Unlock the editor’s summary for free
Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The writer is co -chair of the Invest in Women Working Group and Chief of Barclays Business Bank
There is only a worse thing for women’s companies in the United Kingdom that the level of investment so sad in their businesses: the perspective that this part of capital investment falls even more. Surprisingly, that is precisely what the working group backed by the Government has discovered. Investment in new companies led by women is not just stagnate; Actually, it is being invested, with increasing funds that go to the new companies administered by men focused on artificial intelligence.
The research that we commissioned to the Beauhurst data company shows that in 2024, only 2 percent of the United Kingdom capital investment went to women’s founding teams, below 2.5 percent already shameful the previous year. Meanwhile, the teams for men obtained more than 81 percent of the pot. We are going back, despite the fact that women led by women show that they achieve greater investment yields. So why are the figures in the wrong direction and, crucially, what hope for the future?
Today’s investment climate is exacerbating the problem. The greatest success story is AI, which has more to double its investment of £ 1.72 billion in 2023 to £ 3.5 billion in 2024 in the United Kingdom. However, the women of AI still cannot decipher the algorithm to obtain funds. It is dominated by “Tech Bros” with “Tech Gels” that is fighting for Nano-Spraps: the average agreement for male teams in AI was £ 5.3mn compared to £ 800,000 for women. We clearly need a better formula.
This status quo must be interrupted. That is why the Invest In Women Working Group, which co -chair along with the series businessman, Debbie Wosskow, focuses on the action, putting capital. Backed by the first female chancellor in the country, Rachel Reeves, we want to make the United Kingdom the best place in the world to be a businesswoman.
We have had a promising beginning ensuring More than £ 250 million in funds to support women’s and mixed gender companies as they increase, to be deployed by women. But to boost real change, we need to rebalance the landscape. Women have twice as probabilities, compared to male investors, to support other women, so more of them in investment roles means more capital that reaches the founders.
The vast majority of capital is still assigned by men. Only 15 percent of higher investors and 14 percent of angels in investors in the United Kingdom are women, so it is not surprising that financing decisions follow the same obsolete patterns. We are working to increase female representation in risk capital and angel networks, ensuring that women not only look for investment, they are shaping it.
In all financial services, we must allow more women to consider business spirit, ensuring that they have tools, resources and networks to begin, administer and expand their businesses.
Initiatives such as the new women’s entrepreneurial program in Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, can help. This is designed to support women throughout the university to find and grow companies, and events are in excess. Because of this and others like this throughout the country, we can see that green sprouts arise. Beauhurst’s latest statistics show that more women and mixed equipment are being formed, however, support is needed, to eliminate the financing trip.
The economic case has no answer. Companies led by women have shown that they can drive greater returnsCreate more jobs and fuel innovation. The United Kingdom cannot afford to follow this potential. But investment committees must urgently challenge the way inverters seek family types of entrepreneur because this consistently marginalizes women.
We cannot be happy with incremental progress. There are opportunities to be ambitious. The United Kingdom has the opportunity to lead the way to unlock the entire potential of our women entrepreneurs. The machines are learning, it is time for us to do it too.