Female-founded, equity-backed businesses across the UK have now closed the gender funding gap in GreenTech, according to a new report from the Female Founders Forum – a partnership by think tank The Entrepreneurs Network and Barclays.

As global and business leaders gather in Glasgow for COP26, the report, titled Inspiring Innovation, reveals that female-led GreenTech businesses have raised £2.8 billion in equity funding since 2018.

This totals 42% of all venture capital going towards GreenTech businesses – more than an equal proportion of equity funding, with female representation in GreenTech just over a third of all businesses (34%).

Almost one in three (31%) Scottish high-growth businesses are female founded – 6% higher than the UK average.

However, despite progress for GreenTech businesses, the gender funding gap across all sectors still persists.

Across the UK, a shortfall of £1.6bn in funding for female entrepreneurs still remains, with female-led businesses raising only 15% of all equity finance. For Scottish female led businesses, this is just 13%.

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Katherine Morgan, Head of High Growth & Entrepreneurs at Barclays, said: “It’s inspiring to see female entrepreneurs leading the charge in GreenTech.

“In the run up to COP26, innovations from these companies will be vital in helping the UK reach its target of net zero by 2050. However, despite this sector setting the standard, overall progress is stagnant – and we need investors to help women in all sectors succeed.”

Leah Hutcheon, founder of Appointedd – a smart scheduling system that enables staff to spend less time on manual scheduling, and more time on business critical tasks – is one of the Forum’s Scottish members.

Appointedd is based in Edinburgh, with a team of 30 people. The business has raised £2.5 million in investment and works with a range of clients – mainly in the retail, finance, professional services, and healthcare sectors – powering bookings in over 100 countries.

Leah Hutcheon, CEO and founder of Appointedd, said: “Having built a technology company that has customers all over the world, it’s easy to forget the challenges that we’ve faced during that journey – but unfortunately the stats don’t lie.

“With only 1p in every £1 of Venture Capitalfunding going to all-female founder teams, the odds are stacked against us. Luckily, there’s a lot of support out there and I feel genuinely lucky to be party of the supportive network that organisations like The Entrepreneurs Network and Barclays offer.

“It’s at times like this when innovation really thrives – but all cutting edge companies need to have the right backing to succeed.”

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