Salt Labs
Salt Labs is a New York–based employee rewards platform that lets hourly and frontline workers earn "Salt" assets for each hour worked, redeemable for goods, experiences, or financial products. It sells employer-sponsored subscriptions to enterprises with hourly workforces and now operates as Chime Enterprise following a 2024 acquisition by Chime Financial.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2023
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Salt Labs does
Salt Labs operates an employee rewards and loyalty platform that enables hourly and frontline workers to earn, save, and redeem "Salt" assets — one unit credited for every hour worked — distributed via iOS and Android mobile apps and an employer administration dashboard. The platform is rooted in behavioral science, specifically the endowment effect, to position Salt as a non-fungible, non-transferable, asset-like store of value rather than a conventional spendable loyalty point; users may save balances long-term or redeem for merchandise, experiences, financial products (stocks, treasury bonds, 529 contributions), and travel. The company targets the roughly 76 million hourly and frontline workers in the US economy, selling its platform to enterprise employers (contact centers, retail, hospitality, manufacturing) through direct enterprise sales, with adoption rates of 50–80% and reported turnover reductions of 56–72% among users.
Salt Labs monetizes primarily through employer-sponsored enterprise subscriptions (multi-year contracts sold to HR departments) and affiliated reward redemption integrations; the platform is offered free of charge to individual workers. Founded in March 2023 by Jason Lee and Rob Law (the co-founders of DailyPay, who earlier invented earned wage access), Salt Labs raised $18 million across a $10M pre-seed round led by Fin Capital (March 2023) and an $8M seed round led by Third Prime (December 2023). In June 2024, Salt Labs was acquired by Chime Financial for a reported value of up to $173 million, and the business now operates as Chime Enterprise — a new Chime business unit led by Jason Lee, with integrations into UKG and Chime's enterprise distribution channel to scale employer-sponsored earned-income benefits.
Salt Labs firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Salt Labs
- Legal name
- Salt Labs, Inc.
- Website
- https://saltlabs.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2023
- Operating status
- Acquired
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Salt Labs is a New York–based employee rewards platform that lets hourly and frontline workers earn "Salt" assets for each hour worked, redeemable for goods, experiences, or financial products. It sells employer-sponsored subscriptions to enterprises with hourly workforces and now operates as Chime Enterprise following a 2024 acquisition by Chime Financial.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Salt Labs industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Employee Rewards Platform
- NAICS
- Business Support Services (5614)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Compensation Planning & Total Rewards (BPACAPAH)
Keywords
Where Salt Labs is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Salt Labs business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Employer-Sponsored Rewards Program: Salt Labs provides its rewards platform to employers who sponsor the program for their frontline and hourly workers. Employers pay for access to the platform to improve employee retention and productivity. The platform is free for hourly workers.
- Reward Redemption Integration: Salt partners with various reward providers including merchandise, experiences, financial products (stocks, treasury bonds, 529 contributions), and travel. Revenue may come from partnerships with reward/merchant partners.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Employer subscription for employee rewards platform |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Salt Labs product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Salt Labs provides the Salt rewards platform, a B2B SaaS employee benefits product in which hourly and frontline workers earn one non-cash "Salt" asset per hour worked. Employees can save, share, or redeem Salt for merchandise, experiences, travel, or financial products (stocks, treasury bonds, 529 contributions). Employers sponsor the platform as a workforce retention and engagement benefit, with deployment through HR departments and minimal manager admin required.
Product overview
Salt Labs offers Salt, a unified employee rewards and loyalty platform that rewards frontline and hourly workers with 'Salt' assets for each hour worked. The single product offering enables employees to earn, save, and redeem Salt for rewards, experiences, or financial products. Salt is available as mobile apps for iOS and Android, and as a web-based employer dashboard. The platform is designed to improve employee retention, engagement, and financial security for hourly workers.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Salt Rewards Platform SaaS employee rewards and loyalty platform sold to enterprise employers, in which hourly and frontline workers earn one Salt asset per hour worked. Employees can save Salt in a non-fungible Salt Balance, share it with others, or redeem it for merchandise, experiences, travel, stocks, treasury bonds, 529 contributions, and other rewards. The platform is deployed through HR departments with minimal manager admin and is available on iOS and Android for workers.
Quantifiable outcome
- Employees who use Salt stay with their employers 56% longer
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use Salt Labs
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Salt Labs technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Salt Labs partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered strategic, core and flagship.
- Ted BennastrategicTed Benna, widely recognized as the 'Father of the 401(k)', joined Salt Labs as Strategic Advisor. He provides expertise in developing financial savings solutions and is aligned with Salt's mission to build long-term employee wealth through earned loyalty assets.
