The first in our series of four roundtables will look at the challenges facing female founders wanting to raise initial capital to start up a business.

Members of the Female Founders Forum include Kathryn Parsons (Decoded), Sara Murray (Buddi), Rita Sharma (Best At Travel), Emma Sinclair (Mission Capital), Laura Tenison MBE (JoJo Mamam Bebe), Debbie Wosskow (Love Home Swap), Gillian Nissim (Working Mums), Helen Hayes MP, Margot James MP and Harriett Baldwin MP. Over the course of 2016, we will connect these inspirational entrepreneurs with key figures from within the finance industry, journalists, politicians, and women-led businesses on the cusp of rapid growth.

We will hear first hand from Forum members on their experiences of scaling a business and uncover the challenges that remain. In doing so, we will bridge the gap between future gazelles and angel investors, banks and venture capitalists, and produce reports to offer practical advice for ambitious female founders.

The Female Founders Forum is sponsored by Barclays. Barclays has a 325-year history of backing pioneers in business and beyond, as well as helping provide solutions to the challenges facing business and society across the world. That’s why the bank has been delighted to help convene some of the country’s leading female entrepreneurs from business, media and politics, to discuss the challenges and solutions to starting and scaling up a business.

Barclays recognises and celebrates that diversity of talent amongst its colleagues is the foundation of its success, and is proud that 51 per cent of its global group colleagues are female. Pioneering female colleagues from past and present has helped lead Barclays’ long-standing commitment to entrepreneurs seeking to establish and grow their businesses.