By Contributor,Trevor Clawson

Copyright forbes

HaulageHub co-founder Scott Robertson says pressing ahead without VC finance has enabled the company to grow in a sustainable way as orginally intended
Haulage Hub

Bootstrapping a fast-growth business isn’t always a comfortable proposition. A company that chooses to carve out a share of its chosen market without the help of external finance must – almost from day one – bring in enough revenue to pay wages, suppliers and running expenses without the safety net of a VC investment. Managing cash flow can be tough. Clients come and go, and there can never be any real certainty about the ability of the business to generate sales over a sustained period.

And yet, here in the U.K., where I’m based, bootstrapping is the reality for the majority of entrepreneurs. Witness a survey of 1,176 businesses carried out by U.K. Startup Awards. Published in January this year, the study found that 85% of respondents had bootstrapped their companies, while four in ten had needed less than £10,000 to get their ventures off the ground.

So why do founders choose to bootstrap? Well, in some cases, there may be no choice. Some perfectly viable businesses may not be investible, either by angels or VCs. Others, with low initial expenses and products that can be developed or acquired and then sold almost immediately, are likely to see external investment as a costly irrelevance that will simply dilute their ownership.

But what about the traditional beneficiaries of VC cash – tech companies with new and untried products. Venture Capital is often seen as an essential component in the go-to-market story, but that isn’t necessarily the case. Earlier this month, I spoke to consultant Tom Glason of Scalewise, who argued that the majority of tech companies should eschew the “hamster wheel” of VC funding and the conseequent demand for growth at all costs, but is this a realistic proposition? To follow up on that article, I’ve canvassed the views of companies that have sought to grow under their own steam.

Payments company Clear Junction is a case in point. Ranked at 448th in the Financial Times’ 2025 list of Europe’s 1000 fastest-growing companies, the Clear Junction uses its own technology to offer a range of services around international payments. According to CEO and co-founder, Dima Kats, bootstrapping was a positive choice.

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“After weighing up the options – and some hefty offers from interested backers – I chose to bootstrap, funding and growing the business independently,” he tells me in reply to emailed questions.

The founders of HaulageHub took a similar decision. Established as a digital platform to bring together Hauliers and Shipping companies, the business uses AI tools to maximise efficiency. Essentially this means reducing empty truck runs, thereby bringing down costs and, crucially, CO2 emissions.

“Given the market demand, we attracted multiple VC proposals, highlighting the industry’s need for this kind of innovation,” says co-founder Scott Robertson. “However, we had enough money between Craig and I, to bootstrap the business through its early doors.”

Choosing To Self Finance

Both companies attracted interest from VCs. That begs an obvious question. Why did they choose to self-finance?

Kats says it was about building discipline into the business. “From the outset, we prioritised profitability, risk management, and regulatory readiness,” he says. “Bootstrapping forced us to stay laser-focused on efficiency, product-market fit, and delivering real value.”

Robertson has a different take. Maintaining control meant the founders could focus on one of their core intentions.

“We wanted HaulageHub to not only be a tool for our profit, but also something that would aid haulier operators in becoming more efficient and more profitable, helping shippers find efficient solutions that would genuinely reduce their CO2 output from their supply chains. Choosing not to go down the VC route has meant we’ve been able to build and grow the system the way we initially envisioned,” he adds.

Rose Ross, sees the appeal of having a management strategy that is free of investor influence or interference. In addition to her status as a London Tech Advocate, she is the founder of global technology awards venture, Tech Trailblazers, also a self-financed operation.

“The upside of being VC cash-free is the freedom to run the business more agilely and in the direction the leadership team wants to pursue,” she says.

The Frugal Downside

However, as she acknowledges, there is also a downside. Founders taking the self-financing route, unless they have very deep pockets, must be frugal as they build products. They may also miss the input of a VC investor who can provide not only cash but also the kind of advice that can usefully inform decision-making.

And success in a self-financed situation may depend on either magnificent salesmanship or plain good luck when it comes to the crucial first ordes.

“We were greatly helped by winning a major contract early on, which provided us with security over the first couple of years of trading,” says Robertson.

Since then, HaulageHub has gone on to grow rapidly, 138% in 2024/25. “We’ve demonstrated the ability to scale significantly without VC funding. We’ve landed partnerships with one of the UK’s biggest logistics firms in Menzies Distribution, along with partnerships with the Road Haulage Association and the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme,” says Robertson.

Clear Junction is also growing rapidly. Its positioning in the FT List of fastest growing companies reflects a CAGR of 371.3% since 2020, with annual revenue currently standing at €20 million.

“But that doesn’t mean we’ve ruled out funding forever; we’ve simply left that door open for the right time and the right reason,” Kats stresses. VC funding isn’t dead. Bootstrapping isn’t always better. What matters is choosing the path that aligns with your mission and committing to it with clarity and conviction.”

In other words, it needn’t be an either/or. Indeed, a focus on commercial disciplines such as building a strong brand, solid revenues and sustainable relationships with customers are likely to make it easier to attract VC finance on good terms when the need arises.

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