Female entrepreneurship

Status / emerging findings

• Equity investment to female-founded businesses fell to 1.75% in 2025 (from 2% in 2024), with all-female AI teams averaging £0.9m vs £6.5m for male teams; women comprise only 15% of UK venture capital investment committee members
• Systemic bias persists: women represent one in three entrepreneurs but receive vastly unequal capital at scale-up stage; only 10 Black women in UK history have raised over £1 million; female-led businesses still deliver 35% better returns than male-led equivalents
• Government rejected Committee's core recommendations: declined to mandate a Female Enterprise Investment Scheme, refused to set a binding 10% equity-to-women target for British Business Bank, and resisted mandating gender quotas on investment committees citing 'market drop-off' concerns
• Invest in Women Taskforce raised £635m institutional capital (up from £250m), but uptake remains far below what's needed; 69% of firms signed Investing in Women Code voluntarily but enforcement mechanisms absent
• Committee's February–April 2026 evidence sessions exposed widening gap between Government's stated ambition and refusal to deploy binding levers; female founders testified to persistent bias, limited angel network access, and being treated as 'diversity metrics' rather than serious investment prospects

Why it matters

Female entrepreneurs are systematically starved of capital despite delivering stronger returns than male-led businesses; unlocking equitable access could add £250 billion to the UK economy, but requires Government to move beyond voluntary frameworks to binding targets and enforcement.

Tone arc

Inquiry opened with optimism about Government's stated £635m Invest in Women Taskforce and Industrial Strategy commitments (July 2025); hardened into frustration as May–June evidence from female founders revealed systemic bias and tokenism; shifted to direct confrontation in February–April 2026 sessions when Government ministers and British Business Bank rejected Committee's core recommendations for binding targets, tax schemes, and transparency mandates.

Key witnesses

Debbie Wosskow OBE (Invest in Women Taskforce co-chair), Stephen Welton CBE (British Business Bank chair), Lord Jason Stockwood MP (Minister for Investment, DBT/HM Treasury), Blair McDougall MP (Minister for Services, Small Businesses and Exports, DBT), Louise Hill (GoHenry founder), Jenny Tooth OBE (UK Business Angels Association), Dr Roni Savage (Jomas Associates founder), Paula Crofts (British Business Bank)