Across our recent EIS funds, we’ve seen a clear shift: the companies we’re backing aren’t just early, they’re arriving with clearer signs of product-market fit. Many have already secured meaningful contracts, scaled to £1m+ Annual Recurring Revenue (“ARR”), or they have already replaced legacy systems in large enterprises.

For the portfolio companies within Haatch EIS Fund 16, we saw an average ARR of £1.12m and an average pre-money valuation of £8.48m whereas for Haatch EIS Fund 18, deployed just 6 months later, saw the same ARR figure climb to £1.59m yet the pre-money valuation dropped to £7.61m.

Given the demand for the sector continuing to heat up, it’s clear that Haatch’s position as the partner of choice for best-in-class software operators is continuing to grow, in an environment where valuation sensitivity is increasing, we believe that this is commensurate for building long-term value within our portfolio.

Haatch’s Liquidity Model

As evidenced by three exits across three consecutive months this year, Haatch is a liquidity-obsessed investor, and these early outcomes offer validation of our approach. We invest with intent: typically at sub-£15m valuations, with a strategy designed to achieve first liquidity events at Series A or B.

Rather than building a portfolio purely around unicorn potential, we optimise for a wider, more realistic pool of acquirers. A recent report of privately held software acquisitions stated that the median ARR level at sale was just $5.9 million, showing an extremely healthy mid-market appetite for SaaS that we are actively positioning and structuring ourselves to be beneficiaries of. By doing so, we open up more pathways to meaningful exits, often within 3-5 years.

It’s not just about aiming high, it’s about aiming smart, and giving our investors a better chance of realising returns across the portfolio, not just from the occasional outlier.