Entrepreneur UK's London 100: EmpowerRD Transforming innovation funding — EmpowerRD combines a proprietary platform with expert support to deliver a streamlined, secure and efficient R&D tax credits claims process

Industry: FinTech

Founded in 2017 by entrepreneur Hari Sandhu, EmpowerRD has a simple mission: to help businesses maximise growth opportunities by taking the pain out of claiming R&D tax credits. As the only truly technology-led solution aligned with HMRC's Making Tax Digital agenda, EmpowerRD combines a proprietary claiming platform with expert support to deliver a streamlined, secure and efficient process. Since launching, EmpowerRD has worked with over 1,200 businesses and amassed over £260m worth in successful claims for its clients.

Since day one, the company's goal has been to make government incentives easily accessible for businesses. The R&D tax credits claims process is riddled with complexities, and the scheme is becoming trickier for companies to navigate as HMRC tightens its grip with stringent rules and regulations, resulting in some well-deserving firms missing out on non-dilutive funding at critical stages of growth and development. For many businesses, a big deterrent to claiming is the risk of an HMRC enquiry once funds have been granted, which requires another huge investment of time and resource. This has become a new reality for businesses since enquiry rates have risen to 20% of all claims in the last year. EmpowerRD's track record, however, has seen less than 5% of the claims it supports its clients with receiving an enquiry – substantially below the industry average.