Startup Spotlight: MainStreet

Taxes, woof. I think we can all agree that taxes are the least fun part of running a company. They are complicated, extremely involved and if you get them wrong there can be some pretty tough consequences.

Enter MainStreet, your Tax Credit hunting Indiana Jones. Seriously, like the Raider of the Lost Ark himself, the peeps over at MainStreet won’t take a penny unless they help you track down these credits. So how does it work? Well, it's beautifully quite simple actually.

First, you tell them a bit about your business so they can get to know what type of work you do and give them an idea of what types of credit you might be eligible for. Next, you connect your payroll system and they ingest that data and run that data against their database of professional verified tax credits at all sorts of levels (federal, state, etc.).

Once they match you up with the credits you are eligible for, MainStreet will actually advance you the credits you are eligible for minus their fees which they calculate based on how many savings they find you. You then simply pay them back the credits in full when you receive them on your taxes.

The simplicity of it is beautiful and the amazing part is it is a complex issue to understand but one that nearly every business is eligible for. What I also love about MainStreet is that they should see massive revenue expansion over time with their customers, as they help them find credits, those savings go into growth and as the business grows, revenue and expense grow which lead to larger and larger credits over time meaning more in fees for MainStreet. Usage-based land and expand SaaS revenue models are a huge win in today's startup ecosystem and investors flock to companies that are building with this model.

Don’t believe us? Well, MainStreet just raised a $60M Series A led by SignalFire so the proof is in the pudding on that one.

Our favorite part is this is just a win-win-win of a company. Startups win by finding tax credits that they otherwise would miss so even with the fees this really is at no cost to you. MainStreet gets to help unwind a complicated discovery process and the more they help uncover, the more they get to make as their customers grow. And it’s a win for our economy, this is what these tax credits were made for, to give small and innovative businesses a tax break so they can save more of their revenue and re-invest it in growth which ultimately creates jobs and leads to more tax-paying companies down the road.

We are excited to see what MainStreet has in store for us next and to see what other complex tax or other related issues they can help founders and startups gain the benefits of.

Originally published at https://www.talkinsaasy.com.