ETG Buys Lightning Reach in Its Third Govtech Deal

European Technology Group has bought Lightning Reach, the UK platform that helps struggling households find unclaimed government support. It is the third acquisition in under a year for a roll-up built by former Blackstone and KKR dealmakers.

More than 20 million people in the UK live in financially vulnerable circumstances, and over £24 billion in support goes unclaimed every year because the system is fragmented, manual and hard to navigate. That is the gap Lightning Reach was built to close, and it is the gap European Technology Group (ETG) is now betting its capital can close faster.

A Roll-Up’s Third Move in Under a Year

Lightning Reach launched in December 2021, built during the Covid-19 pandemic to give people one place to find benefits, grants and utility support instead of hunting across dozens of separate schemes. Since then it has helped more than 300,000 people unlock over £25 million in financial support, working with more than 100 partner organisations including utility providers, local authorities, charities, housing associations and banks.

The company said in its acquisition announcement that it quadrupled annual recurring revenue over the past year while staying cash positive, an unusual combination for a young fintech. That growth is what drew ETG in, and it is what let Lightning Reach negotiate a sale on its own terms rather than out of desperation.

Under the new structure, chief operating officer Rhiannon Sheridan has become chief executive. Founder Ren Yi Hooi, a former product director at fintech firm Railsr, moves to the board as a director.

I’ve always wanted to make sure our impact as a company can outlast my role as the founder, and it’s clear we’ve reached this point.

Ren Hooi, founder of Lightning Reach, said that in a statement announcing the deal, adding that Sheridan, who joined the company nearly five years ago, was the right person to lead its next stage.

Who Is European Technology Group?

ETG is a two-year-old firm that buys and holds software companies serving European public bodies, and it was started in 2024 by former private equity executives from Blackstone and KKR. Chief executive Lars Becker previously worked on software investments at Blackstone, including the deal that brought UK govtech platform Civica into that firm’s portfolio. Co-founder Sjoerd Smaal serves as chief financial officer.

The firm says it targets businesses with up to roughly €20 million in revenue that already have a second layer of management in place, often founders thinking about succession rather than a quick sale. ETG now counts over 400 public sector clients serving a combined population of more than 14 million citizens across six countries.

Hürlimann, PSS and Now Lightning Reach

Lightning Reach is not ETG’s first purchase, and trade publication FinTech Futures reported that another deal is already flagged on ETG’s own website for the third quarter of this year. The cadence is fast for a firm barely two years old.

Each deal follows a similar script. The outgoing leadership stays in place, the brand survives, and ETG supplies capital plus what it calls public sector technology expertise. Hürlimann’s leadership grew that firm from roughly 25 employees to more than 50 over eight years before the sale, while PSS tripled its revenue over the past decade under its own long-serving management before joining ETG.

The £24 Billion Left on the Table

The scale of the problem Lightning Reach is chasing is documented well beyond the deal itself. An estimated £24.1 billion in income-related benefits and social tariffs will go unclaimed across Great Britain this year, according to a Missing Out report from Policy in Practice, a social policy analytics firm. Universal Credit accounts for the largest share at £11.1 billion, followed by council tax support at £3.3 billion and carer’s allowance at £2.4 billion.

More than seven million households are missing out on at least one entitlement, an average of roughly £3,428 a year each. The figure has climbed steadily, from about £19 billion in 2023 to roughly £23 billion in 2024 and now £24.1 billion, though the firm says methodology changes mean the totals are not perfectly comparable year to year.

• Awareness – many people do not know they qualify, especially if they work, hold savings, or have recently changed circumstances.
• Stigma and trust – social attitudes and media coverage often frame claimants as undeserving, which discourages people from applying at all.
• Complexity – forms and eligibility rules differ by scheme and by council, so the process itself becomes the barrier.

