We Help Ideas Thrive

What is R&D finance?

R&D Finance is a loan that uses the R&D Tax Incentive receipt at the end of the financial year as repayment. You can only access this loan if you are expecting an R&DTI rebate.

Basically, if you are utilising the government’s R&DTI we can give you access to that cash when you need it most. Today.

Calculate how much of your R&D tax rebate you
can access in less than 60 seconds!

Access up to 80% of your annual R&D tax refund with Rocking Horse R&D Finance.

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Tax Calculation
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calculated as 60 days after tax filing date
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* to be verified by approved R&D tax consultant

Benefits

Access your R&D Tax Refund from
Rocking Horse Finance so that you can:

Access your R&D funding now

Accelerate your business growth

Delay or avoid equity raisings

Quick & easy application process

Innovation

Ready to keep the innovation rolling?

We understand the challenge of funding R&D, growing your business, and hitting key milestones, while still coping with the expense of running your day-to-day business.

That’s why we have developed an R&D financing solution that can keep your cash flow healthy, get you to market faster, and add value to your business. By bringing forward your R&D tax refund you can put off an expensive equity raise and keep control of your business for longer, allowing you to hold out until the company is worth what you know its potential is.

Debt is Cheaper than Equity

Access funds with a R&D finance loan today.

When you raise debt, the only cost to you is the interest expense (which may be tax deductible). When you raise equity, you are giving shareholders a claim on your business’s future earnings.

This makes debt cheaper and less impactful to your business, especially when that debt will be paid back by the Australian Tax Office.

If you’re ready to learn more about accessing R&D Finance, get in touch today.

Debt is Cheaper than Equity

Attract Venture Capital

Why waste valuable time knocking on doors in the frustrating pursuit of venture capital? At Rocking Horse, the investors find you! We bridge the gap between you and the venture capitalists and institutional investors who are actively seeking investment opportunities. Our platform gives you high visibility and credibility, while giving investors easy access to a range of high potential firms to support.

More than that, Rocking Horse can also link you into a complete R&D community, including the university sector, research organisations and other business people, who can provide invaluable resources to help you develop your products, services or processes.

Why finance with Rocking Horse

Conquer the Cash Flow Challenge

Rocking Horse allows you to obtain R&D Tax Incentives upfront, rather than having to wait until end of year. We can even organise a quarterly cycle and can access higher funding than you may have thought possible to help free up cash flow and allow you to focus on development.

Limit Risk

Employing our knowledge of processes, tapping into our network of contacts and utilising the expertise of our partners can transform your entire R&D operations. This holistic approach means you can mitigate risks, maximise financial stability and present a more attractive proposition to venture capitalists.

Accelerate Growth

When you receive funding from Rocking Horse you not only get the capital you need to accelerate your business development but also investment partners who will be as committed to your success as you are? Partners who understand what it takes to grow a small business and have networks to support you and rapidly grow your business in Australia and globally.

Key To Faster R&D Tax Incentives

“Allowing us to access cashflow critical to our R&D and commercialisation in an incredibly painless and efficient manner”

Daniel Stinton, EBEV Founder

Daniel Stinton, Founder

EBEV

How It Works

We make it as easy as possible for you to get back to what you do best—growing your business.

When you finance with Rocking Horse, we handle all the details for you, however to help you make an informed decision, you can see how R&D Financing works below.

The Details

With an R&D spend of $5000,000 in the financial year you will be eligible for a refund of $217,500 from the ATO. Should you wish to borrow against that quarterly you have access to $43,500 a quarter. if you re-invest that straight back into R&D your spend increases to $168,500 a quarter. So not only can you it milestones quicker and perhaps accelerate commercialisation, with the increased R&D spend your rebate at the end of the FY will be $293,190.

Other services to help you accelerate business growth.

Back Office Advice & Assistance

It is vital for emerging entrepreneurs and innovators to focus on R&D, but this can be challenging when you are simultaneously trying to cope with back office functions too. Rocking Horse, along with our strategic partner organisations, can offer consultancy in a range of business areas, including accounting and financial management, strategy, relationship management, and R&D planning and review, enabling you to concentrate on developing your innovation.

