The “MentorMatch” platform is being developed amid the myriad recent reports and surveys — not least the Scottish Government-backed Stewart Report — which highlight the various challenges that women in Scotland, the UK, and across the wider world face when establishing and progressing a career in entrepreneurship.

Effective mentorship is often cited as one part of the equation for helping women to thrive as business owners and leaders, as it can facilitate valuable learning opportunities and knowledge exchange.

Analysis conducted alongside Digital Boost has found that 53% of female business owners in Scotland feel a lack of opportunities to be mentored has held them back from advancing their careers. Further, 82% of female business leaders are likely to ask for mentoring support, illustrating a demand for effective mentoring.

RBS’ online MentorMatch platform is billed to streamline the process for mentors and mentees to connect — which can often be difficult — and will also attempt to break down the formality surrounding mentoring. The aforementioned analysis shows these are pain points, as 49% of women reported that finding a mentor who aligns with their needs is too difficult, and that 47% of female business leaders feel that mentoring is too formal a process.

As an additional offering, the digital matchmaking platform is also set to provide guidance targeting specific business challenges.

An in-person launch event for MentorMatch will be taking place in Glasgow later this month.

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“Royal Bank of Scotland has a long and proud tradition of supporting women in business,” said Judith Cruickshank, Chair of the Scotland Board at Royal Bank of Scotland.

“Today’s launch will provide another important offering within our solutions to empower women to unleash their full potential and achieve their goals.

“We are deeply committed to Scotland and its vibrant business community. When one of us succeeds, we all do. We recognise the unique challenges that women in Scotland face, and we are determined to be part of the solution, helping to build a more equitable, prosperous, and sustainable future for Scotland.”

Digital Boost’s Managing Director, Karen Licurse, also commented, saying: “We know that mentorship has the power to unlock the potential of countless women in business, helping them to grow and ultimately, thrive. But the reality is that old school approaches to mentorship can be outdated, and often not suitable to the modern workforce.

“Our purpose is simple – we want to strip mentorship back to its core and easily connect people to the personalised support they need, while also encouraging more people to become mentors. This new platform will reshape what mentoring means to Scotland’s female business community and Royal Bank of Scotland, with its marked experience of supporting women in enterprise, is the perfect partner to make it happen.”

Last year, the Rose Review, a report on female entrepreneurship conducted by Alison Rose, CEO of NatWest group, found that a potential £250 billion of new value could be added to the UK economy if women started and scaled new businesses at the same rate as men.