The Department of Science and Technology–Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) recently turned over multiple grants to technology startups to empower new companies to thrive in the next normal. One grant in particular aims to help Philippine companies and their employees navigate challenges in the hybrid workplace.
The Olivia Technology Group, a company that builds expense management software, received a P3.9-million grant fund as part of the semiannual PCIEERD Grant Fund Program which aims to help startups overcome research and development (R&D) roadblocks, strengthen intellectual property, establish initial market traction, refine business models, and prepare business continuity plans. For its first cycle this year, PCIEERD granted funds to startups that embody its theme, “Powering Startups to Thrive in the Next Normal.”
“Through our AI-based expense management platform, the mobile app allows employees to scan receipts or dictate expenses with the app, auto-generating reports in a few seconds,” said Jocs Pantastico, Olivia chief executive officer. “It reduces manual encoding by around 70 percent, increasing compliance and reducing errors. No more lost or faded receipts.”
With many companies opting for hybrid work arrangements, the app allows employees to submit expense reports from wherever they are, enabling managers and accounting teams to approve those reports from a web app instead of being inundated with emails or physical reports to sign, the technology company executive explained. “The software simplifies the expense management process and reduces errors through duplicate detection,” she added.
Pantastico announced that the funds will be used to accelerate R&D activities like improving algorithms to capture more types of receipts and enhance the approval flow for companies and their employees. “Finance processes are particularly affected by the shift towards hybrid work. For starters, spending categories are different than before. Moreover, previous processes to manage spending and expense report approvals have relied heavily on everyone being in the office,” she said.
“We’re very thankful to the DOST-PCIEERD for giving us the opportunity to increase adoption of automated accounts payables processes, starting with expense management. Currently, it takes employees hours to submit an expense report and weeks for it to be reimbursed due to the manual processes involved. Accounting teams frequently have to work overtime during cut-off periods. Freeing them from these manual tasks will ultimately allow them to focus on value-added work,” said the executive.
Selection for the DOST-PCIEERD Grant Fund Program is competitive, with only six startups out of 38 applicants this cycle receiving grants. The other five startups selected were Twala, Hubware, Creatorbox, Brooky, and Cerebro.