Innovate UK U-turns on funding for female tech founders

Innovate UK has reversed its decision to slash 50% of grants for the ‘Women in Innovation’ awards, following a social media campaign sparked by a femtech founder.

The competition, which launched in May 2024, offered a total of £4 million in funding for 50 women entrepreneurs solving “a range of pressing societal, environmental and economic challenges” through innovation.

However, in August 2024, Innovate UK, which is part of UK Research and Innovation, announced that it would only award 25 of the promised grants, worth £75,000 each.

In response to the decision, Emma Jarvis, founder of femtech startup Dearbump posted on LinkedIn, calling on Innovate UK to “deliver the 50 awards as originally specified”.

“We were told there would be 50 awards available, so it’s a bit of a gut punch to see that only half of those were actually awarded.

“It’s hard not to question why so many talented and deserving founders were left without the support they need to bring their innovations to life,” Jarvis said.

Following the viral post, a group of more than 400 campaigners formed the collaborative ‘Let’s Fund More Women’ to oppose Innovate UK’s decision.

In a press release, issued on LinkedIn on 2 September 2024, the group demanded that full funding be reinstated and an apology from Indro Mukerjee, chief executive of Innovate UK.

“Women-led businesses are significantly underfunded in comparison to their male counterparts and we rely on a public body to exercise fairness and equity when it comes to distributing public money,” it said.

The same day, Innovate UK confirmed that it would fund the full 50 awards and £4m investment, as originally committed.

In a LinkedIn post on 3 September 2024, Innovate UK said that the decision to cut 25 grants was “a mistake and we prioritised wrongly”.

“We recognise the impact this has had on the many applicants, and on the community as a whole, and we apologise wholeheartedly,” it said, adding that Innovate UK is “committed to supporting and increasing opportunities across the system for women innovators”.

Becky Lodge, founder of Little Kanga and StartUp Disruptors, one of the organisers of the ‘Let’s Fund More Women’ campaign, said: “It’s not enough, but it’s a start.

“The conversations are still continuing with Innovate UK to reform the process and avoid this in the future, but we’re happy to welcome their public apology and recognition of the impact their ‘wrong decision’ has made”.

Speaking in the House of Commons on 2 September 2024, Peter Kyle, science, innovation and technology secretary, welcomed the decision to reinstate the funding.

“I know that Innovate UK will learn those lessons, but we need to ensure that the government are at the forefront of delivering support for the sector and creating the jobs and technology of the future, and making sure that it does so in an equitable way,” Kyle said.

The issue follows a viral LinkedIn post by Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen, cofounder of Female Invest, highlighting that just 2% of venture capital funding goes to female founders.

Her post was in response to the news that male-founded femtech firm Flo Health raised more than $200 million (£155.7m) in Series C investment, taking its valuation beyond $1 billion (£783.1m).