Participating funds include well-known names like Balderton, Cherry, LocalGlobe, MMC, Northzone, Notion, Plug & Play, Seedcamp, SpeedInvest, and Target Global.

During the event, each founder will have four one-on-one meetings with investors, providing an opportunity to pitch their tech ideas, seek guidance, and potentially secure investment. By eliminating the traditional reliance on warm introductions, this format aims to break down barriers to venture capital.

This initiative is part of Playfair’s broader commitment to tackling the gender disparity in venture funding. In 2023, women-led startups accounted for just 3% of total venture funding in Europe. Using AI-powered matching technology, Playfair enhances the relevance of founder-investor pairings, increasing the potential for meaningful connections. Every participating investor has also committed to mentoring at least one founder from each event, ensuring sustained support beyond the initial meeting.

Previous editions have resulted in 10,000 mentoring sessions, involving over 2,500 founders and 200+ investors. A quarter of founders who attended have successfully raised funds, with companies like XO Life, GlycanAge, Evariste, MI, Mamio, and Naq Cyber among recent success stories. So far in 2024, £194 million has been raised by startups that took part in earlier editions of Playfair's Female Founders Office Hours.

Chris Smith, Managing Partner at Playfair Capital: “I'm delighted that Microsoft and Carta are lending their support to Female Founder Office Hours, recognising the challenges that persist in the market for women founders and the role events like FFOH play in addressing them. Every FFOH event expands the pipeline of women founded companies for several hundred investors and, ultimately, delivers hundreds of millions in funding."

Emma Steele, Partner at Ascension: “The Playfair office hours have been a fantastic way to connect with inspiring female founders from the start. We’ve also had the privilege of meeting one of our founding teams, Organise, during some of the very first Female Founder Office Hours.”

Tiffany Johnson, Director, Startup Engagement, Underserved Minorities at Microsoft: “Less than 2% of women receive venture capital funding. That’s why Microsoft for Startups is thrilled to collaborate with Playfair Capital and Carta for this year’s European Women Founders Office Hours, empowering diverse and exceptional women founders to shape the future of tech.”