The UK’s research and development (R&D) tax relief program is a great way for businesses to recoup expenses, up to as much as 33% of R&D costs. However, the R&D relief application process is difficult, expensive, and often requires consulting an R&D tax specialist. Claimer, a year-old startup, makes it easy for businesses to complete R&D relief claims without any specialized tax knowledge. Once an application is submitted, Claimer’s in-house tax experts verify every claim before it is transferred to the tax authorities. Since its April 2019 launch, Claimer has processed claims, none of which have been rejected, ranging in amounts between £1K to £2M+. Claimer charges 5% or less (but no more than £10K) of the savings or credit received by the business, making it a win-win for the applicant.
London TechWatch sat down with CEO and Founder Adam McCann to learn about what inspired him to create Claimer, the company’s future plans, and recent funding round.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
Seed investment of £300K. Investors include Ben Holmes, Nick Telson & Andrew Webster (cofounders of DesignMyNight), Rupert Loman (founder Gamer Network, known for its websites and the biggest UK gaming event EGX), and TrueSight Ventures.
Tell us about your product or service that Claimer offers.
Claimer is fixing the R&D tax relief space with tech. If you’re not familiar with the scheme: it’s run by HMRC and allows UK businesses to claim back up to 33% of their Research & Development costs as a cash payment in any industry, such as software and hardware development, manufacturing, textiles, biotechnology, foodtech, and many others.
Most accountants don’t have the in-house expertise to process claims, so they refer clients to R&D tax specialists. For many companies, the process is slow, expensive, and frustrating because specialists charge very high fees, often taking weeks to process claims.
Claimer’s platform makes it easy for businesses to reliably complete their R&D relief claims without any tax knowledge. After submission on our platform, our in-house tax specialists check and enhance every claim before it goes to the tax authorities. We’ve processed claims ranging from £1K to over £2M with a 100% success rate (no rejections or reductions). Our customers have also awarded us 5 stars on TrustPilot.
Claimer v1 is approximately 10x faster and up to 6x cheaper than using a consultant – and it’s far easier, allowing you to pull the numbers from your accounting software. Claims can be completed in under an hour.
What inspired the start of Claimer?
Before Claimer, I founded a media company that operated several video game websites that published the latest news and reviews. With very little investment, we grew the company to over 3 million unique users per month.
We had an engineering team that developed in-house publishing systems, and whilst at a networking event, I discovered through the R&D tax relief scheme the company could recover up to a third of the money spent building these systems.
A friend of mine recommended a consultant, and whilst it was fantastic that they said we were eligible, the claim process was very time-consuming, and ultimately very expensive. The process really seemed archaic, and I felt it could be made massively more efficient – but didn’t think more of it after that.
Fast forward to 2017, I sold my previous company, went on holiday, got married, and then started thinking about my next challenge.
After a few months of questioning whether I could (or should!) start a company again, and then trying to find a cofounder, I went back to the drawing board. I entered an intense period of introspection and ideation – an emotional rollercoaster of a time. Eventually, I remembered R&D tax relief problem, and after lots of research, Claimer was born.
What market is Claimer targeting and how big is it?
Worldwide, there are over £40B of R&D claims processed each year. We are starting in the UK market, which is worth approximately £4B.
Who do you consider to be your primary competitors?
There are several companies in the space – some better than others – ForrestBrown, GrantTree, JumpStart, CATAX, iHorizon, and Buzzacott to name a few.
Some of these have even created their own ‘platforms’, but technically these platforms are just simple online web-forms.
What’s your business model?
Our fee is 5% or less of the saving or credit received by the company, capped to £10K. This is much less than the typical uncapped 20-30% usually charged by specialists, often with undesirable terms such as multi-year lock-in contracts, hidden costs, and large minimum fees.
What was the funding process like?
I think my experience is fairly unique. The round was small, and we were only looking to raise from angels, some of which I knew already from my network. In fact, our first investor was one of my key competitors in my previous business!
I think my experience is fairly unique. The round was small, and we were only looking to raise from angels, some of which I knew already from my network. In fact, our first investor was one of my key competitors in my previous business!
Once we had one or two investors on board, raising the remaining amount was pretty straightforward. We secured the round in around 4 weeks.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Creating the pitch deck was an emotional rollercoaster. It took ages. It seemed with each major revision I thought I had nailed it, but then I would receive tons of critical feedback and had to massively re-work the deck. It was difficult to know when the deck was good enough for prime time!
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
I think it was a combination of things. The long-term vision and early traction are exciting, the company is making money and growing, and we have a pretty experienced team. I think being a third-time founder also helped quite a bit.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We’ve grown purely through referrals so far, but we intend to begin some level of sales and marketing. We’re also hard at work building a far superior second version of the platform.
What advice can you offer companies in London that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
With the pandemic, raising money is going to be difficult for a while. Try to become more efficient, make use of the country’s aid packages to get through the next few months, and try to find the opportunities where others only see obstacles.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
In addition to launching version 2 of our platform, generally growing the business, and increasing our client base, we have a great deal to do to improve from an operational point of view.
What is your favorite restaurant in London?
Hawksmoor.
You are seconds away from signing up for the hottest list in LondonTech! Join the millions and keep up with the stories shaping entrepreneurship. Sign up today