Though women make up just a fifth of business owners, we are seeing increasing numbers setting up companies, and receiving a growing share of investment. In Here and Now, we reveal that while 11% of startups that raised equity investment for the first time in 2011 were female-founded, by 2018, that figure had nearly doubled. We also show that, once funded, the percentage of female-founded startups that raised additional rounds of capital was similar to non-female-founded firms.
In order to close the gender gap for good, our report makes recommendations for the government, schools, the media, and venture capitalists – from shining a light on female entrepreneurs, to tackling the STEM drop-off rates among girls in education.