Backed by NSF 
Find it.
Prove it.
Claim it.
Ikora matches your city's or county's records to your FEMA Public Assistance claim and flags eligible costs that are missing proof. Your team decides on each one.
The problem
Sound familiar?
- Your disaster costs sit in four different systems, and nobody has the weeks it takes to join them up.
- A project stalls, or gets cut, because the paperwork behind one cost is thin.
- At closeout, someone rebuilds the same paper trail from scratch, months after the storm.
- Some costs that qualified never make it into the claim at all.
- In one FEMA appeal, a city's $3.2M labor claim was denied for missing documentation. FEMA appeal: force account labor and equipment costs
- The DHS Inspector General found $9.4M in unliquidated funds held up by closeout delays. DHS OIG-24-45, August 2024
The records already exist. They just aren't connected.
Four steps
How it works
Connect
You send us exports from payroll, fleet, purchasing, work orders and contracts. CSV or Excel files are fine.Match
Ikora links the records that belong to the same cost. Crew overtime on March 3, for example, lines up with a debris work order and the truck logs from that storm.Flag
It points out costs that look eligible but aren't in your claim, and claimed costs that don't have enough proof yet.You decide
Your staff review every flag. FEMA's rules decide what's eligible. The AI doesn't.
Want to see a flag go from raised to resolved?
Book a demoWhat you get
One evidence trail for every cost
Every cost in your claim comes with its proof attached. Anything that belongs in the claim but isn't there shows up for review.
Field apps already capture photos and damage. Ikora works on the money side: overtime, equipment hours, purchases and contracts.
Matching across systems
Ikora joins up records that no one person has time to cross-check, so fewer eligible costs get left out.
Evidence-gap flags
Each flag names the exact document that's missing. You can fix the gap before the state or FEMA reviews the project.
Flags that explain themselves
You see the source records, the reasoning and a confidence level. Your staff can check it, and they can defend it to an auditor.
Historical recovery review
We can run Ikora on a disaster you've already closed. You see what it finds without putting a live claim at risk.
Program fit
Where it works: FEMA Public Assistance
- We start with Category A (debris removal) and Category B (emergency protective measures). That's the work billed at actual cost, where the proof matters most.
- It's built for state recovery agencies, whether you're the applicant or the recipient, and for counties and large cities.
- It helps you get projects ready for closeout, including ones already past their deadline.
Working in Australia? See the DRFA page.
Who we are
Who's building this
NSF I-Corps team
We're an NSF I-Corps team working on one narrow problem: tying disaster costs to the records that prove them.
A person makes every call
Ikora suggests. Someone on your staff decides. We built it that way on purpose.
We're looking for pilot partners
We don't have customer logos yet, and we won't pretend we do. If you have a closed disaster and decent exports from your systems, we'd like to run a recovery review on it with you.
Talk to us about a pilot →Before you book
Questions people ask us
Do we have to share our data for the demo?
No. The demo runs on sample data. If you do a pilot later, we only use the exports you choose to send.
Does the AI decide what's eligible?
No. It flags costs and explains why. Your staff decide, and FEMA's Public Assistance rules govern eligibility.
Does this replace our recovery consultant?
No. Consultants can use Ikora to document claims faster.
What does a pilot cost?
It's a fixed fee that we scope with you on the call. We size it to sit under typical purchasing thresholds.
Which systems does it work with?
Anything that can export to CSV or Excel. That covers most payroll, fleet, purchasing and work-order systems.
Are you affiliated with FEMA?
No. Ikora is independent.
Book a demo
See your next claim before the auditor does
In 20 minutes you get:
- a walkthrough on sample data
- the sample flag report, yours to keep
- if you want it, a scope for a recovery review on a disaster you've already closed