sector anchor or key employer was found [^6][^7][^14][^2][^13]. No public evidence identified of a formal economic-ecosystem designation for Empathy within Israel.

## End Notes

[^1]: https://kr-asia.com/israeli-startup-empathy-is-on-a-mission-to-support-bereaved-families-with-tech

[^2]: https://nocamels.com/2022/06/empathy-bereaved-death-tech/

[^3]: https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3903218,00.html

[^4]: https://nocamels.com/2021/05/israeli-startup-empathy-tech-loss-death-bereaved/

[^5]: https://www.timesofisrael.com/fiverr-lemonade-founders-back-israeli-startup-that-helps-mourners-manage-loss/

[^6]: https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-israeli-bereavement-support-co-empathy-raises-30m-1001385836

[^7]: https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-8-empathy-helping-the-bereaved-cope-with-loss-and-bureaucracy-1001393105

[^8]: https://finder.startupnationcentral.org/company_page/empathy

[^9]: https://www.empathy.com/about

[^10]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.empathy.companion&hl=en_US&gl=US

[^11]: https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/30/empathy-raises-30m/

[^12]: https://www.prnewswire.com/il/news-releases/empathy-raises-30m-series-a-funding-to-further-mission-of--helping-families-deal-with-loss-301388733.html

[^13]: https://nocamels.com/2021/10/empathy-mission-bereaved-series-a/

[^14]: https://www.israel21c.org/empathy-app-helps-mourners-complete-tasks/

[^15]: https://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-Empathy-Israel-EI_IE8180664.11,25.htm

[^16]: https://en-studio.co.il/project/empathy/

[^17]: https://www.builtinnyc.com/articles/empathy-raises-47m-series-b-20240312

[^18]: https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/12/empathy-berevement-death-ai/

[^19]: https://www.finsmes.com/2024/03/empathy-raises-47m-in-series-b-funding.html

[^20]: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250529944227/en/Empathy-Announces-$72-Million-Series-C-and-Unveils-Empathy-Alliance

[^21]: https://ffnews.com/newsarticle/funding/empathy-announces-72-million-series-c-and-unveils-empathy-alliance/

[^22]: https://www.empathy.com/blog/empathy-series-c-announcement

[^23]: https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/ryjq7x4qel

[^28]: https://israel-keizai.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Empathy-Press-Kit-_-2024.pdf

[^29]: https://israelbonds.com/about-us/ ```