Festival founders call for action on lack of investment for female founders
The founders behind the Leeds-based Athena Festival have called for urgent action as the share of UK equity investment secured by all-female founder teams remains unchanged.
Following years of discussion and initiatives intended to address the gender funding gap, all-female founder teams received just two per cent of UK equity investment in 2025, the same average share recorded across the past decade, according to The British Business Bank’s 2026 Small Business Equity Tracker.
This was despite a 35 per cent increase in equity funding during the year.
Designed to celebrate women in venture capital, The Athena Festival is set to bring together hundreds of founders, investors, funders and business leaders on Wednesday, October 7.
Jordan Dargue, co-founder of the festival and female founders group, Lifted Ventures, said: “The issue is no longer whether we know there is a problem. It is whether we are doing enough, at sufficient scale, to change the system. We are at risk of mistaking activity for progress.
“Change cannot rest solely on founders working harder to overcome the same structural barriers. Those with the capital, influence and power to reshape the system must take responsibility for building better and fairer routes to investment.”
Helen Oldham, fellow co founder of The Athena Festival and Lifted Ventures, added: “We cannot mistake greater visibility for equality. Female founders may be more visible than ever, but all-female teams still receive only two per cent of UK equity investment. Until that changes, gender-led funding initiatives are not a ‘nice to have’; they are essential.”