Exits by women-led businesses are the closest they’ve ever been to male-led companies, according to the newest Top 200 Women-Powered Business report from JP Morgan.

The report analyses high-growth businesses founded, led, owned or managed by women in the UK, finding that women-led businesses are getting closer to closing the gender gap when it comes to exit valuations.

“Women-powered businesses continue to be a driving force behind innovation and growth across the UK economy,” Marice Brown, region head of the UK, Channel Islands, and Ireland at JP Morgan Private Bank said.

“We’re passionate about championing them but we also recognise the challenges they continue to face in accessing funding and building their networks. By shedding light on the structural and systemic challenges they face, we can play a pivotal role in advancing women owned and led businesses, and fuel the next wave of women ambition.”

Closing the Gap

Looking at the volume of deals, exit activity among women-powered businesses has followed a clear upward trajectory over the past decade. 2024 delivered both a record number of deals and the second-highest total value in five years, second only to 2021.

Following a contraction in 2023 (when disclosed exit values declined to £731m), 2024 witnessed a significant recovery, reaching £5.23bn across a record number of exits among women-powered businesses – just shy of male-led companies at £6.74bn —marking one of the closest value splits on record.

“Although the gap still exists, the rising exit value among women-powered businesses is notable. 2024 is particularly impressive given that these businesses make up a significantly smaller share of the high-growth business population, even amid a general softening in exit activity” said Charlotte Bobroff, Head of UK Women & Wealth at J.P. Morgan Private Bank.

“While a high proportion of this was driven by major deals, notably Darktrace’s IPO at £1.7bn, the remaining £1.24bn in 2024 surpasses the 2023 valuation altogether. The sustained growth in the number of exits highlights the increasing maturity, scale, and exit-readiness of women-powered businesses” Bobroff continued.

Declining Investment

While exit values remain strong, women-powered businesses experience a greater drop in investment in 2024 as the wider market contracted. In 2024, total equity investment across the broader high-growth ecosystem fell by 13.6% from £21.2bn to £18.3bn. Women-powered businesses, however, were significantly impacted with a 29.1% decline in funding between 2023 and 2024.

“The disproportionate impact on women-powered businesses is not due to a single factor, but rather the cumulative effect of several structural challenges such as limited access to capital and resources,” Bobroff added. “Consequently, when the market contracts, these businesses are disproportionately affected.”

Analysing historic data around the proportion of equity investment received by women-powered businesses, in 2024 they secured 24.6% of the total value of equity investment into high-growth UK companies – a decline from the record 30% secured in 2018 and 2023.

Despite the overall decline in funding, 2024 levels remain higher than the amount invested in any year prior to 2021. Women-powered businesses have also shown resilience with a consistent share of total funding by deal count, maintaining over 33% since 2020.

“This could indicate a return to pre-pandemic norms, given the significant increases in investment seen throughout 2021 and 2022 due to economic stimulus measures designed to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19,” Bobroff added. “Importantly, the dilutive effects of equity investment are levelling the playing field, with women founders now retaining an average of 39.5% ownership in their businesses, compared to 33.4% for male founders, highlighting a positive shift towards gender equity in business ownership.”

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Venture Capital

Venture Capital (VC) played an increasingly prominent role in 2024, accounting for 21.9% of all equity deals – its highest share to date. Crucially, women-powered businesses matched this rate, with 22.3% of fundraising deals involving a VC.

Analysing historic data around VC-backed deals, the proportion involving women-powered businesses has risen steadily, from 23.1% in 2015 to 33.8% in 2024. Bobroff said: “this represents a higher concentration than the broader equity landscape, where women-powered businesses accounted for 24.6% of all deals in 2024, 9.2% lower than the VC subset.”

When discussing the investment landscape, Melis Kahya, Head of Consumer EMEA at General Atlantic – an expert featured in the report – shares, “I have observed the investment community historically rewarded opportunity over risk. Anecdotally we see a tendency for male founders to prioritise showing the opportunity story, whereas female founders are more likely to lead with a realistic and transparent view of risk.”

Kahya continues, “As we have entered a new macroeconomic environment that encourages investors to take a more conservative and pragmatic view, this may start to favour those who accurately explain the risk/return profile of their businesses.”

Femtech

Femtech emerged as the leading sector for women-powered businesses, featuring the highest proportion of women-powered businesses compared to other sectors (85.3%). Although the absolute number remains modest at 55 companies, their collective impact is notable, generating a combined turnover of £88M and since 2020 this proportion has more than doubled.

Women-powered businesses are notably concentrated in sectors that represent the largest sectors in the UK’s high-growth ecosystem including Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), online retailing, and data provision services. These sectors are at the forefront in terms of company numbers and investment deal activity. In 2024, women-led ventures in the SaaS sector completed 44 exits, representing 21.7% of all exits in the sector—a significant increase from just 6.81% in 2015. Despite their strong presence in these dynamic areas, women-led companies contribute a disproportionately smaller share of reported turnover, highlighting structural barriers and leaving considerable economic potential untapped.