Matthew Tillman is the founder of OpenEnvoy, a SaaS FinTech company eliminating AP fraud through automation and a Founding Partner at TNT Ventures. He began his life in startups as an engineer and has held executive or founder positions in e-commerce, finance, AdTech, and logistics. He lives in the mountains in Nevada with his wife and daughter, spends time working with artists, and occasionally races cars.
1. What is Open Envoy?
Open Envoy is a software platform that automates invoice auditing for companies. It checks every invoice to its originating document, down to the penny. It eliminates AP Fraud and careless supplier invoice practices. This adds money to the bottom line and gives customers more control over their cash flow.
2. How did you come up with Open Envoy?
I created a logistics technology company in 2016 and saw firsthand the daily struggle companies had managing high volumes of variable freight expenses from dozens of suppliers. They tried throwing people at the problem which was ultimately too expensive. So much money was being left on the table simply because our customer’s finance teams didn’t have the bandwidth to effectively manage the problem.
We saw an opportunity to take a manual, mundane process for every invoice that is time-consuming and expensive and automated it. We have made it much easier for companies to prevent overpaying and improve their relationships with their suppliers.
3. How did you get Open Envoy to where it is today and were there any hurdles you had to overcome?
We launched OpenEnvoy on October 27, 2020. COVID represents a unique challenge in terms of recruiting and selling for enterprise SaaS. However, the pandemic has also made CFOs acutely aware of their need to increase margins and improve cash flow. In terms of early go-to-market, we’re excited at the reception we’ve received. Almost every finance team has the challenge of ensuring they pay their vendors the right amount so the initial response has been fantastic.
4. Can you explain what Supplier Fraud is and how Open Envoy eliminates it?
I think you mean “AP” Fraud. Fraud is deception for gain. All companies have some portion of their suppliers padding invoices. We automatically identify any invoice or line item that doesn’t match the purchase order, contract, or estimate that it’s billed against. If it’s off by one penny, the Finance team can dispute it and require the supplier to justify the difference and request approval or correct the error.
5. How does Open Envoy differentiate itself from its competitors?
When I was running the logistics company, I tried to find an invoice auditing partner with which sold technology. Unfortunately, the market was too concerned with tricking customers into financial products and consulting services they didn’t need. We built OpenEnvoy with a singular focus on invoice auditing. We’re a technology company which means customers can register and start matching invoices within a matter of minutes, not months, thanks to no-code integrations and out-of-the-box connectivity to most major ERP systems.
6. What is the future of Open Envoy and this sector?
We’ve taken the first step toward eliminating fraud with the launch of our product. It’s a bit early for us to make predictions, but we do see technology, and artificial intelligence in particular, playing more of a role in automating repetitive tasks that accountants, controllers and CFOs face every day. This frees finance teams to focus efforts on more strategic, complex projects that bring greater value to the business.
7. Do you have any advice you would like to give to young budding entrepreneurs?
Time is your most valuable asset. No matter the type of company you’re building, spend your time on customers, employees, and investors who deserve it.
We would like to thank Matthew for taking the time to speak with us.
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