A volunteer collective, said to be the first of its kind in the country, has been formed in the North of England to encourage entrepreneurship and grow female-led businesses.
Bringing together more than 30 women from the investment industry, Fund Her North was established last October and has a combined investment power of £450million, as well as a demonstrated history of investing more than £75million in female-led start-up businesses.
It has just announced a strategic partnership with NatWest, forming part of the bank’s purpose-led strategy, which aims to support enterprise funding post-Covid. The collaboration also aligns with the bank’s continued work as part of the Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, which was published in 2019.
Alison Rose, CEO at NatWest (left) told a launch event: “There has never been a more important time to get behind UK businesses and Fund Her North’s mission aligns with our commitment to help create 50,000 new jobs by 2023, 75 per cent of which will be outside London and the South East.
“What’s more, we want women to be at the helm of 60 per cent of these businesses, with 20 per cent of these women coming from ethnic minority backgrounds. Fund Her North will help turn this ambition into a reality and I am excited to pledge our support to the collective.”
Jess Jackson, Head of Investment at GC Angels and member of Found Her North(pictured top), said: “We are proud of the work we do to ensure that female founders are given the same opportunities as their male counterparts.
Fund Her North was formed out of an urgent need to address the imbalances in access to investment available for female-led organisations
“This work has resulted in 39 per cent of all our raises going to women, but sadly this does not reflect the national picture. It’s been inspiring working with a group of women who share my ambition to make equity investment work for female-fronted businesses.
“Fund Her North was formed out of an urgent need to address the imbalances in access to investment available for female-led organisations in the North. With female founders two thirds more likely to receive investment from female investors, we focus on both female entrepreneurs and investors.
“Though we are a new organisation, we’ve already seen some promising results. Our first pitch event has generated circa £1.5m in investment offers, while our recent event for female angel investors had 100 attendees.
“It’s clear that this is a conversation that is gaining momentum, and the more we can expose and address these imbalances, the closer we get to a system that works for everybody.”
Heather Waters (left) enterprise manager at NatWest, said: “The partnership with Fund Her North offers NatWest a progressive opportunity to support women across the whole of the North and encourage their enterprise and investment ambitions.
“The Rose Review found that only 13 per cent of senior people in UK investment teams are women, while almost half of investment teams have no women whatsoever. Moreover, access to finance was found to be the number one barrier recognised by female entrepreneurs in the review, with only six per cent of teams receiving funds being all-female.
“The disparity is very clear, and NatWest remains committed to helping women overcome this barrier. It is only through commitment and collaboration that we can support the North’s economy by encouraging female business founders from all walks of life.”
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