The 'Women backing Women' fund, managed by Bootstrap4F – thought to be the largest dedicated fund of funds in the world – is the first female-led initiative of its kind, focused on deploying capital into female founded businesses and mixed investment teams in the UK.

The commitment from British Business Bank will be in addition to its investment in the broader Taskforce funding pool. Today’s milestone coincides with the Taskforce’s first Annual Report, marking £635 million committed in in the last year for its total funding pool.

The Taskforce is calling for more support from investors to build on this momentum to help close the funding gap in the UK. Research has found fully female founded businesses receive just 2% of equity investment. At this rate of commitments to gender-balanced investing, it will take at least a decade to reach 50/50 funding rates between female and mixed teams, and male-only teams.

The recent Women and Equalities Committee report on female entrepreneurship backs this call to action, urging greater funding support for female entrepreneurs.

Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “Growth is this Government’s number one mission, and I am backing female-powered business not only because it’s critical for our economy but because it is the right thing to do.

“As the first female Chancellor in the UK I have committed to improving economic outcomes for women, from lifting the two child benefit cap to breaking down barriers and opening pathways for women to start, scale, and invest in businesses across Britain.”

Hannah Bernard, Co-Chair of the Invest in Women Taskforce, said: “Female-led businesses deliver 35% higher returns than male-led businesses, and play an essential role in supporting UK growth, so this is not only the right thing to do, but a commercial imperative. We need to quickly address the gender balance of both investment committees and their capital deployment, and continue to highlight the positive economic impact that women deliver.”

Debbie Wosskow, multi-exit Entrepreneur and Co-Chair of the Invest in Women Taskforce, said: “Reaching first close will be a huge milestone and we’re incredibly proud of the progress made so far, with more than £70m deployed by partner programmes this year. We have worked tirelessly to build the funding pool over the past year, the largest of its kind in the world. But c.80% of UK venture capital still goes to all-male teams. Studies show that diverse teams deliver stronger returns – so what are we waiting for?”

For more startup news, check out the other articles on the website, and subscribe to the magazine for free. Listen to The Cereal Entrepreneur podcast for more interviews with entrepreneurs and big-hitters in the startup ecosystem.