The influencer entrepreneur culture is all around us, and it’s exhausting. It expects us to build our businesses and leave a running commentary as we go, creating on-brand content to match each stage in our ‘glamourous’ entrepreneurial journeys. Once we start, it is easy to get into a cycle of chasing likes and prioritising our feed before our wellbeing, and even our businesses.
I always say that numbers speak for themselves. So it’s doubtful that these numbers will surprise female founders anywhere. Pitchbook data from earlier this year showed that, despite record levels of capital invested in Europe, female founders received just 0.7% of the total funding – €400m (about $473m). The picture isn’t much more encouraging in the US; last year, female-only founded companies garnered 2.2% of the total capital invested in venture-backed startups.
The launch of the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) in 2012 was a game changer for startups across the UK. Launching a company from the ground up is a difficult endeavour but the new tax benefits, which encouraged investment in small and potentially riskier enterprises, were a boon for investors and business owners alike.
















