Who invests in female founders?

There are an increasing number of angel networks and funds focusing specifically on under-represented founders, with some investing in women-led start-ups, recognising this untapped potential in the market. Although the sums available are still modest, it is encouraging.

These progressive investors know that female founders are a great bet for investors, outperforming our male counterparts when it comes to building, scaling and growing value in our start-ups. Companies with female founders perform 63 per cent better than those of their male peers in delivering value for their investors (i), generate 10 per cent more revenue, and deliver double (yes, double!) the return on investment (ii).

Key investors backing female and diverse founders

Here are the investors we know and love, that back women led businesses in the UK, including many of the great female founders we've worked with and supported over the years. Their founding partners and senior leadership teams are equally female or diverse:

Ada Ventures

Adelpha

Alma Angels

Astia

Angel Academe

BBG Ventures

Female Founders Fund

Fund Her North

HERMessa

Investing Women

Iris Ventures

January Ventures

Merian Ventures

Mint Ventures

Salonica Maroon

Sie Ventures

The Next Women

Voulez Capital

You can also look at those organisations that have signed up to the Investing In Women Code, making a commitment to support equality, publish their gender diversity statistics, and adopt internal practices to address gender bias in the fundraising process.

It's not enough to be a female founder

However, nobody is going to invest in your business just because you're a female founder. Firstly, you'll need to be a strong fit for their investment thesis, matching their requirements for stage of business, sector, funding amount required, traction achieved etc. Once you've jumped that hurdle, you'll still face significant challenges in securing funding as the competition for capital is intensive. Only the very best female founder led businesses will get funded - those who tick all the boxes in terms of having an investable company and founding team, a strong commercial plan and deal structure, outstanding communication skills, the ability to connect with and secure commitment from investors.

Are you investable?

To benchmark your current potential to raise investment and identify how to increase your chances of securing funding, we'd recommend you take our 10 minute Investability Scorecard ™ test, which will measure you against the 5-steps to investment success. Your unique score will reveal your personal strengths and weaknesses and deliver practical, actionable tips to improve your results and help you secure the funding you need.

Connections can help

The truth is, you’re 13 times more likely to be invested in by these organisations that back female founders if you get a warm introduction through your existing network (iii). If you want to fast-track your investment raise, and learn exactly how to seek connections with appropriate institutional investors and funding organisations, plus get one-to-one expert support in preparing, running, and closing your investment deal, then join our Fundraising Academy.

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