Office Perks Startup BetterWorks Will Shut Down On May 31

BetterWorks, the employee perks startup led by Los Angeles entrepreneur and investor Paige Craig, has told its customers that it will be shutting down May 31.

The company offered tools to help businesses manage discounts and rewards programs for employees. In the past few months, BetterWorks still seemed to be rolling out a steady stream of new features like catering and groups and permissions. In fact, Director of Product Varun Krishna told me that BetterWorks was seeing growing interest from larger enterprises (though in retrospect that may have been a polite way of saying that it wasn’t making enough money from small- and medium-sized businesses).

However, last week the company laid off all of its sales and marketing staff and half of its operations team. It looks like today’s note to customers (which was first reported by socalTech) is the final nail in the coffin. Here’s the copy that one of our readers sent in:

Thanks for being a supporter, and a user a of the BetterWorks platform.

We’re proud to have helped make work rewarding for your team and company. I’m writing to let you know that for business reasons, as of May 31st 2012 the BetterWorks perk platform will no longer be in service to customers. We’ve been unable to sustain a large enough market and have decided to close our doors. It’s been a privilege having you as a customer and I deeply apologize for any inconvenience this creates.

Because the site will be retired, please take the following actions to make sure you are able to retain key information:

Please print out your vouchers by May 31st: Because these vouchers have been pre-paid, vendors will continue to honor services until August 31st 2012.

Spend May Allowance and Bonus Bucks by May 31st: As of midnight May 31st, you will no longer be able to spend budget on the platform and they will be returned to your employer. Please use any remaining funds in your account by this date.

Memberships will cancel on May 31st: If you have gym memberships – they will be cancelled automatically at the end of this month. While it is not an obligation, many vendors will continue to offer corporate rates and we encourage you to discuss this directly with them.

Food Ordering Closed on Monday May 28th for Memorial Day: Note that food ordering will be closed in observance of Memorial Day. During this time, all other perks are available for purchase.

Please email support@betterworks.com or call us at 1-888-601-9675 extension #2 if any issues arise and we will be happy to assist you. Thanks for believing in our vision and for using BetterWorks at your company.

Paige Craig
CEO – BetterWorks

BetterWorks raised a total of $10.5 million from investors including Redpoint Ventures. Craig co-founded the company with Geni co-founder George Ishii and Farmville co-creator Sizhao Yang.