More than 160 investors, founders and finance professionals gathered last week at the Athena VC Festival 2025.
The UK’s largest women-in-VC conference outside London and the South East was held at Nexus, University of Leeds, and hosted by Lifted Ventures.
The event brought together some of the most prominent voices in venture capital to tackle representation, opportunity and the future of investment.
Athena VC is a first-of-its-kind event, designed to elevate and connect women across all areas of venture – from senior roles in VC firms to first-time angel investors. The conference featured a full day of keynotes, panels, and breakout sessions designed to educate, inspire and empower.
The event featured keynotes from Gurpreet Manku, CEO of Level 20, and Christine Hockley, managing director and co-head of funds at the British Business Bank.
There were insightful panels on family and career balance in venture, navigating fundraising as an emerging GP, and angel investing for returns and impact, while the Athena Elevate Pitches and Lifted Portfolio Showcase Competition spotlighted seven high-growth female founders.
There was also a roundtable of senior leaders from venture capital – exploring what more can be done to drive diversity and gender equity across the investment landscape – chaired by Gurpreet Manku.
Women now represent 27% of UK-based investment professionals, up from 24% in 2023, while they hold 15% of senior UK investment roles, compared to 13% last year.
The UK leads Europe in supporting female-founded ventures, accounting for 26.75% of all such deals.
There are now nine women-focused angel groups in the UK, the highest number to date.
“Athena VC 2025 was never just about an agenda – it was about building momentum,” said Lifted Ventures co-founder Jordan Dargue (pictured above, left).
“As the first event of its kind outside London and the South East, we set out to connect with women involved in venture capital from across the UK – both within VC firms and as private investors.
“The statistics are stark – only 3% of VC funding goes to women and 65% of that is in London. But Athena VC was about celebrating and elevating the progress women are making and we’re proud to say, we did just that.”
Lifted Ventures co-founder Helen Oldham (above, right) continued: “We celebrated the progress being made in the VC landscape. More women are entering the industry, taking senior roles, and leading investments.
“Our hope is that every attendee left understanding this: you belong in this space. Whether you’re navigating your first angel investment or balancing family and fund leadership, there is a community here to support you.
“With wisdom, resilience, and courage, we can dramatically increase the speed of change – together.”
The event also included a dedicated session for 12 women exploring VC as a career, and focused on connecting women angels and VC professionals to build stronger, more visible pathways for female founders to access growth capital.
One attendee, Victoria Taylor, said: “The energy in the room was absolutely electric. The speakers were phenomenal, and I left feeling incredibly inspired with some fantastic new connections.”
The event was sponsored by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Leeds City Council, the British Business Bank, Gordons LLP, Nexus at the University of Leeds and CO4CH.
Athena VC will return in 2026, with Lifted Ventures continuing its mission to build a more inclusive and high-performing investment ecosystem across the UK.