Our Mission

Who We Are

TipBrightly is a female-founded fintech and social impact company, offering a cashless tipping solution that lets users tip via QR codes without downloading an app.

Based in California, our team includes hospitality professional, designers, and developers, supported by advisors across hospitality,product and marketing.

Our Mission

TipBrightly aims to change the earnings trajectory for tipped workers by providing a cashless tipping platform that puts money directly into their pockets. With 1 in 10 workers in hospitality, we believe we can move the needle. We’re committed to enhancing worker appreciation and streamlining digital tipping. With digital payments, we can help close the wage gap and promote financial inclusion.

Where We Shine

TipBrightly is unique in that the value of our solution crosses multiple departments — operations, guest experiences, human resources, and IT. We primarily serve businesses in hospitality, hotels, and travel, where employees rely heavily on tips. We’ve partnered with some of the biggest brands in the world and rapidly expanding networks.  What makes our solution stand out is its versatility, delivering value across multiple departments—operations, guest experience, HR, and IT. We believe in creating emotionally intelligent product that encourage data-driven decision-making and better ways of working. With this, we believe that technology has the power to improve lives — for everyone.

Core Values

We believe that technology has the power to improve lives — for everyone. From product design to sales methodology, we apply a set of guiding principles: Empathy. Kindness. Education. Collaboration. And finally, appreciation.

Our Founder Story

TipBrightly’s founder, Elle Rustique, PhD, designed the first cashless tipping solution. Her innovation laid the groundwork for anyone to use a mobile phone to scan a QR code and tip instantly—no app download required.  Here's her story:

Before starting TipBrightly, I worked at Stanford as an educator and researcher. I traveled extensively—without carrying cash and often unable to leave a tip. I kept running into the same situation over and over again.

One morning, rushing to catch a flight, I realized once again that I had no cash. Yet, just moments earlier, I had effortlessly sent money to my sister via PayPal, paid my bills, and transferred funds between my accounts.

We had mobile technology. We had financial technology. So why couldn’t I send a single, simple tip?

This question stayed with me. I knew that women made up 99% of hotel housekeepers. Women also account for 70% of spending on household goods, groceries, and their children’s needs. When women earn more, they have more to spend—benefiting their families and communities.

I knew this firsthand because my mother was a housekeeper. I always knew when she had earned tips—those were the days she would take us to McDonald’s. I founded TipBrightly because I wanted to help women like my mom.

At the time, QR codes were primarily used for storing product information—something most people had little reason to interact with. Scanning a QR code required a barcode reader app, making the process unfamiliar and inconvenient. But then, COVID changed everything.

Almost overnight, phone cameras were updated to scan QR codes natively. Concerns over social contact and hygiene accelerated the adoption of contactless payments in just weeks. What was once a niche technology became second nature.

And with that, the vision for TipBrightly became a reality.