Committee publication · Report · 22 October 2025 · HC 711
8th Report - Female entrepreneurship
From: Women and Equalities Committee
Inquiry: Female entrepreneurship
Government response deadline: 22 December 2025
Summary
The Women and Equalities Committee's eighth report examines female entrepreneurship in the UK, finding that women-led businesses receive critically low levels of venture capital (just 2% in 2024) and face systemic barriers in finance access, networks, and caregiving support. The committee identifies £310 billion in potential economic growth if women were funded equally with men, and recommends a dedicated Female Entrepreneurship Strategy with a dedicated Minister, mandatory transparency requirements for venture capital firms, ringfenced funding targets across public institutions, and reforms to maternity and childcare policies.
Key findings
- Just 2% of equity investment went to female founders in 2024 (down from 2.5% in 2023); all-male teams received over 80% of venture capital despite female-led businesses outperforming them financially
- Only 20% of UK businesses are female-led; 86% of angel investors and 85% of senior venture capital investors are male; women hold just 15% of investment committee positions
- The funding gap is worsening: without intervention, female-led businesses will only increase from 19.1% to 21.7% by 2030; in some sectors like femtech, female founders receive less VC funding than male founders
- Venture capital culture is male-dominated, with evidence of gendered questioning (women asked about risk/limitations; men about growth), unprofessional behaviour, and dismissal of sectors popular with women founders (wellness, femtech, beauty, climate)
- Black female entrepreneurs received only 0.2% of funding in the last 12 months despite a 4.37% increase in ethnic minority female-led businesses; only 10 Black female entrepreneurs received VC funding between 2009-2019
Recommendations
- Establish an ambitious Female Entrepreneurship Strategy alongside Industrial and SME strategies, overseen by a dedicated Minister and Office akin to the US Office of Women's Business Ownership, with assigned budget and target of 10% of public procurement contracts to female-led businesses by end of Parliament
- Mandate the Financial Conduct Authority to require all registered venture capital firms to report annually on the number and proportion of deals supporting female-led businesses, with financial penalties for non-compliance
- Introduce a Female Enterprise Investment Scheme with higher incentives than existing tax schemes to drive investment into female-led businesses
- British Business Bank should adopt a fifth strategic objective to increase equity finance to female entrepreneurs from 2% to 10% by 2030, set target of 30% of available finance to female-led businesses, ensure gender balance on investment committees, and require all supported investors to sign the Investing in Women Code
- Ringfence minimum 30% of British Business Bank Regional Angel Programme funding for female angel investors and female-led businesses; ringfence minimum 30% of Innovate UK funding for female entrepreneurs increasing to 40% by 2030
- Lower leverage ratios and match funding requirements for women-owned businesses accessing Innovate UK; ensure gender-equitable assessment panels and publish gender-disaggregated data on funding applications, approvals, and allocations
- Establish large-scale nationwide programme offering mentorship, sponsorship, coaching, and networking for female founders; develop networking hubs with Metro Mayors tailored to regional needs
- Develop programme of targeted female-focused accelerators in high-growth sectors where women are underrepresented (AI, fintech, deep tech)
- Review maternity legislation for self-employed women as part of Parental Leave and Pay Review; review adequacy of childcare support for self-employed mothers and consider making childcare tax-deductible; expand free childcare hours to include nannying for 0-3 months
- Increase financial and enterprise education in schools with focus on building financial confidence of girls; address gender bias in STEM curriculum design and increase visibility of female role models
- Work with UKRI to develop dedicated entrepreneurial support programme for women in postgraduate and postdoctoral studies
- Launch national campaign highlighting female role models at all stages of entrepreneurial journey
Tone
CriticalTopics
female-entrepreneurshipventure-capitalaccess-to-financegender-equalitybusiness-regulation
Key actors
Sarah Owen, Women and Equalities Committee, Stephen Welton CBE (Chair, British Business Bank), Debbie Wosskow OBE (Co-chair, Invest in Women Taskforce), Becky Cotton (Co-Founder and CEO, Lumino), British Business Bank, Innovate UK, Financial Conduct Authority
Notable line
“The issue is that they do not have equitable access to capital, networks, and sponsorship. If we misdiagnose the problem, we get the wrong policy response—one that focuses on fixing women rather than fixing the systemic barriers that block them from scaling businesses.”
Key Quotes
“… there is a big opportunity here. The evidence and the data tell us we have a problem. What we are failing to unlock sufficiently is the opportunity of a huge amount of economic activity.”
“The real issue is not that women need more training, mentoring, or workshops on imposter syndrome. The issue is that they do not have equitable access to capital, networks, and sponsorship. If we misdiagnose the problem, we get the wrong policy response—one that focuses on fixing women rather than fixing the systemic barriers that block them from scaling businesses.”
“… one of the very notable statistics from the code is that only three LPs have signed the code, i.e. only three of the institutions that can deploy capital at an institutional level. Well, that is just rubbish. We all, BBB [British Business Bank] and Government, have a role in making that happen.”
“Sometimes the sectors that women build in are seen as quite niche or not exciting or scalable enough. We are talking about wellness, femtech, beauty, climate. If they are not seen as exciting enough, or the investor does not have enough interest in that area, they will be less likely to invest.”
“… transformational change must begin at the top. She called for senior executives to implement unbiased hiring practices, equitable parental leave policies, and increased investment in female-founded businesses.”
“… the UK being a "'pretty terrible place to be a female entrepreneur".”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