Key Takeaways
- • The British Business Bank has committed £1 million in partnership with Angel Academe to address the persistent gender funding gap affecting female founders in the UK.
- • Female founders secured only 8.2% of equity investment deals in 2023 (162 deals worth £232 million), compared to all-male teams which raised 1,413 deals totalling £6.5 billion—a stark disparity in both deal count and capital deployment.
- • The UK's gender investment gap reached £678 billion in 2025, with female entrepreneurs receiving substantially smaller average investments (£17,000) compared to male counterparts (£45,000).
- • The British Business Bank has deployed multiple funding mechanisms to close this gap, including a £7 million co-investment platform managed by Haatch and broader commitments totalling £100 million in dedicated female-founder funding initiatives.
- • Angel Academe's EIS Fund 1 has attracted co-investment from the British Business Bank, demonstrating institutional appetite for female-led venture capital and early-stage investment opportunities.
Summary
The British Business Bank has pledged £1 million through a partnership with Angel Academe to systematically address the gender funding gap affecting female entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom. This commitment forms part of a broader institutional strategy to unlock capital for female-led businesses and improve the investment landscape for women founders across the country.
The scale of the funding disparity underscores the urgency of this intervention. According to the British Business Bank Equity Tracker Report 2023, all-female founder teams raised only 162 deals worth £232 million in 2023, representing just 8.2% of total equity deals. This represents a decline from 8.9% in the previous year. By contrast, all-male founder teams completed 1,413 deals totalling £6.5 billion during the same period. The equity investment value gap is equally pronounced: female founders captured 2.8% of total equity investment value in 2023, compared to a ten-year average of 2.5%, while portfolio sizes remain significantly smaller, averaging £17,000 for women versus £45,000 for men.
The British Business Bank has undertaken multiple coordinated initiatives to narrow this gap. Beyond the Angel Academe partnership, the institution has launched a £7 million co-investment platform managed by Haatch, committed £30 million to the Invest in Women Taskforce 'Women backing Women' fund, and allocated £100 million in total dedicated funding to female-led venture capital funds. Angel Academe's EIS Fund 1 has already deployed capital and attracted co-investment from the British Business Bank into seven portfolio companies, signalling institutional confidence in the fund manager's ability to identify and support high-potential female founders.
Economic research demonstrates the broader significance of closing this investment gap. The Rose Review identified that up to £250 billion of new value could be added to the UK economy by improving female founder access to capital. Current estimates place the UK's gender investment gap at £678 billion as of 2025, representing both a missed economic opportunity and a structural inequity in capital allocation. The British Business Bank's multi-pronged approach—combining direct co-investment, dedicated fund commitments, and partnerships with specialist fund managers—reflects recognition that addressing this gap requires sustained capital deployment across multiple investment vehicles and market segments.
The scale of the funding disparity underscores the urgency of this intervention. According to the British Business Bank Equity Tracker Report 2023, all-female founder teams raised only 162 deals worth £232 million in 2023, representing just 8.2% of total equity deals. This represents a decline from 8.9% in the previous year. By contrast, all-male founder teams completed 1,413 deals totalling £6.5 billion during the same period. The equity investment value gap is equally pronounced: female founders captured 2.8% of total equity investment value in 2023, compared to a ten-year average of 2.5%, while portfolio sizes remain significantly smaller, averaging £17,000 for women versus £45,000 for men.
The British Business Bank has undertaken multiple coordinated initiatives to narrow this gap. Beyond the Angel Academe partnership, the institution has launched a £7 million co-investment platform managed by Haatch, committed £30 million to the Invest in Women Taskforce 'Women backing Women' fund, and allocated £100 million in total dedicated funding to female-led venture capital funds. Angel Academe's EIS Fund 1 has already deployed capital and attracted co-investment from the British Business Bank into seven portfolio companies, signalling institutional confidence in the fund manager's ability to identify and support high-potential female founders.
Economic research demonstrates the broader significance of closing this investment gap. The Rose Review identified that up to £250 billion of new value could be added to the UK economy by improving female founder access to capital. Current estimates place the UK's gender investment gap at £678 billion as of 2025, representing both a missed economic opportunity and a structural inequity in capital allocation. The British Business Bank's multi-pronged approach—combining direct co-investment, dedicated fund commitments, and partnerships with specialist fund managers—reflects recognition that addressing this gap requires sustained capital deployment across multiple investment vehicles and market segments.
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