The Athena Festival is calling for urgent action as the share of UK equity investment secured by all-female founder teams remains unchanged.
In October the festival will bring hundreds of founders, investors, funders and business leaders to Leeds to unlock more co-investment, strengthen regional funding networks and establish clearer routes to capital for female founders.
Following years of discussion and initiatives intended to address the gender funding gap, all-female founder teams received just 2% of UK equity investment in 2025, the same average share recorded across the past decade.
This was despite a 35% increase in equity funding during the year as the market recovered. The figures underline a stark reality: the gender funding gap is not closing.
Organisers say that in an environment where the economy is stalling, and political upheaval has become commonplace, it is calling out to UK PLC to say that gender-led funding initiatives should not be seen as optional, but rather essential to unlocking the potential of female-founded businesses and driving £310 billion of additional UK economic growth.
Taking place at Nexus, Leeds, on Wednesday 7th October, the Athena Festival will bring together female founders and those with the capital, influence and decision-making power to turn awareness into measurable action.
The UK’s largest gathering of female founders outside London will focus on two connected priorities: increasing co-investment in women-led businesses and strengthening founders’ ability to navigate fundraising, uncertainty and growth.
Now in its third year, Athena will move beyond debating the barriers and concentrate on practical action.
The first of the festival’s two Golden Strands will make the case for greater collaboration between investors, stronger regional funding networks and increased co-investment in female-led businesses. It will also create direct connections between capital providers and investment-ready founders.
The second Golden Strand will focus on founder resilience. Entrepreneurs and business leaders will share candid experiences and practical lessons on how to navigate setbacks, manage growth, lead through uncertainty and sustain momentum through demanding fundraising and scaling journeys.
Together, the two strands recognise that securing capital and building a sustainable, scalable business are closely connected. Founders need fairer routes to finance, alongside the knowledge, relationships and commercial insight required to secure investment and turn it into lasting growth.
The event will feature speakers including Laura Harnett, Founder of Seep, and Anna Richey, co-founder of Two Chicks. They will be joined by founders, investors and business leaders with first-hand experience of building, funding and scaling companies.
Athena’s 2026 partners so far include the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), Caspian Insurance, Gordons LLP, Hall Brown and UK Export Finance. Smart Works will join as the festival’s aligned charity partner.
The festival will reinforce the vital role of gender-led funding programmes in addressing persistent inequality in investment outcomes and unlocking the economic potential of female-founded businesses.
The British Business Bank’s 2026 Small Business Equity Tracker found that all-female founder teams received only 2% of UK equity investment value in 2025. They secured just 7% of equity deals, while companies with at least one female founder saw their share of both deals and investment value decline.
Evidence gathered by Lifted Ventures, which co-founded The Athena Festival, demonstrates the difference targeted intervention can make. Of the founders who have completed a Lifted Ventures accelerator programme, 76% have held conversations with investors, of which 71% report having raised some form of funding.
The results demonstrate how relevant investment knowledge, stronger investor networks, practical fundraising tools and deliberately created connections can help founders progress from investment readiness to investor conversations and capital.
Athena will take that principle to a much bigger stage, creating a space where founders meet investors, investors discover opportunities and the wider funding ecosystem forms new partnerships around practical solutions.
Jordan Dargue, co-founder of The Athena Festival and Lifted Ventures, said: “The gender funding gap isn’t closing. All-female founder teams are still receiving just 2% of UK equity investment the same average share seen across the past decade.
“The issue is no longer whether we know there is a problem. It is whether we are doing enough, at sufficient scale, to change the system. We are at risk of mistaking activity for progress.
“We have seen first-hand what happens when female founders gain the right investment knowledge, connections and opportunities. Investor conversations begin, routes to funding open and businesses build momentum. But that momentum can be lost if the wider ecosystem does not step forward and new funding mechanisms are not established.
“Change cannot rest solely on founders working harder to overcome the same structural barriers. Those with the capital, influence and power to reshape the system must take responsibility for building better and fairer routes to investment.
“That is why Athena matters. It is a call for investors, funders, corporates and policymakers to move beyond recognising the problem and take collective action to unlock capital, create co-investment opportunities and establish stronger routes to funding for female founders.”
Helen Oldham, co-founder of The Athena Festival and Lifted Ventures, said: “We cannot mistake greater visibility for equality. Female founders may be more visible than ever, but all-female teams still receive only 2% of UK equity investment. Until that changes, gender-led funding initiatives are not a ‘nice to have’; they are essential.
“We have seen the difference targeted action can make. Among the founders recently surveyed after completing Lifted Ventures’ accelerator programmes, 76% have held investor conversations of which 71% report raising some form of funding.
“That progress comes from intentionally sharing investment knowledge, opening investor networks and creating routes to capital that too often remain difficult to access.
“Athena is our opportunity to build on that momentum at scale. We want those with the influence, resources and capital to create change to leave ready to act, because a more equitable investment ecosystem will only be built by people choosing to build it.”
You can register to attend The Athena Festival here.