Award winning graduates Roland Glancy and Simon Barker are a step closer to seeing their energy saving invention go on sale following some help from Harlands Accountants in Newcastle.
They have secured a grant for over £170,000 to develop a fan which makes houses warmer for less than a pound a year.
They will use the money to invest in their business Radfan but they will have to provide up-to-date financial records to their investors.
North East accountancy firm Harlands helped the pair by introducing them to online accounting software Xero.
Roland said: “The Radfan is an exciting product with a lot of potential and that is something that has been recognised by our investors. But that means we need to produce accurate financial information at the touch of a button.
“At this stage of our business, we really need to be concentrating our time developing the product so having access to the Xero software makes life a lot easier.
“It speeds things up, especially the monthly reporting requirements so we know exactly where we are in the business and can provide balance sheets and forecasts for our funders.”
The Radfan attaches to radiators and redirects hot air so that it spreads more evenly around the room. It makes homes up to 1.5C warmer and costs just 70p a year in electricity.
The Newcastle University graduates won £20,000 at the prestigious Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Challenge in 2011. Then they received a £150,000 investment from the North East Angel Fund so that they can develop their product and take it to market.
Harlands Accountants helped them apply to the North East Angel Fund. The accountancy firm encourage their clients to use technology to make the accounting and book-keeping process easier.
Philip Murray, Customer Services Director at Harlands, said: “Radfan are exactly the kind of business that will reap the benefits of using the Xero system because of its ease of use and the lack of jargon. Technology has brought an immediacy and ability to provide access to up to date, flexible information at the click of a button. People expect that now from financial services and it is something that the industry has to adapt to.”