According to our research, there are currently 3,831 companies in the UK that have a female founder and have raised equity finance, totalling £6.82b since 2011. To be precise, that’s 4,375 female founders working across industries such as pharmaceuticals, tech, financial services and more.
In celebration of International Women’s Day 2021, we’ve narrowed down those 4,375 entrepreneurs to 50 ones to watch, collectively leading 43 companies.
Everyone who has earnt a spot on our list is an active (co-)founder of a UK-registered business that has raised equity finance. To highlight the best and brightest in emerging talent we’ve kept it to businesses that have been incorporated since 2016.
Each company has raised many millions of pounds in investment, reaching into the hundreds of millions at the top end. Raising such large sums of money is no small feat for any founder, but particularly for women entrepreneurs, who are vastly underrepresented in the equity-raising space.
So far in 2021, female founders have raised 152 equity rounds worth £646m, representing 23% of all deal numbers and 19% of pounds raised, despite the fact that 25% of high-growth businesses have a female founder.
Of the 43 companies featured on this list, 28% are in the seed stage of evolution and 58% are in the venture stage, indicating that there is plenty of room for growth and development over 2021 and beyond.
Collectively, they’ve raised £1.14b of investment, with a median deal size of £3m. Interestingly, a huge 30% of these businesses are in the pharmaceuticals sector, with many of their founders entering the business world via academia.
Without further ado, read on to discover the most high-potential women in business today—and find out what they have to say about their journeys so far.