SeedLegals helps CurveBlock claim back thousands from the R&D Tax Credits scheme

Thanks to HMRC’s R&D tax credits scheme, CurveBlock was able to ramp up growth and launch its first investor fund. SeedLegals’ R&D experts helped CurveBlock save valuable time on their application, and achieve a cost saving of 25% across two years of claims.

The elevator pitch 🚀

CurveBlock is a real estate fintech that helps people to earn passive income by investing in carbon zero, energy positive home development. All their projects contribute to the electric grid instead of taking from it – they eliminate emissions and power the user’s home and vehicle indefinitely.

The company was born from a passion for financial inclusion and sustainability. They’re working towards offering a revenue share model that allows retail investors (i.e. regular people who aren’t professional investors) to invest in asset classes that were previously out of reach. They currently offer this service through their regulated fund to professional investors while working towards welcoming retail investors as the next step.

The challenges: complexity and cash flow 🤔

CurveBlock was facing two key challenges before coming to SeedLegals. The first was cash flow. As an early stage business, any opportunity to boost cash flow is vital for company growth – which made R&D tax credits an attractive opportunity.

“We’re still pre-revenue so raising money has been a huge part of our job to keep the company going. Our R&D expenses have been a big part of what we do, so being able to reclaim some of those expenditures meant we could refresh the bank account and continue on.”

The second key challenge was the complexity of the R&D Tax Credits scheme.

“It’s very difficult to fully understand HMRC’s guidelines for the R&D scheme. We didn’t want to risk misunderstanding something or making mistakes, so we needed to work with experts who understand the process.”

How SeedLegals helped 🌱

1. Technical expertise🧑‍💻🔬

“Working with the team was hugely beneficial – it would have been very hard to figure it out on my own.”

At SeedLegals, we rely on expert R&D knowledge to ensure your claim is successful. Our in-house R&D Tax Credits specialists have in-depth understanding of the scheme guidelines and remain up to date with any changes to the law. Their collective experience, spanning thousands of claims across a wide range of industries, gives us a unique edge in understanding how to maximise R&D claims.

We supported CurveBlock’s claim in a variety of complex areas – their tech stack integrates distributed ledger, digital equity, web and mobile features. It was an intricate claim to say the least, but our R&D team loved the challenge and was able to easily collate many moving parts into a successful claim.

“SeedLegals helped me to write the claim because I didn’t have the time, knowledge or ability to write it myself. SeedLegals gave me guidance on exactly what is required for a successful claim and what questions need to be answered – all while making the experience very personal.”

With our excellent success rates, working with SeedLegals means you can submit your claim with confidence. Your dedicated R&D Tax Credit specialist reviews your claim for accuracy and overlooked claimable expenses.

2. Cost saving thanks to fair pricing model 💸

“The pricing of the R&D service is fair, which made it a no-brainer for us.”

Our competitive pricing was another thing that sealed the deal for CurveBlock. With SeedLegals, you pay just 5% of your total claim amount. Because we use automation for speed and accuracy, backed up by help from R&D specialists every step of the way, we’re able to keep our prices competitive and still offer an excellent service.

“The pricing model of SeedLegals is much better than most accountants. Because the process is automated, it makes it easier and faster for the end user to input the relevant information instead of spending money on hourly charges. The cost is lower but the outcome is still excellent.”

But it wasn’t just the pricing of the claim that helped; it was the overall ethos of a subscription-based model with unlimited support. A key frustration for CurveBlock has been the lack of efficiency caused by outdated models of hourly work in the legal sector.

“It just made sense to manage all the legals under a subscription basis. You’re never going to get high quality work done fast when you’re working on an hourly basis – there’s no motivation for someone to work quickly when they’re paid by the hour.”

Our automated approach not only kept costs low – it also made the process quick and easy. It took CurveBlock just three hours to prepare their claim. The days of swapping spreadsheets and endless emails and interviews are over – this is how R&D claims should be.

3. One stop shop 🛒

It wasn’t just the R&D support that made the difference – it was working with a trusted provider as a whole and having everything in one place. CurveBlock used SeedLegals for more than just their R&D claim. They created and managed their founder agreements, employment contracts, cap table, investment documents, and more – all on one platform. You can learn more about our all-in-one solution on the SeedLegals pricing page.

4. Unlimited support 👪

“It was important for us to be able to ask all the questions we needed to and to work with experts we can trust.” 

SeedLegals gives you unlimited support with all our services. When you do your R&D Tax Credits claim through SeedLegals, you’ll have a dedicated R&D specialist assigned to you. They’re available over email, chat, phone call or video call. Our excellent support has earned us five stars on Google and Trustpilot.

“One of the best things about working with SeedLegals is the personalisation of their service. It was easy to build a good relationship with them. We trusted the service and had total faith in them.”

The impact📣

CurveBlock has used SeedLegals since 2018 to claim back thousands from the government for their R&D costs, which has given them the cash they need to power on towards their goals. CurveBlock’s first development project with a carbon zero, energy positive development model has been approved. This means that every home in the development will use zero carbon and produce more energy than it can consume.

What’s next? CurveBlock is in the process of launching their first fund and are preparing to onboard their first few customers. They are working on some sustainable holiday lodges in the UK which will bring a 100% return to buyers in less than 10 years, just on selling the energy that it will produce back to the grid.

Check out their website here 👉CurveBlock 

Are you looking to claim R&D tax credits?

Book a call with one of our R&D specialists to find out how we can help.