Charles R. Goulding and Nimra Shakoor highlight how Trayd’s rapid US$17 million raise signals a breakthrough in simplifying union payroll while unlocking powerful tax incentives for construction innovators.
Trayd has quickly raised US$17 million with leading investors such as Y Combinator, Suffolk Technologies, and RXR.
Trayd has developed specialty contractor payroll software that handles union payrolls. In states where construction labor is heavily unionized, such as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California, Washington, and Oregon, significant complexity is involved when handling payroll, where a single construction worker may earn up to four different payroll rates and associated benefits in a single day depending on trade category, project specifics, and physical location. Trayd’s software automates payroll, HR, compliance, and labor cost tracking for the specialty contractors.
Cofounder Anna Berger states that what used to take 14 hours of manual work can now be completed in under 30 minutes.
In our Energy practice, Energy Tax Savers, we review this compliance to optimize our clients’ tax incentives related to building energy efficiency projects and alternative energy projects. Projects that meet specific prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements can receive the highest level of tax incentives.
In our R&D practice, we use specific payroll data to determine eligibility for construction R&D tax credits that have been expanded under the Big Beautiful Tax Bill.
Suffolk Technologies is renowned for its large portfolio of construction tech investments, including 3DP-based products. We covered the companies in a previous Fabbaloo article, citing 40 tech industry disruptors backed by the firm.
RXR is a New York-headquartered recent investor and a large, diversified private equity real estate developer with over 100 properties and 30 million square feet of real estate under management.
Trayd’s software not only enhances payroll compliance but also enables users to document eligibility for larger energy tax incentives.
We believe that Trayd’s software will also benefit ship and submarine builders that also require a wide range of specialized union trades.
The Research & Development Tax Credit
The now-permanent Research & Development Tax Credit (R&D) is available for companies developing new or improved products, processes and/or software.
3D printing can help boost a company’s R&D Tax Credits. Wages for technical employees creating, testing and revising 3D printed prototypes can be included as a percentage of eligible time spent for the R&D Tax Credit. Similarly, when used as a method of improving a process, time spent integrating 3D printing hardware and software counts as an eligible activity. Lastly, when used for modeling and preproduction, the costs of filaments consumed during the development process may also be recovered.
Whether it is used for creating and testing prototypes or for final production, 3D printing is a strong indicator that R&D-eligible activities are taking place. Companies implementing this technology at any point should consider claiming R&D Tax Credits.
Payroll technology continues to remove administrative friction, automating routine tasks and improving accuracy across complex projects. As these systems streamline operations, teams can redirect time and resources toward higher-value work—driving innovation, project delivery, and the developments that matter most.
