Large Print - 8th Report - Female entrepreneurship

Key findings

• Only 2% of equity investment went to female founders in 2024 (down from 2.5% in 2023), while all-male teams received over 80% of venture capital despite female-led businesses delivering 35% better returns.
• Women hold just 15% of venture capital investment committee positions; female investors are twice as likely to back women, but systemic bias, lack of diversity among decision-makers, and male-dominated investment culture perpetuate the funding gap.
• The Investing in Women Code has attracted 250+ signatories but remains voluntary and limited in impact; only three Limited Partners have signed despite being institutions that can deploy capital at scale.
• Current initiatives are insufficient in scale and ambition; modelling shows female-led businesses will increase from 19.1% to only 21.7% by 2030 without further intervention.
• International comparators (Canada, USA, France, Europe) demonstrate ambitious government-backed strategies with dedicated budgets and oversight deliver measurable success; the UK lags behind multiple countries on female entrepreneurship rankings.

Recommendations

• Establish a dedicated Female Entrepreneurship Strategy with 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.
• Introduce a Female Enterprise Investment Scheme with higher tax incentives to drive investment into female-led businesses alongside existing tax incentive schemes.
• Mandate the Financial Conduct Authority to require venture capital firms to report on deals and funding proportion to female-led businesses, publish annually, and levy financial penalties for non-compliance.
• British Business Bank should add a fifth strategic objective to increase equity finance to female entrepreneurs from 2% to 10% by 2030; set target of minimum 30% of available finance allocated to female-led businesses; require all supported investors to sign the Investing in Women Code.
• Ringfence minimum 30% of Regional Angel Programme funding for female angel investors and female-led businesses; publish gender-disaggregated data on take-up.
• Innovate UK should ringfence minimum 30% of funding for female entrepreneurs, increasing to 40% by 2030; lower leverage ratios and match funding requirements for women-owned businesses; ensure gender-equitable assessment panels.
• Establish large-scale nationwide programme for female founders offering mentorship, sponsorship, coaching and networking with focus on raising capital; work with Metro Mayors to develop regional networking hubs.
• Develop targeted female-focused accelerators in high-growth sectors where women are underrepresented (particularly AI, fintech, deep tech).
• Review maternity, paternity and shared parental leave legislation through lens of self-employed women; review adequacy of childcare support for self-employed mothers and consider tax deductibility of childcare expenses.
• Increase financial and enterprise education in schools as fundamental curriculum component with focus on girls' financial confidence; address gender bias in STEM curriculum design and increase visibility of female role models.

Key actors

Sarah Owen (Committee Chair), Stephen Welton CBE (Chair, British Business Bank), Debbie Wosskow OBE (Co-chair, Invest in Women Taskforce), Hannah Bernard (Co-chair, Invest in Women Taskforce), Sophie Winwood (Co-founder and CEO, Unlock VC), Becky Cotton (Co-Founder and CEO, Lumino), Kelli Fairbrother (Founder and CEO, xigxag), Izzy Obeng MBE (Co-Founder and CEO, Foundervine)