A new report from the Invest in Women Taskforce has found that the number of women angel investors has risen 60% in three years.
However the rise from 5,000 in 2022 to more than 8,000 today only equates to 14.1% of the 50,000 total angel population – just 0.1% higher than three years ago.
The Women Angel Investors report was compiled in collaboration with Beauhurst and the UK Business Angels Association.
Among the positives, female angels have provided backing to approximately 6,500 high growth companies since 2015 – including more than 2,000 that are female-founded – while more than £4 billion of equity deals now involve women angel investment in some form.
However the report demonstrates there is still a distinct lack of female angel investors in the UK, and the scale of the missed opportunity this represents for the investment ecosystem and broader economy.
The total level of angel investment has remained around £1.5bn since 2019. With fewer female angels, this impacts investment into female led businesses more acutely – half (49%) of female angel investment went to women led businesses in 2024, compared to just 19% of male angel investments.
Angel investment is one of the most important sources of capital for high-growth startups and scaleups, but the data is clear: lack of female angels is translating to lack of investment in female-led businesses.
“Notably, women angels are backing even more women, with over 30% of their investments made into 2,155 women founders, representing an increase of more than 50% since the last report,” said Jenny Tooth OBE, executive chair of the UKBAA.
“Nevertheless, the proportion of women angel investors has only changed very slightly from 14% to 14.1% since 2022, whilst the overall angel population has grown to 50,000. This means that we have still not moved the needle sufficiently to achieve our 30% target for the proportion of women in the angel market by 2030.
“Furthermore, since 2022, we have seen a strong fall in levels of angel investment across the whole market in the wake of the economic crisis, with investment in women founders being specifically impacted and declining by 22%.
“We now have clear evidence that significantly increasing the proportion of women in the angel market will dramatically boost levels of investment in female founders in the period ahead.”
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The Women Backing Women campaign, launched by the UKBAA in 2021, was established to encourage more women to become investors and to help foster networks of women angels across the UK. It has played a crucial role in raising awareness of the value women bring to the investment community and in mobilising greater numbers of female investors to support women-led ventures.
Then the Investing in Women Code, introduced in 2019 as part of the Rose Review, brought together banks, venture capital firms and other financial institutions that commit to improving female entrepreneurs’ access to finance. By signing the Code, these organisations pledge to collect and publish data on their support for female founders, making them accountable for driving greater equity in funding.
Building on this momentum, the Invest in Women Taskforce was launched in 2024, co-chaired by entrepreneur and investor Debbie Wosskow and Hannah Bernard, Head of Business Banking at Barclays, in partnership with the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and HM Treasury (HMT).
“So where do we go from here?” asked Wosskow and Bernard. “Well, for one, this latest data underscores the need for collective action across Government and the private sector to counter this trend; leveraging all available policy instruments, including a deliberate incentive to back founders that are too often overlooked, such as through an extended EIS tax relief.
“We also can’t ignore the role that women angel syndicates have played here in driving progress. Syndicates provide women with a sense of community and help demystify the investment process. “Their influence cannot be underestimated, and we are pleased to feature syndicates in this report doing fantastic work across the country.”
The report highlights the contributions of Angel Academe, Lifted Ventures, HERmesa, Women Angels of Wales, Arāya Investment Academy, Mint Ventures, Investing women: W2W programme, Sie Ventures and Alma Angels.
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