Invest in Women Taskforce secures over £250m to boost UK female entrepreneurship

The Invest in Women Taskforce has achieved a significant milestone by securing over £250 million in funding aimed at supporting female entrepreneurs across the United Kingdom.

This historic investment is backed by major financial institutions and organisations, including Barclays, M&G, the British Business Bank, Morgan Stanley, Visa Foundation, BGF, and Aviva. The funds are set to be channelled directly by these entities or through a newly established ‘Women backing Women’ fund.

A selection process is currently underway to appoint fund managers who will be responsible for deploying the capital from the ‘Women backing Women’ fund. The primary objective is to create one of the world’s largest investment pools dedicated to female-led and mixed-gender businesses, providing them with the necessary resources to grow and thrive.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves, the first female to hold the position, expressed her support for the initiative. “We all, including myself as the first female Chancellor, have a responsibility to make the economy work better for women,” she stated. “Initiatives like the Invest in Women Taskforce funding pool are a fantastic example of the public and private sectors working together to help unlock the potential of female founders and seize opportunities to fire up the government’s number one mission of economic growth.”

The investment pool will be managed by female investment decision-makers throughout the UK, acknowledging that women investors are statistically twice as likely to invest in female-led and mixed-gender enterprises. This approach aims to dismantle systemic barriers that women entrepreneurs and investors often face.

The announcement comes in response to recent data from the Taskforce indicating a decline in funding for all-female-founded businesses. In the first half of 2024, these businesses received just 1.8% (£145 million) of the total equity investment, down from 2.5% in 2023.

Debbie Wosskow, a serial entrepreneur with multiple successful exits and co-chair of the Invest in Women Taskforce, commented on the need for change: “Female entrepreneurs and investors have been sidelined for too long—they are two sides of the same coin. It’s time we rebooted the system and gave female investors the power to drive change, and funds like the ‘Women backing Women’ fund is how we do it. I’m thrilled that investors from both the public and private sector have joined us and recognise the enormous opportunity here, but this is only the beginning. We need more investors to come aboard and join us on this journey.”

Hannah Bernard, head of business banking at Barclays and co-chair of the Taskforce, highlighted the commercial benefits of supporting female entrepreneurs. “Our funding partners not only recognise the moral imperative to drive systemic change for female investors and founders, they recognise that this also makes strong commercial sense. Studies show that female-led businesses generate 35% higher returns than male-led businesses. The ‘Invest in Women’ funding pool is about changing the landscape of investment. I’m incredibly excited about what’s to come.”

The Taskforce’s efforts represent a concerted push to level the playing field in the UK’s entrepreneurial landscape. By mobilising substantial financial resources and focusing on female-led initiatives, the programme seeks to foster economic growth and innovation while addressing long-standing gender disparities in business funding.

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Invest in Women Taskforce secures over £250m to boost UK female entrepreneurship