super{set} National Renaissance Hackathon · Public Data APIs track

FounderFunds
Every engineer you pay can earn you back ~$7,400 a year.

Helps tech founders who just raised turn engineering payroll into R&D-credit cash: estimate it, prove it from GitHub, and file it on time.

tfar5.github.io/founderfunds · github.com/tfar5/founderfunds

Problem · for tech founders who just raised

Startups do qualifying R&D every sprint. Few turn it into cash.

34,414C-corps claimed the federal credit in 2022, up 75% from 2015

$42.6Bclaimed in 2022, about 3× 2015

3.0×growth in Information-sector (software) claimants, 2015 → 2022

Up to $500Ka year against payroll tax for companies under $5M revenue, even with no profit

Why now: the payroll election only counts on a return filed on time; the offset is limited to your first 5 revenue years; Form 6765 Section G requires project detail from tax year 2026; and missed years expire after about 3 years.

Source: IRS SOI Publication 16, Table 14 (Form 6765), tax years 2015 and 2022. C-corporations only.

Solution

Helps a newly funded founder get cash back, with a claim that holds up

1 · Estimate→2 · Prove it from GitHub→3 · File (7-step guide)→4 · CPA packet or partner match

Estimate

Federal credit, payroll-tax offset (split across Social Security and Medicare), state credits. Separates cash you can get now from credits banked for future tax bills, and shows it as runway.

Timeline

When the cash really arrives: the quarter after you file, through Form 8974, and how many quarters it takes at your payroll.

Audit trail

A project log built around the IRS four-part test and the 2026 Form 6765 Section G fields. Markdown export for your CPA.

GitHub evidence

Reads public commit history (with consent), flags R&D signals, suggests projects and R&D share per person, and adds dated, linked evidence to the audit trail.

File & claim

Seven steps from eligibility to Form 6765, the payroll election deadline and quarterly Form 8974. Ends in a CPA packet or a consent-based partner intro: the lead-gen outcome.

How public data powers it, and its limits

Every number says where it came from

Source	Used for	Limitation we show on screen
IRS SOI Form 6765 tables	Who claims, growth 2015–2022, size gap (2013)	C-corps only; size breakdown last published for 2013
USAspending.gov API (live)	SBIR/STTR and NSF/NIH awards by state and county	Keyword proxy, not official SBIR totals; cached fallback with a badge
Grants.gov Search API	Open opportunities by vertical	Browser blocked by CORS, so we show a dated snapshot
GitHub REST API (live, with consent)	Commit evidence for each project	Public repos; 60 requests an hour without sign-in; sample fallback
Census County Business Patterns	Pool of R&D-intensive businesses	Establishments, not firms; industry is not eligibility
NSF HERD / NCSES	University research context	Correlation, not causation
State credit table	21 states' rules (CA, TX, MI updated for 2025–26)	No public API; hand-compiled, verify yearly

Badges mark every figure as live, snapshot or modeled.

Technical implementation

No backend, so no user data to leak

Stack

Static site on GitHub Pages. Vanilla JS; D3 + topojson load only when the map opens. Public-data snapshots ship in data.js.

Live data

USAspending and Grants.gov are called from the browser with a 6-second timeout and fall back to dated snapshots.

Estimator model

Alternative simplified credit (6% or 14% above half the base), optional 280C election, $250K Social Security + $250K Medicare offset caps, 2026 wage base, state ASC and refundability rules.

Privacy by design

Inputs never leave the browser. The audit log lives in localStorage, exports only on click, and "Delete my data" wipes it. No accounts, cookies or analytics.

Who pays · the flywheel

Buyer: Series A–C startups with 10–150 engineers

Roughly $1.5M–$20M of research spend and $90K–$1.2M of credit a year. Under $5M revenue, so the payroll offset applies. Too small for Big 4 firms. Distribution through VCs, accelerators, payroll providers and startup banks.

1. Lead generation

Qualified leads to credit providers that charge success fees of up to ~20%.

2. Documentation SaaS

Connect GitHub, Linear and payroll; build the Section G record as work happens.

3. Filing

With partner CPAs for a success fee.

4. Credit advances

Lend the expected payroll offset up front, underwritten by the documentation data.

Flywheel: free estimate → connect tools → records build themselves → cash arrives → real outcomes sharpen estimates and underwriting → VC portfolios bring the next cohort.

What's next

From estimate to evidence

Deeper evidence: GitHub sign-in for private repos, Linear and Jira tickets, and AI-drafted four-part test and Section G text.
Grant + credit stacking: SBIR/STTR is reauthorized through 2031; model how awards reduce claimable spend.
Lookback finder: unclaimed credit from 2023–2025 through amended returns.
Official SBIR.gov data in place of the USAspending keyword proxy.
New name: "FounderFunds" is too close to the VC firm Founders Fund.

Not tax advice. Estimates use public rules and data; confirm with a CPA.

FounderFundsEvery engineer you pay can earn you back ~$7,400 a year.