Women entrepreneurs launched more than 140,000 businesses in the UK in 2022 – a record figure that is growing by more than a third each year.
Female founders are now making up 20% of new firms each year, another record high, and proportionate growth is now outstripping male counterparts. The findings from The Rose Review Progress Report 2022, authored by Alison Rose, CEO of NatWest, show remarkable change since 2019, when the review was launched, and “exceptional resilience” following the pandemic and despite the macroeconomic challenges and cost-of-living crisis.
The government has committed to increase the number of female-founded businesses by half by 2030 and the Rose Review has a number of ongoing initiatives to support this including funding through the Investing in Female Entrepreneurs Code, mentorship and networking opportunities, access to experts and the launch of new investment vehicles backing women-founded firms.
Here, on International Women’s Day, members of the investment industry show how they are backing female entrepreneurs:
