{"id":196740,"date":"2025-06-19T09:06:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T09:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/196740\/"},"modified":"2025-06-19T09:06:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T09:06:15","slug":"all-female-founded-businesses-in-northern-ireland-receive-just-2-of-equity-funding-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/196740\/","title":{"rendered":"All-female founded businesses in Northern Ireland receive just 2% of equity funding \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

New data commissioned by the Invest in Women task force has shown that all-female founded businesses in Northern Ireland received just \u00a32.5 million (2%) of the UK\u2019s total equity funding in 2024, whereas all male teams secured \u00a393.7 million (79%).<\/p>\n

The data marks a decline from 2023, when all-female teams received 4% of equity funding, and comes in sharp contrast to the region\u2019s performance in producing high-growth female-led businesses (women make up 13.3% of high growth founders in Northern Ireland \u2013 nearly double the UK average proportion).<\/p>\n

While entrepreneurial activity overall is lower in the north, it is punching above its weight when it comes to the proportion of women-led firms \u2013 underscoring the strength and potential of the region\u2019s female entrepreneurial pipeline. <\/p>\n

Despite this, Northern Ireland as a whole attracted just 0.8% of the UK\u2019s \u00a315.5 billion total equity investment in 2024, pointing to continued regional disparities.<\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/a>\"Fancy<\/a><\/p>\n

The data formed the basis of a round-table supported by the Department for the Economy at Stormont, bringing together representatives from across government, the British Business Bank, financial services, investment and business to discuss workable solutions. <\/p>\n

The task force co-chairs, multi-exit entrepreneur Debbie Wosskow and head of business banking at Barclays Hannah Bernard, spoke at the event alongside Stormont economy minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald.<\/p>\n

Debbie said: \u201cWhile I\u2019m thrilled to see such a strong pipeline of incredible female talent seeking investment in Northern Ireland, it\u2019s unacceptable that this isn\u2019t matched by the reality of funding. <\/p>\n

\u201cA 2% figure is paltry, and it\u2019s compounded by the fact that our investment ecosystem is still far too London-centric. The system has to change. These sobering figures prove that we need far more local funding that can be invested in what is clearly a promising entrepreneurial landscape, deployed by female investors \u2013 that\u2019s the only way we\u2019re going to reverse this trend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hannah added: \u201cWherever we look, the figures underscore the vast challenge we have ahead. There\u2019s still a significant unrealised economic opportunity offered by female founders. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf women were to start and scale businesses at the same rate as men, it could add \u00a3250 billion to the UK economy. There is a female entrepreneurial sector in Northern Ireland primed to be developed, and we are missing a trick if that is not leveraged.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minister Archibald said: \u201cInclusion is central to our economic success. By working together to support female founders, we can unlock untapped potential, break down systemic barriers to finance, and ensure women entrepreneurs have equal access to the capital they need to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New data commissioned by the Invest in Women task force has shown that all-female founded businesses in Northern…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196741,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-196740","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-northern-ireland","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114709239154108506","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}