The UK’s first female-led fund of funds (FOF) has named anchor partners and targeted a £130 million first close.
The Invest in Women Taskforce, established to support female entrepreneurs in the UK, announced Nationwide and the British Business Bank as new partners in the ‘Women backing Women’ fund.
The fund, managed by Bootstrap4F – thought to be the largest dedicated FOF in the world – is the first female-led initiative of its kind, focused on deploying capital into female founded businesses and mixed investment teams in the UK.
A FOF is an investment vehicle that pools money from investors to buy shares in other funds, rather than directly investing in individual stocks or bonds.
The commitment from the British Business Bank will be in addition to its investment in the broader Taskforce funding pool. The milestone coincides with the Taskforce’s first annual report, marking £635m committed in the last year for its total funding pool.
The Taskforce is calling for more support from investors to build on this momentum to help close the funding gap in the UK. The recent Women and Equalities Committee report on female entrepreneurship backs this call to action.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves (pictured, centre) and the Taskforce co-chairs will host a Downing Street reception today to mark the launch of the annual report.
“Growth is this Government’s number one mission, and I am backing female-powered business not only because it’s critical for our economy but because it is the right thing to do,” said Reeves.
“As the first female Chancellor in the UK I have committed to improving economic outcomes for women, from lifting the two child benefit cap to breaking down barriers and opening pathways for women to start, scale, and invest in businesses across Britain.”
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Hannah Bernard (pictured, right), co-chair of the Invest in Women Taskforce, said: “Female-led businesses deliver 35% higher returns than male-led businesses, and play an essential role in supporting UK growth, so this is not only the right thing to do, but a commercial imperative. We need to quickly address the gender balance of both investment committees and their capital deployment, and continue to highlight the positive economic impact that women deliver.”
Debbie Wosskow (pictured, left), multi-exit entrepreneur and co-chair of the Invest in Women Taskforce, said: “Reaching first close will be a huge milestone and we’re incredibly proud of the progress made so far, with more than £70m deployed by partner programmes this year.
“We have worked tirelessly to build the funding pool over the past year, the largest of its kind in the world. But c.80% of UK venture capital still goes to all-male teams. Studies show that diverse teams deliver stronger returns – so what are we waiting for?”