What funding is available for female entrepreneurs in the UK?

In the UK, female entrepreneurs have access to diverse funding avenues tailored to support their ventures. These opportunities range from government-sponsored grants, like Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation Award, to various angel investor groups and business loans targeted at startups.

Although studies reveal that female founders still receive a small fraction of total equity investment, there is a concerted effort to bridge this gap. Grants, loans, and specialised equity funds provide vital financial resources and offer mentoring and development support, creating pathways for women-led businesses to thrive.

This guide outlines the most effective funding options and offers advice on navigating the application process.

Current funding disparities for female entrepreneurs in the UK

Women in the UK have long been building genuinely world-class businesses, and the funding landscape is slowly, if unevenly, catching up.

That said, the numbers still make for uncomfortable reading. A House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee report published in late 2025 found that just 2% of UK equity investment in 2024 went to all-female founder teams – down from 2.5% the previous year. Financial Times reporting from January 2026 put that figure even lower for 2025, at 1.3%, with more than 80% of equity investment going to all-male founding teams.

That gap has barely budged over the past decade. Between 2013 and 2023, all-female founders received between 2% and 6% of total equity deal value, while all-male-founded teams consistently captured 85% to 91%.

And yet the Alison Rose Review estimated that closing the entrepreneurship gap between men and women could add up to £250 billion of new value to the UK economy – making this a pressing economic concern, as well as an issue of equality.

• Women founded a record number of businesses in 2023. Here’s why.
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Government and institutional grants for women in business

Government-backed grants and innovation awards are among the most valuable funding sources available to female founders – not only because the money is equity-free, but also because the best schemes combine funding with structured support, mentorship, and access to networks that can be just as useful as the grant itself. The options below cover the most established and accessible schemes currently available in the UK.

1. Women in Innovation Award (Innovate UK)

At a glance:

• Provides a grant of up to £75,000 for female entrepreneurs
• Includes 12 months of personalised business support and mentorship
• Offers training across high-growth sectors like healthcare, digital, and clean energy
• Connects winners with a network of investors and industry experts

The Women in Innovation Award is one of the most established funding schemes specifically for female entrepreneurs in the UK. Run by Innovate UK, it provides financial support and bespoke business guidance to help founders overcome barriers to growth.

Since launching in 2016, the programme has awarded over £11 million in funding, supported more than 200 winners, and welcomed over 11,000 female entrepreneurs into its community

What’s on offer

Each award provides a grant of up to £75,000 and 12 months of tailored support. This typically includes training across high-growth sectors such as health technology, digital and advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and clean energy. Winners also benefit from access to Innovate UK’s wider network of investors, advisers, and industry contacts.

A real-world example

Tallie Bush, founder of Circadacare, was among the 2025 cohort of award winners. Her company received the £75,000 grant alongside specialist business support – an experience that reflects what the programme is designed to do: give technically strong founders the commercial scaffolding to grow.

Who can apply?

The Women in Innovation Award is open to UK-based female founders, co-founders, senior decision-makers, and subcontractors. To be eligible:

• Your project must be carried out in the UK and last at least 12 months
• You must be legally and contractually able to use the funding
• Projects should align with Innovate UK’s priority sectors for the current round

The competition typically runs annually. Keep an eye on the Innovate UK Business Connect platform for the details and deadlines for the latest round.

2. Women TechEU

At a glance:

• Awards €75,000 in equity-free funding for early-stage deep tech startups
• Provides mentorship and coaching through a business development programme
• Targets female-founded deeptech SMEs across the EU and associated countries
• Opens access to expert advice on scaling and tech innovation

Women TechEU is an EU-funded programme that supports early-stage female-founded deep tech startups. UK-registered businesses are eligible to apply, as the UK is associated with the programme under Horizon Europe arrangements.

What’s on offer

Winners receive €75,000 in non-dilutive (equity-free) funding, plus a structured business development programme that includes mentorship and coaching. The programme ran four application rounds over two years. Demand has been strong: in 2025, the programme received over 1,100 applications and resulted in 40 winners, five of whom were from the UK.

