The latest report from the government-sponsored Investing in Women Code initiative, designed to improve female-founded businesses’ access to tools, resources and finance, shows just 4% more investment deals for female-founded firms than the market average.

According to the report, published by the Department for Business and Trade, the share of deals going to companies with women founders is 28% across the wider market, compared with 32% for established signatories of the code.

That’s a fall from last year, when 35% of all venture capital deals made by Investing in Women Code signatories were in female-founded companies, compared to the market average of 27%.

New signatories to the code show slight improvement this year, with 42% of their VC deals going to female-founded enterprises. However, that still leaves more than half of investment deals going to firms with no female founders.

The data shows that all-female teams continue to receive a lower share of VC follow-on funding, with these teams acquiring just 7% of funding compared to the 68% enjoyed by all-male teams.

Mixed gender teams are showing increasing signs of success, with 36% of angel investment deals going to firms with both male and female founders in 2023, compared to only 28% across 2021 and 2022.

Data shows that the number of female angel investors in the UK is on the rise too, with three angel signatory groups now consisting entirely of women – three times the number from last year.

Jenny Tooth, executive chair of the UK Business Angels Association, said: “With an increasing number of our Angel groups signing up to the Code, including a growing number of groups with a strong proportion of women angels, we can see the impact on women founders seeking and finding angel investment across the UK.”

The number of investors voluntarily signing up has also increased, with membership of the Investing in Women Code expanding by 46 since March 2023 to a total of 250 members, comprising 178 venture and growth investors, 41 angel investors, 29 lenders, and 2 limited partners.

Recommended reading

• Female Representation in Tech Increases by 1% in Four Years
• BCS: Half A Million Women Missing From IT Sector
• Nearly a Quarter of Women in Tech Experience Sexism at Work

Louis Taylor, chief executive officer at the British Business Bank, said: “The British Business Bank was a founding signatory of the Investing in Women Code and unlocking potential is an important strategic priority for us.

“While some progress has been made across the venture capital sector to improve access to finance for female founders, there is still a huge amount more to do, which we can only achieve by working together to promote greater equity and inclusion to back innovation and economic growth across the UK.”

Earlier this month the inaugural Female Founders Growth Summit took place in Edinburgh, highlighting the challenges women routinely face in the startup and scaleup ecosystems, and the resilience required to succeed.