Enstack, a superapp for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), said on Thursday that it has invested in developing marketing tools powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI) to assist its community of entrepreneurs.
“We want to remove that bottleneck for them to start selling just because they can’t write something like a product description, etc.,” Macy Castillo, co-founder, and chief executive officer of Enstack, told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the company’s EmpowHER Christmas bazaar.
“That’s what we’re working on for next year, and we’re just going to keep building on that,” she added, referring to the company continuously refining its in-house large language model based on how the platform’s users and merchants interact on the app.
“We hope to continue concentrating on building the app with R&D [research and development] and tech.”
Ms. Castillo noted the capacity of generative AI tools to kickstart entrepreneurship, facilitate an easier store setup experience, and help the company grow as an omnichannel store builder.
She said the tools being developed for release next year will automatically create assets such as logos, product images, and captions, for which businesses “will not need a graphic designer.”
Ad spending in the Philippine digital advertising market is projected to reach $1.608 billion this year, according to Statista.
As Enstack reached the onboarding of 100,000 merchants since its official launch in October last year, Ms. Castillo noted it also aims to grow the quality of the company’s merchant base next year through its customer experience team.
“If you try to sign up on Enstack now, somebody should be calling you tomorrow to ask if you have any questions,” she said. “You automatically have an account manager who can help you upload products, set up your store, or get you verified to get specific payment channels.”
Enstack has raised $3 million from a funding round led by Mangrove Capital Partners in March, with participation from payments startup Xendit and Shinsegae International chief executive officer William Kim.
Additionally, it will close its Build-A-Biz nationwide competition yearend, which will prize P1 million, mentorship, and brand exposure in February next year to the business with the highest sales in a two-month period.
Enstack is eyeing expansion to Thailand and other Southeast Asian markets with increasing digital adoption among businesses, as reported by BusinessWorld in January. — Miguel Hanz L. Antivola
