Understanding R&D Financing with Rocking Horse

The process follows six steps: get in touch with our team, confirm your eligibility, gather your supporting documents (including a comfort letter from your R&D tax consultant), confirm your ATO position, submit your application, and receive your funds—typically within two weeks of approval. The loan is settled automatically when the ATO pays your R&DTI rebate.

To qualify for R&D finance through Rocking Horse, your business must be eligible for the Australian Government's R&D Tax Incentive, have incurred eligible R&D expenses, and either have a history of R&DTI claims or be planning to lodge a claim with the support of an approved R&D tax consultant. You'll need a comfort letter from your advisor confirming your eligibility for expenditure. If you don't yet have an R&D advisor, we can connect you with one.

Our funding starts from $50K. The amount you can access is based on your year-to-date eligible R&D expenditure and the associated rebate—not your projected full-year spend. Businesses with higher eligible expenditure will generally be able to access more funding.

Not necessarily. You don't need to have completed or lodged your R&DTI application before applying for R&D finance. However, you do need to be conducting eligible R&D activities and have an R&D tax consultant who can provide a comfort letter confirming your eligible spend. If you're not yet working with an advisor, reach out to us, and we can introduce you to one in our network.

No. Rocking Horse Group is a specialist R&D finance lender, not an advisory firm. We don't lodge R&D Tax Incentive claims, assess eligibility, or provide tax advice. Our role is to fund against eligible R&D spend that's been confirmed by your R&D tax consultant. We work alongside your advisor—not in place of one.

There are no restrictions on how you use your R&D financing. While many businesses reinvest directly into product development or hiring, you're free to allocate the capital wherever it's needed—whether that's operations, market expansion, commercialisation, or bridging a cash flow gap.

We work with R&D-active businesses across a wide range of industries, including technology and software, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, manufacturing and engineering, renewable energy, and agriculture and food technology. If your business is conducting eligible R&D under the R&DTI program, we'd welcome a conversation regardless of your sector.

Once your application and supporting documents are in order, approval is typically fast—with funding available within two weeks. The timeline depends on the completeness of your documentation and the confirmation from your R&D tax advisor.