A new study by UK Virtual Business Assistant firm SpareMyTime, reveals the number of female CEOs and women on boards has increased by 83% since 2018.
SpareMyTime has analysed the number of female CEOs at UK-based FTSE companies, alongside 5 years worth of government data to reveal an 83% increase in female CEOs and women on boards since 2018, with the sharpest increases in 2021 and 2022.
The report comes as SpareMyTimes sees searches for ‘female founders’ soar 1,850% in the last 12 months alone, 320% in ‘female founders initiative’, and 300% in people searching for ‘female founders program’.
Growth in femtech
Examining female-founded industries that have seen the biggest growth, there’s been a 1300% increase in femtech companies over the past decade. According to Beauhurst, there was only one active company in 2014, growing to 14 in 2023.
SpareMyTime has ranked the top 5 fastest-growing female-founded companies in the UK based on their total funding amount, revealing four out of the five top spots on the list are taken by femtech and sustainability startups.
Melissa Gauge, Founder of SpareMyTime comments “The success of these female-founded companies is a testament to the growing strength of the UK tech scene and the increasing importance of diversity and inclusion in the industry. We are particularly excited to see so many companies on the list that are focused on solving real-world problems, which shows that UK female founders are committed to making a positive impact in the world”
The fastest-growing female-founded companies in the UK
|
Rank |
Company |
Founder |
Industry |
Location |
Total funding amount |
|
1 |
Elvie |
Tania Boler |
Femtech |
London |
£124M |
|
2 |
Loop Technology |
Samantha Reece |
Robotics |
Dorset |
£12.7M |
|
3 |
NovaBiotics |
Deborah O’Neil, |
Biotech |
Aberdeen |
£10.9M |
|
4 |
Mooncup |
Su Hardy |
Sustainable menstrual products |
Wirral |
£10M |
|
5 |
Opna |
Shilpika Gautam |
Climate Fintech |
London |
£5.2M |
Elvie, a femtech company that develops innovative products for women’s health and wellness, is the UK’s fastest-growing tech company, with £124M in total funding, according to the new dataset. With four out of five top spots taken by femtech and sustainability startups, the study shows female founders lead the UK’s fastest-growing tech companies.
Other companies on the list include Loop Technology, which is developing an artificial pancreas for people with diabetes, and NovaBiotics, which is developing new antibiotics to combat drug-resistant bacteria. The dataset shows that female-founded startups are increasingly focused on solving real-world problems, with all of the companies using technology to make a positive impact in the world in some way.
The UK regions with the highest number of female-founders
|
Rank |
Location |
Amount of female-founded businesses |
|
1 |
London |
174 |
|
2 |
Scotland |
43 |
|
3 |
Yorkshire and the Humber |
39 |
|
4 |
South East |
23 |
|
5 |
Greater Manchester |
20 |
Examining female-founded businesses on a regional scale, there are a number of areas outside of London paving the way, with Yorkshire and the Humber contributing to £3.5billion turnover and employing 28,525, and the East of England receiving the most investment at £213.6million.
Notes to Editors:
Methodology
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The increases in number of female CEOs and number of females holding board positions was calculated looking at the individual number of females holding senior managerial positions and the number of female CEOs at UK FTSE companies from 2018-2022
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Data sheet can be accessed here
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The UK regions with the highest number of female founders source: https://www.scaleupinstitute.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Female_Founders_Index_2023_web-final.pdf
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Keyword data was gathered using https://keywordtool.io/ looking at search trends within the last 12 months