New 6.55x exit for Haatch EIS, field management software provider Re-flow
Don't invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more.
Estimated reading time: 2 min
Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.
What are the key risks?
- You could lose all the money you invest
- If the business you invest in fails, you are likely to lose 100% of the money you invested. Most start-up businesses fail.
- You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong
- Protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover poor investment performance. Try the FSCS investment protection checker here.
- Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated firm, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.
- You won’t get your money back quickly
- Even if the business you invest in is successful, it may take several years to get your money back. You are unlikely to be able to sell your investment early.
- The most likely way to get your money back is if the business is bought by another business or lists its shares on an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange. These events are not common.
- If you are investing in a start-up business, you should not expect to get your money back through dividends. Start-up businesses rarely pay these.
- Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
- Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.
- A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments.
- The value of your investment can be reduced
- The percentage of the business that you own will decrease if the business issues more shares. This could mean that the value of your investment reduces, depending on how much the business grows. Most start-up businesses issue multiple rounds of shares.
- These new shares could have additional rights that your shares don’t have, such as the right to receive a fixed dividend, which could further reduce your chances of getting a return on your investment.
If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website here.
Haatch Ventures has announced the profitable cash sale of award-winning SaaS company Re-flow to a private equity buyer for an undisclosed sum in February 2025. The exit delivers returns of up to 6.55x for investors in its EIS funds. Past performance is not a guide to the future – there have also been failures.
Re-flow provides powerful field-workforce management software – in the form of a simple mobile app – to replace inefficient paper-based systems across the construction, civil engineering, highways, traffic management, rail and utilities industries.
Founded in 2018, Devon-based Re-flow is now an industry leader, counting the likes of AA, Tarmac, WJ Group, HTM, Eurofins Forensic Services and Toppesfield (the UK’s largest independent surfacing contractor) among its 200+ enterprise clients.
Haatch first backed Re-flow in 2020, recognising its potential to modernise outdated processes in key industries. Since then, the company has experienced rapid growth, expanding from 1,500 users and £27k monthly recurring revenue (MRR) at the time of investment to over 30,000 users and £millions in annual recurring revenue (ARR) at the time of exit.
How does Re-flow address a major industry problem? How is Re-flow an example of Haatch’s investment strategy, in the manager’s view? What hands-on help did Haatch provide to support the company’s growth? How could you invest in similar companies through the Haatch EIS Fund?
Important: The information on this website is for experienced investors. It is not a personal recommendation to invest. If you’re unsure, please seek advice. These investments are for the long term. They are high risk and can fall as well as rise in value: you could lose all the money you invest. Tax rules can change and benefits depend on circumstances.
What does Re-flow do?
With Re-flow, the chaos of using dockets of paper is replaced by a centralised digital store of authenticated information that can be updated continually in real-time – improving admin, compliance and worksite safety.
Re-flow’s mobile app lets users upload reports, site photos, communications, costings and other documents from the field or back office – so they’re accessible to all simultaneously, rather than held by multiple operatives across remote sites.
It eliminates the need for a last-minute rush to consolidate paperwork each month. It also makes compliance reporting easier as dashboard users can filter by date, time, user, job and more to find the exact information they need within seconds.
Meanwhile in the field, supervisors and foremen can see real-time site-specific information, to keep on top of the works being completed and be alerted of any potential hazards.
Why did Haatch invest – and what hands-on help did it provide?
Haatch Ventures is a pre-seed and seed stage fund manager that seeks to back B2B SaaS businesses solving industry problems or creating a large impact for organisations.
The four partners of Haatch are all entrepreneurs in their own right, with a history of profitable personal exits. They provide the Haatch portfolio with hands-on support.
In the manager’s view, at the point of investment Re-flow fit the key points on its investment strategy checklist:
- A company offering B2B Software as a Service (SaaS) – in Haatch’s view, the SaaS sector offers the potential for strong customer retention and high scalability across the global marketplace in short timescales, with little or no physical infrastructure required.
- A company solving real and current problems for organisations – potentially making it indispensable to its customers and highly attractive to acquirers.
- Already able to demonstrate long-term, predictable, revenue-generating contracts with larger organisations.
When Haatch first invested in 2020, Re-flow had just 1,500 users but a fully developed, market-ready platform, generating £350k ARR. Haatch provided its expertise, focusing on increasing sales with enterprises – aiming to enable Re-flow to quickly scale into a high-growth, acquisition-ready company.
Haatch invested again in 2022, by which time Re-flow had grown to 10,000 users and £1.5 million ARR.
The investment was exited in March 2025. This generated a return of 6.55x on the 2020 investment and 4.1x on the 2022 investment.
Early-stage investment funds and angels have been critical to Re-flow’s growth to date, enabling us to scale rapidly and deliver real value. With Haatch’s support, we expanded our impact and transformed field operations for the industries we serve.
Re-flow was included in the first tranche of the EIS Fund in which Wealth Club clients invested. We feel that to now deliver up to 6.55x returns is a testament to the strength of our investment strategy. This is just the beginning—we’re entering an exciting phase where many of our companies are reaching maturity, and we look forward to sharing more success stories in the months and years ahead.
How to invest in similar companies
The Haatch EIS Fund is currently open for investment and you can invest online.
This means investors should be able to claim EIS income tax relief of up to 30% this tax year or carry back to 2024/25. Tax rules can change and benefits depend on circumstances.
To date, the fund has invested £13.8 million in 49 companies. Of this, £1.8 million has been returned to investors, with a remaining portfolio balance of £20.2 million (February 2025). Past performance is not a guide to the future.
Haatch EIS targets a return of 3x over a planned holding period of five to ten years – high risk and not guaranteed.
Performance of the Haatch EIS Fund
Performance per £100 invested in each tax year
Source: Haatch Ventures LLP, as at 28 February 2025. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The chart shows realised returns, if any (where share proceeds have been returned to investors as cash) and unrealised returns (where cash has not yet been returned and the value of the investments is based on the manager’s own valuation methodology) There is no ready market for unlisted shares. The figures shown are net of all fees and do not include any income tax relief or loss relief.
Wealth Club aims to make it easier for experienced investors to find information on – and apply for – investments. You should base your investment decision on the offer documents and ensure you have read and fully understand them before investing. The information on this webpage is a marketing communication. It is not advice or a personal or research recommendation to buy any of the investments mentioned, nor does it include any opinion as to the present or future value or price of these investments. It does not satisfy legal requirements promoting investment research independence and is thus not subject to prohibitions on dealing ahead of its dissemination.
Alex Davies
Chief Executive
Alex was a board director at Hargreaves Lansdown, where he worked for 15 years. He was responsible for building Hargreaves Lansdown into the biggest direct-to-consumer SIPP provider in the UK with more than 150,000 clients and over £12 billion under management. He is a keen investor with a portfolio of shares, funds, student property, EIS and VCT investments.