The Invest in Women Taskforce has secured over £250 million of funding to support female entrepreneurs in the UK.
Described as an ‘historic milestone’, capital has been committed by Barclays, M&G, the British Business Bank, Morgan Stanley, Visa Foundation, BGF and Aviva to invest in female-founded businesses across the country.
The funds will be deployed either directly by these organisations or through a ‘Women backing Women’ fund. A process has been initiated to select a fund manager or managers to deploy the latter.
The Taskforce aims to create one of the world’s largest investment pools for female-led and mixed businesses and is backed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves (pictured, centre).
“We all, including myself as the first female Chancellor, have a responsibility to make the economy work better for women,” said Reeves. “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 Invest in Women Taskforce investment pool will be deployed via female investment decision-makers across the UK, recognising that female investors are twice as likely to invest in female-led and mixed businesses, breaking down the systemic barriers faced by women entrepreneurs and investors alike.
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The announcement follows data from the Taskforce revealing that all-female founded businesses received just 1.8% (£145m) of the total value of equity investment in the first half of 2024, a fall from 2.5% in 2023.
Debbie Wosskow (left), multi-exit entrepreneur and co-chair of the Invest in Women Taskforce, said: “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 (right), head of business banking at Barclays and co-chair of the Invest in Women Taskforce, added: “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.”
