BrüMate scales innovation, cashing in a cool $400K in rewards* with BILL

When Dylan Jacob founded BrüMate, he had a simple but ambitious vision: create a consumer-facing brand with products that enhance people's everyday lives. Today, as he spots BrüMate products in airports and out in the world, that vision has become reality, powered by an unwavering commitment to innovation that extends far beyond product development.

"BrüMate, at its core, is a drinkware and cooler company, but at its heart is an innovation company," says Jacob, now Chief Innovation Officer of BrüMate. "Innovation powers everything we do here. We're all about creating products that enhance our customers' experiences."

This innovation-first approach has transformed BrüMate from a direct-to-consumer (DTC) startup focused on adult beverage drinkware into an omnichannel powerhouse. Today, health and hydration products represent their biggest category, while wholesale has grown to nearly match their DTC channel, with Amazon close behind.

But rapid growth brings operational challenges, especially for a company determined to move "at the speed of sound."

Challenge: Small team, explosive growth, endless paperwork

When Jarrod Cox joined BrüMate as CFO, he stepped into a whirlwind of explosive growth. The company had already raised its Series A round, expanded into wholesale, and started attending trade shows nationwide, but their financial operations hadn't kept pace with their innovation.

"Here at BrüMate, we have a very small team with a lot to do," says Cox, who oversees a finance team of just seven people managing everything from accounting close to demand planning, inventory management, and raising capital. "Before BILL, I used to spend an entire eight-hour day every month reconciling credit card statements and hunting down physical receipts."

The challenges went beyond those administrative hours. "If we ordered a card, it'd take weeks to get set up," adds Jacob. "We had physical cards, no digital cards. If something got leaked or lost, there was a lot of downtime. Tracking was manual, and getting data was harder. Overall, we've become far more efficient with BILL."

For a company built on moving fast and responding to customer needs in real-time, those early delays were more than inconvenient. They were antithetical to BrüMate's entire business philosophy.

Solution: BILL Spend & Expense powers innovation at scale

BrüMate implemented BILL Spend & Expense to transform their financial operations, and the impact was immediate. What once required days of manual work now happens automatically, giving the team back precious time to focus on what matters most: innovation and growth.

"BILL Spend & Expense has been with BrüMate every step of the way as we've scaled and grown," says Cox. "We're able to bring on new virtual cards, set company budgets by month, by day. We can make changes on the fly, which enables both our sales team and our marketing and advertising team to be successful and execute their strategy as it evolves."

Today, BrüMate has roughly 20 cardholders across finance, accounting, executive management, wholesale, marketing, and creative teams. Managers can instantly create virtual cards for team members who need purchasing power, with customizable limits and budgets that can be adjusted in real-time.

"As an executive, one of the benefits of BILL Spend & Expense is once we develop budgets and strategy, we're able to empower team leads," Cox explains. "There's no such thing as having to pass around a physical card as people go on the road. We're able to quickly add cards to the platform, and it all falls under the approved budget for that team."

The platform has been especially valuable for BrüMate's business model. "One of the unique things about working in an e-commerce company is how quickly things change on a daily basis," says Cox. "Where do we want to place our spend? What assets do we need to create? It truly is a day-by-day business, and you're funding a marketing platform that's 24 hours a day. BILL Spend & Expense has allowed us to be agile."

Results: From days to hours, with $400K in rewards

The transformation in BrüMate's financial operations has been dramatic. What once consumed days now takes only hours, freeing the team to focus on strategic initiatives rather than administrative tasks.

"Our accounting group on a monthly basis probably saves a day's worth of work not having to comb through receipts, understand the nature of the spend," says Cox. "It's all there in platform. That's cut down what could be days of allocating that spend into an hour or two a month."

But the time savings are just the beginning. BrüMate has also turned their necessary business expenses into a revenue stream through BILL's rewards program.

"Over the course of our relationship with BILL Spend & Expense, we produced nearly $400,000 worth of rewards* for us. On a monthly basis, we're able to recycle the rewards that we get directly back into what pays for our creative marketing, our outside agencies, on an ongoing basis."

The real-time visibility provided by BILL has been transformative for financial management. "I have real-time access to spend across departments, individuals. Direct access to receipts," says Cox. "The visibility with BILL Spend & Expense gives me, as CFO of the business, confidence in where our money is being spent."

When asked to describe BILL in one word or phrase, Cox doesn't hesitate: "Time saver."

Summary: Innovation in every aspect of the business

For BrüMate, partnering with BILL represents more than just upgrading their financial operations. It's about extending their innovation philosophy to every aspect of the business.

"Purpose-driven innovation powers all our decisions. Not just product, but software, partners, vendors, manufacturing," says Jacob. "It's about doing things differently and working with partners who think the same."

As BrüMate continues to grow and evolve, launching innovative products like the BrüTank cooler with its built-in drink dispenser, and expanding into new categories and channels, their partnership with BILL ensures they can maintain the speed and agility that defines their brand.

"We need to react in real-time to what customers want," says Jacob. "BILL helps us move at the speed of sound."

The BILL Divvy Card may be issued by one of Divvy Pay, LLC's bank partners. The BILL Divvy Card is not a deposit product. For your specific lender, see your Card Agreement. *Individual results vary. Typical annual rewards are calculated following this billing cycle.