Three recent profitable EIS exits – all disruptive SaaS companies
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Over the past few months, Wealth Club investors have benefitted from the profitable exits of three EIS early-stage companies: Arbolus (Fuel Ventures Scale-up EIS Fund and Follow-on EIS Fund), Re-flow (Haatch EIS Fund) and Plotbox (Par EIS Fund).
All three are software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies – and each is a disruptor of an industry encumbered by antiquated processes.
How have these companies started to modernise their respective industries? What returns have their exits generated for EIS investors? Why did the managers invest and how might you invest in similar companies?
Note: these are examples of particularly successful investments. As is to be expected when investing in young companies, there have also been failures and past performance is not a guide to the future.
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.
Fuel Ventures’ EIS funds
Arbolus – up to 5.8x exit
In March 2025, Fuel Ventures partially exited Arbolus, an AI-powered online marketplace connecting businesses with subject-matter experts. This delivered a return of up to 5.8x for investors in Fuel’s EIS funds.
The global market for such “expert networks” is currently worth c.$2.3 billion. However, most of the industry still runs on brokerage firms recommending businesses a curated list of experts to phone, in the hope they’ll find the right fit – racking up many hour-long calls that may bring little value.
Founders Sam Glasswell and Will Leeming recognised that the process could be made faster and easier by applying AI, so they set up Arbolus in 2018 – they already had previous experience of helping scale a $1 billion company. Their solution allows clients to make a short video explaining what they need. Relevant experts registered with the platform can come forward and reply. AI assistant ArbolusGPT facilitates the whole process and helps select the best candidate. Read the full article on this exit.
Why did Fuel invest?
Fuel Ventures targets fast-growing SaaS businesses, online platforms and marketplaces that have the potential to scale globally – Arbolus is an example.
Fuel first invested in 2019 through its Scale-up EIS Fund, and subsequently through its Follow-on EIS Fund in 2020 and 2023 – a total of £3.7 million.
Over the course of the investment, Arbolus grew to a team of around 200 globally – with offices in London, New York, Barcelona and Delhi – and hundreds of clients worldwide.
The exit has generated proceeds of £6.9 million – delivering a realised return of up to 5.8x for EIS investors (individual investors’ returns will vary). The remaining holding is valued at £6.7 million.
This is the fifth exit for the Fuel EIS funds, which have so far returned a total of £40 million to investors.
How to invest in similar companies – Fuel Scale-up EIS
Experienced investors can get exposure to companies like Arbolus (albeit not Arbolus itself) by investing in the Fuel Ventures Scale-up EIS Fund. The Fuel Ventures Follow-on EIS Fund is currently closed.
The next deadline is 30 June 2025, targeting deployment over 12-15 months (not guaranteed). Target return: 10x over 10 years – not guaranteed
- Deployment into at least five companies
- Minimum investment: £20,000 – you can apply online
See Fuel Ventures Scale-up EIS Fund’s performance
Performance per £100 invested in each tax year
Source: Fuel Ventures, as at 22 January 2025. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The chart shows realised returns (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.
See Fuel Ventures Follow-on EIS Fund's performance
Performance per £100 invested in each tax year
Source: Fuel Ventures, as at 22 January 2025. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The chart shows realised returns (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.
Haatch EIS Fund
Re-flow – up to 6.55x exit
In February 2025, Haatch partially exited field management software company Re-flow, achieving up to 6.55x returns for its EIS fund investors.
Re-flow’s award-winning field-workforce management software – housed in a mobile app – aims to replace inefficient paper-based systems across the construction, civil engineering, highways, traffic management, rail and utilities industries.
Workers can upload reports, site photos, communications, costings and any other documents, creating a centralised digital store of information that can help improve admin, compliance reporting and worksite safety.
Founded in 2018, Devon-based Re-flow now counts 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. Read the full article on this exit.
Why did Haatch invest?
Haatch first backed Re-flow in 2020 and again in 2022, recognising its potential to modernise outdated processes in key industries. Since then, the company expanded 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.
Haatch seeks to back B2B SaaS businesses solving industry problems or creating a large impact for organisations – Re-flow is an example.
The investment was exited in March 2025 – generating a return of 6.55x on the 2020 investment and 4.1x on the 2022 investment.
How to invest in similar companies – Haatch EIS Fund
Experienced investors can get exposure to companies like Re-flow (albeit not Re-flow itself) by investing in the Haatch EIS Fund.
- Target return: 3x over 5-10 years – not guaranteed
- Target portfolio of 4-7 companies – not guaranteed
- Minimum investment: £20,000 – you can apply online
See Haatch EIS Fund's performance
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.
Par EIS Fund
Plotbox – profitable exit
In April 2025, Par EIS Fund partially exited its positions in cemetery-management software company Plotbox.
Plotbox was founded in 2014 by husband-and-wife team Sean and Leona McAllister, to provide software and services for funeral homes, cemeteries and crematoria. Headquartered in Northern Ireland, it now has over 120 employees globally, and offices in the US and Australia.
Plotbox helps clients move away from paper records, contracts and burial plot maps, towards working more efficiently using cloud-based digitised services for managing records, inventory, memorials, customer service, financial reporting and payments. It has also pioneered a form of “Google Maps for cemeteries” by combining high-resolution drone mapping with geographic information system technology.
Why did Par invest?
Par Equity invested in 2019, 2021 and 2023 – a total of £2 million. In April 2025, it realised its earlier investments through a secondary transaction to private equity house Serent Capital.
The Par EIS Fund invests predominantly in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England. It seeks to invest in technology companies developing innovative solutions in their respective industries, with defensible IP, large addressable markets, strong commercial demand and limited barriers to international scale – Plotbox is an example.
How to invest in similar companies – Par EIS Fund
Experienced investors can get exposure to companies like Plotbox (albeit not Plotbox itself) by investing in the Par EIS Fund.
- Target return: 15% IRR over 6-8 years – not guaranteed
- Targets a portfolio of 8-12 companies to deploy within 12 months of the subscription date – not guaranteed
- Minimum investment: £25,000 – you can apply online
See Par EIS Fund's performance
Performance per £100 invested in each tax year
Source: Par Equity, as at December 2024. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The chart shows realised returns (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.
Plotbox: also partial exit for Guinness
Guinness Ventures also invested in Plotbox in 2023, both through its EIS fund and its VCT.
The manager sold part of its stake as part of the secondary transaction to private equity house Serent Capital. Both Guinness VCT and Guinness EIS Fund are open for investment.
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.