Why we write on this topic:
Whether it involves passports, invoices or other kinds of documents, putting their documents in order and making these processes “future-proof” can be a daunting task for a lot of companies. Software scale-up Klippa from the Dutch city of Groningen helps companies automate these types of workflows with the help of software and artificial intelligence. “Companies save time and money and have fewer concerns about fraud and errors,” says Yeelen Knegtering, CEO and co-founder of Klippa.
How does Klippa’s software work exactly?
“Our software mimics the work that people do. It views documents, sorts them out and retrieves data from them. It then checks the documents for fraud, among other things. Take an invoice, for example. The AI looks at the sender, the recipient, the Chamber of Commerce number, but also for traces of manipulation by Photoshop, for example. After all, that could be an indication of forgery. By looking at all these factors, you know in the end whether an invoice is legitimate. Many companies still do these kinds of checks by hand. This is time-consuming and things often slip through the cracks. With our software, you can do this work quickly and efficiently. The risk of errors and fraud is reduced and you save a lot of time and money.”
Who is the document processing you developed useful for?
“We mainly supply our software to companies that have to deal with large-scale processing. These include software companies or companies who focus on carrying out passport checks. They often have to process thousands of documents per year. Nivea is just one example of one of our larger customers.”
As a software scale-up, do you like being based in Groningen?
“Yes definitely. Groningen is a relatively small city, but it is teeming with young talent. One in four residents is a student. From the Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen and the University of Groningen, there is a constant flow of students who can potentially strengthen our company. Obviously, this is incredibly valuable to Klippa.
We also took part in several funding rounds, including one from the Northern Development Company (NOM). We gained a lot from that. But in the last two years we have been able to continue to build up our business on our own and that’s going really well.”
What do your dreams for the future look like?
“In the long run, we want to automate more and more processes so that every document can be checked automatically. Now we are still focusing on specific document flows, such as invoices and passports. The great thing about our software is that you can train it on the basis of datasets and models. So it’s definitely possible to add more flows in the future.
Apart from that, we will also expand to other countries. At the moment, two of our colleagues are based in the US. Our system is capable of analyzing different languages, as long as these are based on Latin script. This is the reason why I expect that in time, more and more colleagues will be working in other countries.”
Have you also run up against any obstacles?
“It can be quite a challenge to cater to customers who come from different cultures. For example, I notice that customers from Germany like rules and structures, whereas in Spain, personal contact is especially important. If you want to sell something there, you have to take your time and have a cup of coffee with them. In the Netherlands and Scandinavia, customers are often very practically minded. Sometimes we even manage to sell our product after we have spoken digitally to our customers just the once on a video call. You have to take all these differences into account if you want to be successful.”
Where will Klippa be 10 years from now?
“We have set ourselves the goal of becoming the best document processor in Europe. I hope that in ten years’ time we will be well on our way to making that dream a reality and that by then, we will have a total of around 500 employees. By that time we will be operating in every European country and in the United States.”
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