Who can apply?

Women TechEU targets early-stage deeptech SMEs across the EU and associated countries. To be eligible:

• Your business must be founded or co-founded by a woman in a senior management role (such as CEO, CTO, or equivalent).
• Women must hold at least 25% of company shares at the time of application.
• The business must be an early-stage SME operating in a deep tech sector.

3. King’s Trust Enterprise Programme

At a glance:

• Offers a mix of grants (up to £5,000) and loans (£500 to £25,000)
• Provides up to three years of support focusing on business development
• Designed for entrepreneurs aged 18-30 who have the right to work in the UK
• Supports budding businesses with mentoring and potential workspace opportunities

The King’s Trust Enterprise Programme is one of the UK’s most well-known startup support schemes for young founders. While open to all genders, it’s worth including here because it remains one of the few programmes offering meaningful startup finance – including a blend of grant and loan funding – to entrepreneurs who might otherwise struggle to access capital through traditional routes.

What’s on offer

Eligible applicants can access up to £30,000 in startup funding, comprising a grant of up to £5,000 and a loan of between £500 and £25,000. Post-launch support is also available for up to three years.

Who can apply?

• Entrepreneurs aged 18-30
• You must have the right to work in the UK
• Your business must be UK-based, and you must own at least 50% of it
• If already trading, you must have been doing so for less than 12 months

Small business loans for women: practical routes to finance

While grants grab attention, loans often provide a more practical funding route – especially for founders who need capital quickly, don’t want to give up equity, or simply don’t fit the eligibility criteria for award-based schemes. The options below range from government-backed schemes with built-in support to flexible commercial lenders and community finance institutions that specifically prioritise businesses underserved by mainstream banks.

Start Up Loans (British Business Bank)

At a glance:

• Offers loans ranging from £500 to £25,000 per founder
• Provides a fixed interest rate with terms between one and five years
• Includes 12 months of free mentoring and business planning assistance
• Designed to expand eligibility to businesses trading up to 60 months by April 2026

Start Up Loans is a government-backed scheme open to any UK founder, and it remains one of the most practical routes to early-stage finance for female entrepreneurs.

How to apply for a Start Up Loan

Hear from Jo MacEachen at SWIG Finance about a typical application for a Start Up Loan

What’s on offer

Each founder can borrow between £500 and £25,000, and a single business can access up to £100,000 in total across multiple co-founders. Loans carry a fixed interest rate (currently 6%, rising to 7.5% for new applications from 6 April 2026), and repayment terms are typically one to five years.

Beyond the cash, Start Up Loans provides 12 months of free mentoring and access to templates for your business plan, cash flow forecast, and survival budget. If you’ve not pulled together these documents before, the support can be genuinely valuable.

Eligibility

From April 2026, the scheme is extending its reach: businesses that have been trading for up to 60 months (previously 36) will become eligible. That means more established early-stage companies – including those that initially bootstrapped – will be able to apply.

CDFIs (Community Development Finance Institutions)

At a glance:

• Offer loans ranging from £1,000 to £250,000 for underserved businesses
• Provide flexible, relationship-based lending that is often unavailable from banks
• Lend to businesses rejected by mainstream lenders, particularly female-led enterprises

CDFIs are non-profit lenders that offer relationship-based finance to businesses that have been turned down elsewhere. They typically lend between £25,000 and £250,000, though some start from as low as £1,000.

The numbers speak for themselves: the British Business Bank’s 2025 Investing in Women Code report found that 38% of CDFI business loans in 2024 went to women-led businesses. Mainstream lenders had previously rejected 94% of the businesses CDFIs supported.

It’s not a women-specific scheme, but it can fill a gap where traditional lenders move too slowly or won’t engage. As with any commercial loan, it’s worth comparing rates carefully and understanding the full cost before committing, including any personal guarantee requirements.

Equity funding and angel investment for female founders

Grants and loans can take a business a long way – but if you’re building something with serious growth ambitions, there’s usually a point where equity investment enters the picture. That means giving up a share of your company in exchange for capital, and typically gaining investors who bring experience, networks, and strategic input alongside the money.