Deven Ghelani, director and founder at Policy in Practice, said the scale of the problem has not gone away despite years of attention. “The scale of unclaimed support in Britain is still staggering,” he said. Councils have started building their own tools in response; Bromley, for one, launched an online benefit calculator to help residents check what they might be owed. For households trying to close their own budget gap in the meantime, working through a structured plan like a year-long financial freedom plan is often the only lever they control while waiting on the system to catch up.

A Mission Label Trade Press Doesn’t Always Use

ETG’s own materials describe itself as a “mission-aligned govtech group and long-term investor.” FinTech Futures described the same company more bluntly, reporting that Lightning Reach had been sold to “private equity firm European Technology Group.” Both descriptions point at the same entity; neither is wrong, and the gap between them is the story.

Sjoerd Smaal, ETG’s co-founder, has framed the firm as a response to what he saw as a broken choice facing founders of successful software companies.

I came to see the limitations of a system that left founders of successful software companies with two flawed options: sell to a competitor focused on synergies, or to a fund aiming for a quick resale.

That reasoning appears on ETG’s own account of its founding, where Smaal describes wanting to build something that respected the businesses it buys rather than flipping them. Whether a firm run by former Blackstone and KKR dealmakers, moving through three acquisitions in under a year with a fourth already teed up, counts as patient capital or simply efficient dealmaking depends on which side of that description a reader trusts more.

What Stays the Same, What Doesn’t

Lightning Reach says no changes to the platform or services are planned for its partners or clients. The team stays in London, Sheridan runs the company, and Hooi keeps a board seat rather than walking away entirely.

• What we know: Sheridan is now CEO, Hooi remains a director, annual recurring revenue quadrupled last year, and the company stayed cash positive throughout.
• What’s unconfirmed: the price ETG paid has not been disclosed, and neither company has said what happens to the roughly 30 original investors, including the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Big Issue Invest, who backed Lightning Reach before this sale.

Lars Becker, ETG’s chief executive, said the acquisition target had already proven itself before ETG ever got involved. “The team has built something genuinely special, with a brilliant product and real proof of impact,” he said, adding that ETG saw room to grow Lightning Reach’s reach “across the UK and beyond.”

The Push Toward One Million by 2028

Sheridan has set a public target: help one million people access financial support by 2028, more than triple the 300,000 reached so far. She said the backing from ETG gives the company room to deepen partnerships and keep investing in the platform while chasing that number.

Getting there means winning more public sector procurement contracts, something ETG says it can help with directly given its existing footprint across six countries. It also means ETG’s roll-up keeps moving. Another acquisition is already expected before the end of the third quarter, according to the company’s own site, which would make Lightning Reach the third of at least four deals inside roughly twelve months.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much benefit money goes unclaimed in the UK?

Policy in Practice puts the national figure at £24.1 billion for 2025/26, but the problem varies sharply by region. In Wales, researchers estimate at least £2.06 billion in means-tested benefits and other support goes unclaimed each year, with rural areas and digital exclusion cited as added barriers on top of the usual awareness and complexity problems.

What kind of companies does ETG buy?

ETG says it targets public sector software businesses with up to roughly €20 million in annual revenue that already have an established second layer of management, often founders who are planning succession rather than an exit under pressure. Its first two deals, a Swiss firm and a UK workforce-management provider, both fit that profile before Lightning Reach did.

Who founded Lightning Reach?

Ren Yi Hooi founded the company during the Covid-19 pandemic after working as a product director at Railsr, a fintech infrastructure firm. She remains involved as a board director under the new ownership rather than departing entirely.

How was Lightning Reach funded before this sale?

The company was originally backed by close to 30 investors. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation led a £1 million seed round in October 2023, and Big Issue Invest invested through its Growth Impact Fund alongside Techstars and other backers.

How big are ETG’s other portfolio companies?

Hürlimann Informatik, the Swiss firm ETG bought first, grew its headcount from around 25 to more than 50 over eight years under its existing leadership. Public Sector Software, bought second, tripled its revenue over the past decade before ETG took it on, according to figures from the companies involved.