Sodexo which terms itself a “world leader in quality of life services” is planning to offer a full service offering to all size businesses, from SMEs up to large corporations, with its own specialisms – and global reach –  combined with those of two start-ups –  Xpenditure and iAlbatros.

Xpenditure is a paperless expense management system, while iAlbatros has ‘Maya’ , a business travel booking specialist. Combining with Sodexo, one of the world’s largest multinationals allows the newer companies to have access to the experience, customer base and resources of the larger company.

Xpenditure has experienced strong growth, but believes the partnership will help it grow more quickly. Boris Bogaert, CEO and co-founder of Xpenditure said that what made its company different is “We completely eliminate the expense note. We make a stream of expenses so there are no peaks for the accounting department because travellers just take a picture of the receipt and all the data is sent through, and it’s the accounting department who decides on the approval process. We believe that companies have to change their processes for the new technology capabilities, and it creates a huge advantage. You don’t have a problem that if one expense is rejected the whole expense claim is rejected.”

Bogaert said that the company has created a fast implementation process for clients, even those who have to – or want to – change their processes.

In addition to Xpenditure, the partnership will also include Polish company iAlbatros which has developed a booking platform as well as a hotel procurement database of more than 300,000 hotels worldwide. Its 100 percent mobile booking tool has incorporated best practices from popular tourism booking sites with an interface built for business travellers.

The new combined product has yet to be branded, but will be launched in 2018.