Our Team

Giles Karhan

Giles Karhan

DIRECTOR

Giles has worked in management, sales and marketing and operations across both equities and funds management for over 15 years. He has worked in both large Australian banks, wealth mangers as well as boutique funds management. His strong commercial experience is a valuable asset in his role running Rocking Horse. Giles has been a keen entrepreneur for many years and invested in a number of innovations over the past 10 years.

About Us

Rocking Horse provides a genuine solution to this imbalance by give Australian innovators the purpose-built platform to achieve home-grown commercial success.

Experience Counts

Experience Counts

Our team of specialists brings experience from a wide range of disciplines, including finance, legal, accounting, R&D and the university sector. We have a hands-on track record of building and supporting growing innovative businesses, so we know the advice we give makes a difference and what we do

Backed By Industry Experts

Our panel of expert reviewers include some of Australia’s top entrepreneurs and business leaders. They understand the value of getting to market quickly and how access to R&D cashflow can make the difference.

Backed By Industry Experts

Learn how to Accelerate your Business Growth

FAQs

The Research and Development Tax Incentive (R&DTI) provides a tax offset for eligible R&D activities, and in this way encourages companies to undertake R&D that benefits Australia.

It has two components:

  1. A refundable tax offset for entities whose turnover is under $20million
  2. A non-refundable offset for entities with more than $20million turnover

Eligible companies can receive upto 43.5% of their R&D expenditure as a rebate

To claim the R&D Tax Incentive, entities must:

  • undertaking R&D throughout the income year.
  • Have their R&D registered with AusIndustry.
  • Points below plus cut offs i.e. 20m, minimum spend, etc

Then the program is available to companies who are:

  • incorporated under Australian law
  • incorporated under foreign law but an Australian resident for income purposes
  • incorporated under foreign law and a resident of a country with which Australia has a double tax agreement

In its most simple terms R&D Finance is a loan that uses the R&D Tax Incentive receipt at the end of the financial year as repayment. You can only access this loan if you are expecting an R&DTI rebate. So the R&DTI allows a company the safety of knowing they will receive money, in the form of the rebate, when the financial year ends, while R&D Finance allows them to access that money when they need it most through the year.

If you are eligible for the R&D Tax Incentive and spend at least $20,000 in Australian R&D then you can apply for R&D Financing. Most R&D Finance lenders, however, will only lend fund if spend on R&D is more than $100,000 during that financial year.

Many young companies spending heavily on R&D may be pre-revenue making borrowing from traditional financial institutions almost impossible. R&D Finance can provide the cash injection a company needs to:

  1. 1.Bring forward commercialisation plans
  2. Expediate further R&D activities
  3. Support further growth
  4. Satisfy ongoing cash flow needs
  5. Delay or avoid expensive equity injections

Applying for R&D Financing through a provider is as easy as making contact with them and returning required information needed to make sure the company is eligible for the R&DTI. 

Some of the information you will likely be asked to provide will be around:

  • Company information
  • Tax Details
  • R&D details
  • Financing details

You can borrow upto 80-85% of your year to date / expected R&DTI Rebate. This amount provides a safety buffer meaning you will not overextend on the loan, as allowing cover for the capitalised interest through the loan period.

The process of receiving the money begins once all the requested information has been received by the lender. Typically, the money can be received fairly quickly, inside a week

The costs are standard and fixed:

Application Fee – $500
Interest Charge – 1.42% / month

Borrowers have the choice of drawing their loans when and how they want. The options in how you structure your loan are solely limited by what your accrued refund is i.e. you can do a one off loan, quarterly facility, or when required.  However, we do not offer draw down facilities.

No repayments are required throughout the life of the loan.  Typically our borrowers accrue the interest through the loan until the whole loan plus interest is paid off when the R&DTI rebate is received. 

No, there is a minimum loan period / interest charge, however no penalties or fees for repaying early.

Unfortunately not, we are only able to lend against the R&DTI.   

No, Personal Guarantees are not required for our loans.

R&D Claims

Are you wanting to apply for an R&D tax incentive?