Mehrsa Raeiszadeh is no stranger to SR&ED. As the founder of numerous startups—including her latest venture, the online car-selling marketplace Mintlist—she used to approach SR&ED applications as an almost “all-hands-on-deck” affair.
“It was similar to the work that I would do for my PhD,” Mehrsa explains, emphasizing that just compiling the payroll data and pulling in her technical teams could amount to at least a 10 hour project for numerous individuals.
“This is not a project I would give to a junior developer, either,” Mehrsa adds, noting that even an intermediate developer may not have the experience with SR&ED—or Mintlist’s innovative technology—to create a technical report that meets the application’s high standards. “I would bring my tech lead, and my product lead—and those are the most expensive people at the company” Mehrsa says.
It’s the diversion that the SR&ED application was creating—when high-value developer talent should be focused on new R&D—that really pushed Mehrsa to reevaluate how Mintlist was recouping their spend and maximizing their access to non-dilutive government funding.
That’s when one of Mehrsa’s connections within the British Columbia tech ecosystem clued her into what Boast AI was doing.
The results? “Two big fat checks” each exceeding six digits, and many, many hours saved, giving Mehrsa and the Mintlist team access to serious capital that they used to extend their runway and fuel even more innovation.
“I feel like Boast is an extended part of my team,” Mehrsa explains, adding that “I can reach out to them, they’re extremely supportive and I feel that if something happens, they’re the experts, and they’re accessible whenever! I don’t have to pay for that person full time on my team.”
That includes when Mehrsa was looking into government grant programs; a one-off question she had about potential eligibility resulted in a same-day response from Boast AI’s CTO, complete with a strategy for how to maximize Mintlist’s access.
In the first episode of Boast AI’s What The Tech podcast, Mehrsa discusses how she worked with Boast to file two years’ worth of SR&ED claims at once.
Check out the full interview and other conversations with innovative startup founders on Boast’s Youtube Channel.
At both the federal and provincial level, Canada provides a wealth of innovation funding in the form of tax credits and grants that offer founders non-dilutive capital to fuel their runway.
Our latest guide breaks down the most popular government-backed funding programs and how you can start tapping into them to grow your business.