- Chime FinancialcoreSalt Labs was acquired by Chime Financial, a leading financial technology company. Post-acquisition, Salt Labs operates as Chime Enterprise, a new business unit dedicated to delivering innovative employee benefits and financial wellness products. Jason Lee, Salt Labs Founder and CEO, now leads Chime Enterprise. The acquisition is reportedly worth up to $173 million.
- Incept LLCflagshipIncept LLC, a multi-channel call center in Canton, Ohio, was an early customer and case study partner for Salt Labs. With 78% employee enrollment, Incept demonstrated strong adoption with workers engaging daily and achieving improved retention outcomes.
- DailyPaystrategicDailyPay, founded by Jason Lee and Rob Law (Salt Labs co-founders), is the leader in earned wage access with nearly 5 million users. DailyPay was valued at $2 billion when the founders departed. The founders apply lessons from DailyPay to Salt's mission of long-term wealth creation for hourly workers.
- UKGstrategicChime Workplace has integrated with UKG's HR platform, enabling seamless connectivity for workforce management and employee benefits. Salt, as part of Chime Enterprise, benefits from this integration for HR and workforce data.
Scale indicators12 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Salt Labs competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Awardco: Awardco is an employee recognition platform with points-based rewards integrated with Amazon and other catalogs, serving enterprise HR teams on retention and engagement outcomes comparable to Salt's value proposition.
- PayActiv: PayActiv provides earned wage access and bill-pay solutions to hourly workers via employer integrations, competing head-to-head with Salt in the financial wellness benefits category for frontline employees.
- Even: Even is a direct competitor in earned wage access and financial wellness for hourly workers, offering early paycheck access and budgeting tools to frontline employees through employer partnerships. Targets the same persona and employer buyers as Salt.
- Kudos: Kudos is an employee recognition and engagement platform offering peer-to-peer recognition with rewards and analytics, targeting the same HR buyer and overlapping with Salt's enterprise retention thesis.
- Bonusly: Bonusly is an employee recognition and rewards platform that lets peers give points convertible to rewards. Competes with Salt in the employee engagement and rewards category, though Salt's earned-by-working-hours model is differentiated.
- DailyPay: Founded by the same Salt Labs founders (Jason Lee, Rob Law), DailyPay is the leading earned wage access platform with ~5M users, directly competing for the same hourly worker segment. Both companies serve frontline employees via employer-sponsored benefits and share underlying EWA DNA.
Emerging players
- Current: Current is a fintech serving hourly and gig workers with banking, earned wage access, and rewards features, overlapping with Salt's mission of financial progress for underserved workers. More consumer-facing than Salt's employer-sponsored model.
Broad incumbents
- ADP: ADP is the dominant payroll and HR services incumbent with deep enterprise employer relationships. Its Wisely EWA product and broader benefits portfolio make it a key incumbent shaping the competitive context for Salt's enterprise go-to-market.
- Workday: Workday is a leading HCM platform with HR, benefits, and talent modules that touch the same enterprise HR buyer as Salt. While not a direct reward-asset competitor, it could embed competing recognition and financial wellness features.
- Wisely (ADP): Wisely by ADP bundles earned wage access and financial wellness into ADP's dominant payroll platform, making it a broad incumbent competitor combining payroll distribution with EWA-like features targeting the same hourly workers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Customer concentration
Salt Labs social profiles
Digital presenceSalt Labs financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Salt Labs leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Salt Labs funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Salt Labs M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Salt Labs
What does Salt Labs do?
Salt Labs provides the Salt rewards platform, a B2B SaaS employee benefits product in which hourly and frontline workers earn one non-cash "Salt" asset per hour worked. Employees can save, share, or redeem Salt for merchandise, experiences, travel, or financial products (stocks, treasury bonds, 529 contributions). Employers sponsor the platform as a workforce retention and engagement benefit, with deployment through HR departments and minimal manager admin required.
Is Salt Labs a public or private company?
Salt Labs is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently acquired.
When was Salt Labs founded?
Salt Labs was founded in 2023. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Salt Labs based?
Salt Labs is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Salt Labs make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Employer-Sponsored Rewards Program is the primary driver. The others are reward Redemption Integration.
Who are Salt Labs's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Awardco, PayActiv, Even, Kudos, Bonusly and DailyPay. Current is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are ADP, Workday and Wisely (ADP).
Does Salt Labs have an API?
No public API is recorded for Salt Labs.
What industry is Salt Labs in?
Salt Labs's product category is Employee Rewards Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACAPAH, Compensation Planning & Total Rewards. Its NAICS code is 5614 and its SIC code is 7371.