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Bringing Travel Stories to Life
At just 14, AJ Brau, now CEO & Co-Founder of Wander Maps, had a bold idea: a map app to transform navigation at Lake Powell. It earned six figures in download revenue and drew attention from travel destinations eager to replace paper maps. This success inspired AJ to launch Wander Maps in January 2021.
After interviewing travelers, her team learned many relied on social media for trip planning but struggled to transfer saved posts into Google Maps. Wander Maps solved this by creating a feature to extract and organize locations from videos into digital maps.
Today, Wander replaces outdated paper maps with interactive 3D maps for destinations like Moab, Durango, and Hot Springs National Park, supporting outdoor, urban, and historical sites.
“Whether online or offline, indoor or outdoor, Wander empowers destinations to enhance visitor experiences, manage stakeholders, and bring stories to life.”
-AJ Brau, CEO, Wandermaps
The Challenge
A Seed level start up finding challenges in trying to keep business afloat
AJ Brau admits the business hasn’t reached its full potential yet. The team is focused on launching a B2C product aimed at increasing revenue through a subscription model with a freemium option.
As a lean, seed-stage startup, most of AJ and her team’s time and funding are dedicated to finding product-market fit and keeping operations afloat. Both the founder and the head of product have chosen not to take salaries, prioritizing the company’s growth instead.
Though the journey has come with its share of challenges, including staffing hurdles,, the team has remained resilient and driven. Their partnership with Zeni has provided crucial support to fuel their growth, especially when it comes to filing their R&D taxes.
Attaining new revenue through R&D tax credits would:
- Extend Wander Maps’ runway
- Support critical expenses like salaries and product development
- Propel the company toward profitability
“Zeni has been so helpful. This tax credit was a big deal. We were able to fund a lot of things… With Zeni it feels like your dollars are more efficient. Like, with what you spend you’re getting more value back. My favorite thing is having the technology piece with the human touch.”
-AJ Brau, CEO, Wander Maps
The Solution
The solution came with a phone call from Brau’s trusted controller, who offered to handle Wander Map’s R&D tax filings. For Brau, it was an easy decision. She lacked the time and expertise to manage it herself and understood the tax credit could provide a significant boost to Wander Maps.
All Brau had to do to get started was fill out a description of what her employees had worked on and how they had spent their time. Then Zeni took it from there.
What their R&D tax advisor did:
- Identified qualifying business expenses
- Prepared the calculations and filed paperwork with the IRS
- Organized and submitted supporting documents to IRS to ensure audit-readiness
- Coordinated with Brau’s payroll provider to apply the R&D credit against her startup’s payroll taxes
Benefits of R&D Tax Filing for Wander Maps
- Offset income tax liability
- Reduce tax and payroll expenses
- Free up critical funds to reinvest in the business
This strategic move not only provided financial relief but also empowered Wander Maps to focus on growth and innovation.
“No ball is ever dropped. They follow up until they get what they need from you. You have the benefits of having a real human looking over your books each month, but the efficiency and cost savings of having a software tool for accounting.”
-AJ Brau, CEO, Wander Maps
The Impact
It was like getting free money
Wander Maps walked away from their R&D filing with a new source of revenue. With a $60,000 credit they were able to extend their runway by 3 months. “It was like free money funding the business," Brau expressed.
Plus, Brau spent less than an hour of her time on her R&D tax filing. The rest of the time was spent by her tax team. Their work saved her almost 30 hours of time. This was 30 hours she got back to focus on other priorities of the business.
“For less than an hour of our work, Zeni found us $60,000. That’s a really good ROI. I’ve never made $60,000 in an hour before.”
-AJ Brau, CEO, Wander Maps
Just like Wander Maps, you can unlock valuable R&D tax credits to reinvest in your business. Connect with your R&D advisor today—they’re ready to help here.
