Way2VAT Ltd (ASX:W2V) has received a funding grant for NIS 1.5 million (approximately A$625,000) from the Israeli Innovation Authority (IIA) to support research and development for the initial marketing and commercialisation of the Smart Spend Debit Mastercard.
The grant will reimburse costs incurred by W2V on a quarterly basis during the grant term from March 2022 to February 2023. The first instalment is due in July 2022.
This funding is part of a total A$2.1 million Way2Vat budgeted project.
The IIA is an independent publicly funded agency that provides tools and funding platforms to help companies address the dynamic and changing needs of international innovation ecosystems, which fits nicely into W2V’s mission to offer and support a fully automated VAT/GST return spend card for businesses. Notably, it is the first company to do so.
Acknowledgement of product platform
W2V CEO and founder Amos Simantov sees the grant as acknowledgement and vindication of the company’s innovation in the fintech space.
Simantov said, “The Israeli Innovation Authority grant approval is an important acknowledgment of Way2VAT’s product platform innovation and capability and its product-market fit.
"Previously the office of the Chief Scientist in Israel's Ministry of Economy, the Israeli Innovation Authority is the support arm of the Israeli government that provides R&D and incentive programs to help innovative projects.
“The committee was impressed with the card’s ability to allow companies to submit spend receipts and capture invoices through Way2VAT’s proprietary technology platform, providing an end-to-end process from receipt capture to payment automatically analyses, reconciles, sorts and submits documentation to foreign tax authorities, and improve compliance, visibility and transparency for all parties.
“The grant was received from the distinguished committee after an in-depth examination of Way2VAT’s proprietary technology and commercial feasibility. The grant will assist us in further advanced product feature development and in managing cash-flow during this initial rollout phase.”
Expediting adoption
The grant will expedite adoption of the recently launched Smart Spend Debit Mastercard, a world-first in partnership with Railsbank, that fully automates VAT/GST returns from end-to-end for the SMB and Enterprise market.
The card uses several fully automated processes based on W2V’s proprietary development in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI), computer vision and Natural Language Processing (NLP).
W2V has stated it may soon include behavioural prediction and other advanced analytics and alerts capability.
The grant is expected to be repaid to the IAA over the next few years from 2024 as a percentage of royalties from future revenues generated by the outputs of Way2VAT’s products based on the technology backed by the grant.
Way2VAT can apply for an additional grant in 2023 based on the current approved plan.
W2V securities have risen 15.63% in the first half-hour of ASX trading to $0.037.