Event round-up: Female Entrepreneurship: Drivers of change for the tech sector
On Monday 10 November, techUK President Sheila Flavell CBE and the Invest in Women Taskforce's Head of Strategic Engagement Juliet Gouldman convened leading voices from across the tech ecosystem to address the persistent equity investment gap facing female founders. The roundtable brought together investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and industry leaders ahead of the Autumn Budget to explore how to accelerate capital flows to female-founded tech businesses.
The scale of the challenge
The Invest in Women Taskforce presented updated data revealing stark disparities, particularly in average deal sizes between male-led and female-led AI start-ups. Participants identified a critical 'valley of death' where women entrepreneurs feel most unsupported, with younger founders facing compounded challenges around age and minority status. Notably, research shows women investors are twice as likely to back female-led businesses, underscoring the importance of diversity within investment teams.
Acknowledgement of systemic barriers
Discussion revealed a variety of obstacles – many of which echo the Women and Equalities Committee report. Obstacles can often begin at the university spin-out level, where Technology Transfer Offices' academic focus disadvantages commercialisation efforts. It was noted that women can often be ‘weeded out’ in deep tech and quantum sectors due to both structural biases and cultural assumptions. It was raised that there continues to be disparity in some investor conversations where female founders are asked different questions during funding discussions.
Continued action to drive change
The group proposed a multi-pronged approach. Industry actions include forums to showcase diverse organisations, normalising entrepreneurial failure, and building stronger support networks. On education, participants called for curriculum reform better prioritising STEM subjects and earlier career interventions through ambassadors and fairs.
Participants urged government to move beyond taskforces toward tangible institutional change, for instance, calling for proven programmes to be scaled nationally through competitive tender processes. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology outlined current initiatives including the 'Tech First' programme and AI Opportunities Plan taking action to target women's participation. Along with the announcement of a Women in Tech Taskforce by Secretary of State Liz Kendall.
Key solutions centred on evidence-based approaches: developing data on investment readiness, providing role models at each business stage, and leveraging the Investing in Women Code to drive measurable progress. While change is happening among investors, participants acknowledged that sustained commitment from business leadership on EDI initiatives remains essential.
The roundtable concluded with commitment to continued collaboration through techUK's Women's Forum, a forum that will meet throughout the year to discuss actionable change for female founders across the UK tech sector.
