Case Study : Reath
Creating the infrastructure for circular economy reuse businesses
The Challenge
Reath is a small, agile startup dedicated to addressing the problem of single use plastic waste through software that helps businesses adopt safe, compliant and scalable reuse systems.
Mission driven, the company is led by two strong and motivated co-founders, Claire Rampen and Emily Rogers, who identified a clear problem to solve. What they were missing was the expertise and software development skills to efficiently achieve their goals.
The Story
HappyPorch worked in close collaboration with Reath, bringing our technical proficiency and experience of the Circular Economy to help solve each challenge the company encountered as they pioneered new ground.
At the start of their journey, Claire and Emily were unsure of the exact functionality that their platform would require. Adopting the startup mentality and dynamic approach, they set out on a voyage of discovery – and we were there every step of the way to offer technical, tactical and strategic advice.
At the outset we prototyped an MVP, which allowed the co-founders to learn fast, experimenting with the core concepts. This allowed Reath to gain a clearer vision of the product and how it could enable the mission of the company.
Not long afterwards, we scrapped the initial prototype and replaced it with a more polished version based on user feedback and our experiences. Since then, Reath have been in a constant state of learning and innovation, leveraging their agility to their advantage to break ground in completely new territory.
We also took part in conceiving and creating Reath’s Open Data Standard. Based on extensive research and created in collaboration with diverse stakeholders, the Standard is publicly available and demonstrates the company’s responsible leadership and transparent commitment to their mission.
Acting as a catalyst, we ensure that technology never becomes a barrier, and instead facilitate this exciting and hugely productive process of exploration. It’s that dynamism that drives and inspires us.
Throughout their journey so far, we’ve been by Claire and Emily’s side, providing expertise and perspective to manage expectations, solve technical challenges and ensure everyone’s on the same page. This approach is particularly pertinent as they explore new markets and partnerships which require adapting the technology as we learn.
The team at HappyPorch have been a hugely valuable strategic partner to Reath from day one. They have given us exceptional technical guidance and resource, always working with our ideas but never afraid to respectfully challenge us to find the optimum solution. We benefited hugely from having a technical partner whose mission was aligned with our own as it built trust and they have felt like an extension of our own team from the beginning. They have been a critical part of the Reath journey to date, and I hope they will continue to be for as long as possible.
The Results
By working with us in this way, Reath have been able to confidently move forward. At each step, they can articulate and test their vision, have conversations with clients, and hone their product and approach in a process of constant refinement.
From offering advice and discussing ideas to assisting with funding applications, we’ve been a key part of the Reath team, and that’s the way we love to work. We’re genuinely motivated by the same things that drive innovators like Reath working to progress the Circular Economy.
We embrace the uncertainty inherent with inventing solutions to these challenging global issues and find fulfilment in the shared adventure.