The Invest in Women Taskforce has announced that it has secured over £250m of funding to support female entrepreneurs in the UK. Major investors – including Barclays, M&G plc, British Business Bank, Morgan Stanley, Visa Foundation, BGF and Aviva – have pledged their commitment to investing in female-led businesses, either directly or through the ‘Women Backing Women’ fund.
Female decision-makers will be responsible for deploying the investment pool. The Invest in Women Taskforce is the successor to the Rose Review, an independent review of female entrepreneurship which found that a £250bn boost could be added to the UK economy if women started and scaled their businesses at the same rate as men.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who backed the Taskforce’s fundraise in September, said: “We all, including myself as the first female Chancellor, have a responsibility to make the economy work better for women. 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.”
Hannah Bernard, 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%[1] 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.”
Debbie Wosskow, 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.”