We were thrilled to welcome Sophie Weavers-Wright to the Haatch team in November as Head of Platform & Portfolio. Now three months into the role we sat down with Sophie to see how she is getting on.

What were you doing before joining Haatch?

Prior to Haatch I was working as a Senior Account Manager at a Paid Search company, which was actually an original Haatch backed business and later acquired in 2018 by a US based coupon business. I was with the business for around 5 years working closely with big FMCG brands across the US in addition to a well known gifting marketplace right here in the UK. 

Being part of the build up to the acquisition and also the post acquisition journey gave me great insight into the whole process and is something I can provide first hand experience of for our portfolio companies who are looking to exit.

What is your role at Haatch?

My role is centred around our portfolio companies and supporting the relationship between Haatch, existing and new companies as we continue to grow the Haatch offering.

Think of me as the glue between Haatch and our portfolio, the go to person who can connect them with anything they may need; marketing support, recruitment asks, raising queries. If I don’t have the answer I’ll be sure to connect you with someone who does!

What made you decide to join Haatch?

Haatch is such an exciting place to be, and this sense of excitement is growing all the time, … Jumping back into the start-up, entrepreneurial world is something I did in a heartbeat and with two feet! There’s nothing quite like that feeling is there?

And now I get to work with different start-ups everyday, each  terrific in their own way and helping them grow into an amazing business is super exciting. In my opinion entrepreneurs are a different breed of people… and I think all of them would agree with that statement! 

Where do you think you can make the most difference to the business? 

We now have around 50 portfolio companies, and my focus is to look after these companies and their needs. This can stretch from the onboarding process, right through to the next fund raise. 

Because many companies are in a similar position to others, we are building a community where  companies can share knowledge and learn from each other.

What is there that really excites you about the coming months?

If only you were a fly on the wall during our 2022 strategy session you’ll know exactly what is coming!

We are seeing more exciting investment opportunities than ever before – we expect more than 2000 this year. My job is to harness the skills of everyone with an interest in Haatch, and optimise these for the benefit of both the portfolio companies and investors. As an example we are planning our first Founders Retreat (Covid and Boris Johnson dependent…!) And then there is much more to come….