n a bold move to address the chronic funding gap for female entrepreneurs, Angel Academe—co-founded by Sarah Turner—has launched the UK’s first Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) fund specifically dedicated to backing tech companies with women in leadership.
The fund, which aims to raise £1.2 million by September 2025, is already off to a strong start with £120,000 secured during its soft launch. It plans to invest in 7 to 10 early-stage tech ventures, with an average ticket size of around £150,000 per company. To qualify for funding, startups must include at least one woman in a leadership role—although companies with male co-founders are also eligible.
The initiative is designed to attract individual investors through EIS tax incentives, offering 30% income tax relief, capital gains deferral, and loss relief on investments—making it both a socially impactful and financially compelling opportunity.
This new fund builds on Angel Academe’s long-standing mission to support women in tech. The organisation has already trained over 1,000 women in angel investing and backed several notable startups, including Béa Fertility, which develops fertility treatments, and Good-Loop, an ethical advertising platform.
Turner points out that despite progress in some areas, female-founded startups still received only 1.8% of early-stage UK investment in early 2024. By blending smart capital with an explicit focus on gender diversity, Angel Academe hopes to “raise women up”—as both founders and investors.
Plans are already in motion to launch a larger follow-up fund next year, cementing this as a long-term strategy to rebalance access to finance and shift the face of tech entrepreneurship.