Rilla offers $18,000 housing stipend for staff near Brooklyn office

Rilla is paying employees up to $18,000 a year to live near its Williamsburg, Brooklyn, office, Fortune reported. The benefit matters because the AI startup has tied its workplace spending to an unusually demanding schedule: 12 hours a day in the office, six days a week.

Fortune reported that Rilla spends about $1.7 million annually on housing stipends. The company has about 120 employees, and roughly 80% use the optional benefit, according to Fortune.

The stipend applies to workers who choose to live within about a 10-minute bike ride of the office, CEO Sebastian Jimenez told Business Insider in an interview cited by Fortune. Rilla signed a 10-year lease for its new office in Williamsburg, where average studio rents are about $4,000 a month, according to RentHop data cited by Fortune.

A perk built around shorter commutes

Jimenez told Business Insider that Rilla’s perks are meant to help employees stay focused rather than distract them. “We’re not trying to coddle people,” he said, according to Business Insider. “A lot of companies offer perks that end up distracting employees.”

He said the company pays for three meals a day, is adding a gym with a sauna and cold plunge, and offers the housing stipend for employees who live close to the office, according to Business Insider. Fortune reported that Rilla declined its request for comment.

Jimenez framed the housing benefit as a way to cut time lost to commuting. He told Business Insider that if an employee works 12 hours, sleeps eight hours and exercises for an hour, little free time remains. He said he would prefer workers spend that time with family, reading or doing something meaningful instead of sitting on the subway, according to Business Insider.

Rilla’s office spending

Rilla makes coaching software for in-person sales teams, Fortune reported. The company describes its culture as “insanely hardcore,” according to Fortune, and Jimenez said the employees it hires include Division I athletes, entrepreneurs and other high achievers suited to that pace.

Fortune reported that Rilla also hired Dr. Joe Allen, a Harvard University professor and healthy-buildings expert, to help select a New York office with strong ventilation. The company’s goal, according to Fortune, was to support cognitive performance in the workplace.

Beyond housing and meals, Fortune reported that Rilla offers fitness, health care and retirement benefits. The company spends about $37,000 per employee each year on these expenses, or roughly $4.4 million across its workforce, according to Fortune.

Jimenez told Fortune the spending is already producing returns. Each Rilla engineer generates about $4 million to $5 million in annual revenue, according to Fortune.

Fortune reported that Rilla’s approach sits alongside a broader push by companies to make long office weeks more attractive with on-site amenities. The publication cited JPMorgan’s pickleball and tennis courts, Goldman Sachs’ meals and cycling studios, and Meta’s gyms and cafes as examples of employers adding perks for staff who spend more time at work.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.