For female founders, the equity landscape has historically been the hardest part of the funding puzzle. But dedicated angel networks, government-backed funds, and internationally focused investors are gradually changing what’s available and who it’s available to.

Invest in Women Taskforce and the Women Backing Women Fund

The Invest in Women Taskforce is a UK government-backed initiative targeting the structural causes of the gender funding gap. Launched in March 2024, it originally aimed to deliver £250 million of finance to female-founded businesses – and has already raised £635 million. A key component is the Women Backing Women Fund, one of the world’s largest investment pools of its kind.

As Hannah Bernard OBE, Co-Chair of the Invest in Women Taskforce, has said:

Female founders have always struggled to access their equal share of investment – but it is about time we stopped looking at the ‘why’ and started driving action to ensure history changes.

Angel Academe

Angel Academe is a UK-based angel investment network focused specifically on female founders and gender-diverse teams. Since 2014, it has invested in over 53 female-founded startups across a range of sectors.

The network also runs an EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) fund that offers tax incentives to investors backing female-founded businesses. This useful mechanism can help unlock more private capital for eligible startups. If you’re pitching to Angel Academe, you’ll need at least one female founder and a credible, high-growth proposition.

Global equity funds open to UK female founders

If you’re looking beyond UK-based investors, several internationally recognised funds actively welcome applications from female entrepreneurs in the UK.

Female Founders Fund (FFF)

A US-based early-stage investment fund backing category-defining female founders. FFF typically makes 6-8 new investments per year, with cheque sizes of around $500,000-$750,000. It welcomes applications from UK female entrepreneurs across sectors such as climate, fintech, and healthcare.

AnitaB.org PitcHER

AnitaB.org runs a global funding competition for female and non-binary founders in the technology sector. The prize pool varies by year, but the 2024 winner received $50,000 from a $100,000 prize fund shared among finalists. Winners also receive a year-long mentorship programme.

To be eligible, you need to:

• Identify as a woman or non-binary
• Be a founder or part of the executive team
• Have an early-stage startup with an MVP
• Have existing funding of no more than approximately £1.6 million ($2 million).

Astia

Astia is a US-based global venture firm with over 25 years of experience backing high-growth, female-led companies. It doesn’t publish fixed funding amounts; all applicants go through the Astia Expert Sift process, which evaluates:

• Market opportunity
• Operations
• Strategy

Following this is a final pitch to the broader venture community. Qualifying businesses must have at least one woman in a C-suite position of significant equity and influence.

Business grants and support for women: additional routes to explore

Not everything worth knowing fits neatly into a single category. This section covers one smaller grant programme and one bigger, bank-backed initiative.

WE Innovate (Imperial College London)

WE Innovate is a six-month programme for women-led teams, culminating in a pitch final with a £30,000 equity-free prize fund. This initiative is beneficial for pre-seed founders who want structured support alongside the funding opportunity.

HSBC Women’s Business Growth Initiative

For businesses at a more established stage, HSBC’s Women’s Business Growth Initiative provides:

• Free access to events
• Masterclasses
• Personalised funding guidance – including support from business specialists for needs up to £100,000
• Relationship managers for larger requirements

It’s not a grant scheme, but the combination of structured support and access to specialist funding conversations can open doors that a cold application might not.

Building your funding strategy

The funding landscape for female entrepreneurs in the UK is broader than it’s ever been, even if the systemic gap in equity investment remains. The combination of government-backed schemes, specialist angel networks, community lenders, and internationally focused funds means there are more routes to capital than there once were.

The practical approach is to identify which stage your business is at, which schemes suit your sector and structure, and to build relationships with the relevant networks before you need to apply. Funding bodies – particularly equity investors – respond well to founders they’ve seen develop over time.

Before any of that funding can land, of course, your business needs to be properly set up – with the right structure, clear shareholding records, and a Companies House presence that investors and grant bodies can verify. Getting your company formation right from the start means you won’t have to scramble when an opportunity arises. If you haven’t registered yet, explore how 1st Formations can help today.