The British Business Bank has announced a new £400m Investor Pathways Capital initiative which will support diverse and emerging fund managers.
It aims to make it easier for new entrants, particularly those from underrepresented groups, to break into venture capital. The initiative is expected to launch in 2026.
It will back more diverse fund managers through the British Business Bank’s Enterprise Capital Funds programme; invest in microfunds to support small, early-stage funds; and back partners investing smaller amounts in talented individuals to build a track record, giving them the opportunity to become investors.
The initiative aims to reduce the significant gap in venture capital investment for underrepresented founders and investors due to industry biases, reliance on closed networks, and limited diversity among investors. It will target at least 50% of investment going to female fund managers.
The Bank has already committed to supporting the aims of the Invest in Women Taskforce by investing £50m into female-led funds through its existing programmes. The Bank will increase this commitment, investing a further £50m into female-led funds that are aligned with the eight growth-driving sectors of the Industrial Strategy, taking its total commitment to £100m, further expanding access to funding for female investors and entrepreneurs.
The Invest in Women Taskforce is co-chaired by Debbie Wosskow (pictured left, main image) and Hannah Bernard (right).
“To deliver the government’s growth mission it is critical that our most promising entrepreneurs can access the finance they need to grow their businesses, no matter who they are or what their background is,” said Louis Taylor, CEO at British Business Bank.
“The UK equity market currently experiences a significant funding gap for diverse founders, negatively impacting their ability to start a business.
“This new £400m Investor Pathways Capital initiative will support diverse and emerging fund managers across the UK, in turn supporting talented entrepreneurs currently underserved by the UK equity market. It has the potential to unlock the UK’s full commercial potential and boost the UK economy.”
The British Business Bank is a founding signatory of the Investing in Women Code, a government-led initiative in response to the Rose Review’s finding that a lack of funding was one of the most significant barriers to women seeking to effectively scale a business.
The Investing in Women Code report, published by the Department for Business and Trade earlier today, shows signatories outperform the wider equity market in their support for female-led businesses.
The 2025 Investing in Women Code report finds that 31% of venture capital deals by Code signatories were in companies with at least one female founder, with 9% of deals in companies with all-female founders and 22% of deals to mixed-gender teams, outperforming the wider market by four percentage points. The total value of equity deals to teams with all female founder was 5%, more than double the rate of the wider market (2%).