Innovation awards finalist: ReaDI-Watch tackles complex tax and grants process for start-ups

RD&I (research, development and innovation) is the life blood of successful companies, but it’s also a complex process and getting all of the ducks in a row can be a challenge for companies regardless of their size. “Basically, the technology has not been there up to now to specifically manage RD&I integration and this is the gap that the ReaDI-Watch innovation management platform is addressing,” says Dave Byrne who co-founded the company with Professor Gerry Byrne and Aisling Kirwan in 2021.

“Companies invest time and resources in RD&I but often struggle to get a valuable return for their efforts,” Byrne says. “We realised that the business process of RD&I needed a digital solution and went ahead and developed it ourselves. ReaDI-Watch doesn’t create extra work for our customers – it repurposes it and saves on the time and effort that people often spend submitting claims for tax credits or applying for grants for example. Our solution works for all types of businesses from food manufacturing and software to services businesses and start-ups.

“At present, RD&I is not managed well or proactively in many organisations but with our platform companies can develop their own innovation roadmap and build, track, protect, and manage their innovation and R&D strategy,” Byrne adds. “Our team comes from a specialist RD&I background and we have combined the latest innovation standards, technology management practices, IP approaches and government incentives and put them together in a way that makes them easily accessible.”

ReaDI-Watch is an Irish Times Innovation awards finalist in the IT & Fintech category sponsored by Mason Hayes Curran