Celebrating International Women’s Month: Advice for Female Founders

International Women’s Month celebrates women from all walks of life, and in this article, we’ll address how female founders can get to where they want to be. We’ll look at investment networks for women, accelerator programs, fundraising tips, networking tips, and more.

In 2017, co-founders of Witchscy, Kate Dwyer and Penelope Gazin, were dismissed so much that they came up with an imaginary male co-founder, Keith Mann. Keith received prompt responses, secured more meetings, and was spoken to seriously. In 2024, attitudes towards female founders in a predominantly male environment are getting better, but there is still a long way to go.

“The Rose Review finds that only one in three entrepreneurs are women, a gender gap equivalent to over 1 million fewer female entrepreneurs in the UK. Closing the gap between women and men could add an additional £250 billion in Gross Value Add to the UK economy, equivalent to 4 years of economic growth. Crucially, women are also drastically under represented in the most productive sectors with less than one in four entrepreneurs in sectors like transport and information technology being women.” – Natwest Group on The Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship

Recent Victories

In March 2024, an angel investor policy that shut out female investors was overturned. The policy raised the earning threshold of angel investors from £100k to £170k – meaning the angel investor would have to earn over £170k to qualify for angel status. When the policy was announced in January 2024, it received wide criticism for worsening the gender pay gap, as the new rule would disproportionately affect female investors.

Investment networks for women

Female investors are more likely to invest in female-founded companies, but only 14% of investors are women. It’s a challenging landscape for women, so it’s increasingly important that female founders are aware of and engage with women-led investment initiatives.

Fund Her North

Around 70% of all investment in the UK goes to London, so non-London-based networks must encourage a more even distribution of investment. Fund Her North is a Northern-based angel investment network comprised of over 40 women from funding organisations, angel groups, and VCs. The collective is one of the only of its kind – led entirely by women, investing in women-led start-up businesses.

Female Founders Fund

This women-led organisation prioritises securing funding for female founders across ‘category defining businesses’. They have proven to invest in successful female-led companies, including Boon + Gable, Bentobox, Arey, and more.

Astia

Astia believes that the most impactful companies are led by inclusive teams with women leaders. They aim to provide access to relevant networks and potential investment opportunities that high-growth women-led businesses need to succeed. A business must have at least one woman in a leadership role and demonstrate high-growth potential to be supported by Astia.

Accelerator Programmes

AccelerateHER

This network of female founders and partners accelerates growth for female founders, scaling companies and accessing investment. The organisation hosts AccelerateHER Bootcamp – a 2-day interactive course that helps women on their investment journey. The course helps female founders find the right investors to approach, create a pitch deck, and develop tools to stand out.

Entrepreneur First

Female-founded companies only receive around 2% of VC investment in 2022. The shocking figure contributes hugely to the gender funding gap, but accelerator programmes are a great way to propel female founders forward in their fundraising journey. Entrepreneur First is an excellent, hands-on organisation. The programme takes place over six months, providing extensive advice on a product, market, customers, advertising, investment, and more. As well as advice and mentorship, the programme aims to find a co-founder – if one is successfully found, they are eligible for pre-seed investment in return for a 10% stake in the business.

Find more accelerator programmes that actively work with VCs here.

Fundraising tips for female founders

While there shouldn’t be a discrepancy for women, the investment arena is unfortunately more challenging for female founders.  They often struggle to get meetings with VCs, enquiries are left unanswered, and they’re simply not taken seriously in a predominantly male environment. This can be discouraging, but it’s important to remember that while the landscape is challenging for women, nothing is impossible. Despite the odds, securing capital is achievable. Here are 4 key recommendations for women to overcome investment barriers:

Be prepared

While everyone going into the funding process should be prepared, women should also be prepared for the gender bias they may experience. It’s important to have an idea of what to do when/if the situation arises. Experiencing overt bias can catch you off guard, especially in a professional environment, so having a response will avoid the meeting veering off-course.

Be selective when choosing investors

Choosing investors wisely is especially vital for female founders. We recommend thoroughly researching investors to ensure they reflect the values that are important to you and look at the diversity of their investing track record. While choosing investors is methodical, it’s also important to trust your gut. Generally, you will get a feel of whether an investor is right for you and your business. If your instinct is telling you that they don’t share the vision you have for your company, there is a lot of power in walking away. Some founders value investor relationships for the advice and mentoring support they can offer, so there needs to be a genuine connection.

Blend the best of ‘male’ and ‘female’ traits

Generally, men and women have some personality differences. Both can benefit from adopting the strengths and traits generally associated with the other gender. For example, men are considered to be concise, direct, and assertive, while women’s strengths lie in empathy, compassion, and passion. While these are generally outdated stereotypes, adopting a more confident and direct approach can help to overcome hesitation in a room full of men. Generally, women struggle with posing a question directly, but you should never be shy about asking for what you deserve.

Be a great storyteller

All founders must be able to weave a compelling story. However, it’s especially important for women, as they are often discounted in the early rounds. It’s during these early rounds of fundraising that storytelling is paramount – this is when the investors are trying to learn a founder’s “why”, and understand their passion. As a female founder walking into a fundraising meeting, your presentation should be practised to perfection. Be extremely clear about who you are, what your metrics are, where you want to take the business, and why you set up the business.

Networking tips for female founders

There is immeasurable value in building industry relationships and networking. As a female founder, it can be harder to get your foot in the door or be listened to, but you can greatly benefit from a valuable networking community. Here are 3 networking tips for female founders:

Join female founder networks

The entrepreneurial journey is lonely, especially for women. Female founders value the importance of support from other women in the startup space, and women-led networks can be an incredible source of support, friendship, advice, networking, and even funding. These networks can be invaluable spaces, where women can share pitch decks, connections, and references.

Attend relevant events

LinkedIn is an excellent source for finding relevant events. While there has been a rise in online events, and they are excellent for accessibility, we recommend prioritising meeting people face-to-face. These events are great for meeting potential partners, clients, and other relationships.

Build authentic connections

Hone in on your empathic strengths and build genuine connections. Be open and curious, ask questions you genuinely care about the answers to, and follow up with personalised messages. Networking is an ongoing process, so nurture those relationships by committing to regular check-ins, sharing relevant information, and catching up at events.