Half of all startups end in failure, so not many people
want to lend to them. But where traditional banks see
risk, Brex cofounder and co-CEO Henrique Dubugras
sees opportunity. Two years ago, the Brazilian-born en-
trepreneur launched a corporate credit card designed for young,
growing companies. Thanks to tech integrations into an applicant’s
banking and sales-tracking software, the company is able to approve
applications in minutes and monitors customer business metrics
in real time, allowing startups’ credit limits to go up (or down) with
sales. Last year, Brex launched two new cards: one that alleviates the
chronic cash-flow challenges facing e-commerce startups by offer-
ing a 60-day float period with 0% APR and no foreign transaction
fees; another offering life sciences companies cash-back rewards
for spending on lab supplies. Neither card requires personal guar-
antees from founders. Anticipating high failure rates, Dubugras
says, “actually allows us to be a lot more efficient” by incorporating
systems such as real-time revenue monitoring. Brex’s customers
include Airbnb, Outdoor Voices, and SoFi.FOR GIVING
STARTUPS
ACCESS TO
CREDITKnown for creating
a flight-booking
tool that leverages
AI to predict airfares
and alert travelers
to price drops, Hop-
per developed into
a customer-centric
travel marketplace
this past year.
Its hotel-booking
tool, which mines
partner apps and
websites for the
best room rates,
expanded to cover
more than 620,000
properties across
2,500 cities; it also
alerts users when it
unlocks a room rate
that can be bun-
dled for a lower
price with an airfare
or finds a hotel for
a better rate. The
company also
launched Price
Freeze for flights, in
November, which
lets users place a
small deposit
(refundable if they
wind up booking) to
hold an airfare
before deciding to
commit. “People are
buying 30% more
airfare because
we’ve removed the
anxiety,” says CEO
Frederic Lalonde.
The company also
partnered with the
nonprofit Eden
Reforestation Proj-
ects to automati-
cally offset the
carbon produced
by every flight
and hotel it sells by
planting trees in
key regions.FO R
ELIMINATING
DECISION
FATIGUE
IN TRAVEL28
27
64 FASTCOMPANY.COMTotal U.S. commercial
card spend
In billions$4752017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022$523$576$634*$696*The B2B payments
opportunity
Percentage of B2B payments made
with commercial credit cards1%How startups in different industries spend their capital
Percentage of total spend on each category using Brex44.5%
Other TECH12.4%
Servers21%
Advertising/
Marketing9% SaaS Products2% Legal Services/
Banking/
Financial Fees2.5%
Shipping
8.6%
Supplies and
Equipment29.3%
Other
E-COMMERCE
.5%
Servers39.8%
Advertising/
Marketing 1.8% SaaS Products^7 .4%
Legal Services/
Banking/
Financial Fees15.6%
Shipping5.6 % Supplies
and EquipmentLIFE
SCIENCES
31.9%
Other
2.8%
Servers1.5%
Advertising/
Marketing4.3%
SaaS Products 4.5% Services/Banking/ Legal
Financial Fees1.3% Shipping53.7% Supplies
and Equipment$763*
Sources:Brex^(BreakdownofBrex^card^customer^ spending),^ Accenture^ (Total^U.S.^ co
mmercialcard^spend;^ B2 B^payments^ opportunity).^ *P
rojected^