The Investing in Women Code was launched in 2019 as a way of addressing some of the concerns raised in the Rose Review including the fact that there is a funding gap that discourages women from growing their businesses. After five years, more than 250 organizations have committed to the Code, highlighting the increasing number of lenders and investors dedicated to boosting financial support for women-led businesses.

Investing in Women Code signatories closed 32% of all venture capital deals for female-founded businesses last year, against a market average of 28%, and marked the fourth consecutive year of outperforming the market.

The report from the Department for Business and Trade indicates that signatories who regularly submit data each year have more success in securing deals with teams led by all-female founders compared to those who do not. However, there is a long way to progress since the average angel investment in all-female teams is half of the investment in mixed teams and all-male ones.

Executive chair of UK Business Angels Association, Jenny Tooth, says, “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.”

Christine Hockley, MD, funds at British Patient Capital said, “The Investing in Women Code report continues to demonstrate there is a clear link between gender diversity in senior roles at VC firms and the capital going to female entrepreneurs and women-led businesses. As the data shows, when investment teams have 50% or more female members, teams with at least one female founder are more likely to reach Investment Committee stage.”