Breaking barriers for women entrepreneurs in the UK

With women-founded startups receiving less than 2% of venture capital funding in the UK and the nation trailing behind in the proportion of women-led businesses, WE Innovate at Imperial College London aims to bridge that gap. WE Innovate is a pre-accelerator delivering training and resources for women entrepreneurs to launch their businesses and attract critical investment. And it's going national. 

Currently, WE Innovate accepts 25 teams and is structured in three phases. The first phase equips participants with foundational entrepreneurial skills to prepare them for building and pitching their startups. In the second phase, 10 teams are selected to carry on with a £500 equity-free grant, and lastly, in the final phase, five finalist teams are selected to pitch for a share of a £30,000 equity-free prize fund. 

According to Laura Barclay, the coordinator for the programme, the programme is specifically looking for teams motivated to solve a problem and for “teams that have the relevant skills and competencies as well as a thorough understanding of the challenges they’re addressing.”  

WE Innovate distinguishes itself from other pre-accelerator programmes by tackling two of the most pressing challenges faced by aspiring women entrepreneurs: pitching and networking. According to research, women are less likely to proactively reach out to venture capitalists (VCs) after an initial meeting than men and are less likely to know other entrepreneurs or have access to support networks. WE Innovate is tackling both problems head-on.

“The two key things are raising funds and networking,” Barclay explains. “If women get nothing else out of the programme, they should have the skills to go in and ask for investment and make the pitch, and also the confidence to network with people they don’t know." 

Although the programme is idea-agnostic, according to Barclay, one of the biggest trends they have observed coming out of WE Innovate is the strong focus on women’s healthcare and femtech solutions. Barclay noted, "At Imperial, we see a lot of startups applying that are in the medtech or femtech sectors, especially women-focused solutions." While this is unsurprising given Imperial's reputation for excellence in both medicine and engineering, it underscores the impact of empowering women-led startups to accelerate their ideas. It provides women the opportunity to design solutions that directly address their own specific challenges. 

Specific examples of past success in the programme and of this phenomenon include Dr. Olivia Ahn, co-founder of FLUUS and winner of WE Innovate 2017. FLUUS developed the world’s first fully flushable, microplastic-free period pad, offering a zero-waste solution for period care. Currently, FLUUS has saved the equivalent of 2,183,904 plastic bags and diverted 13,103 kg of period waste from landfills. They have also raised over £830,000. 

The success of the programme is causing other universities to take note. The programme is expected to scale to six additional regional university partners across the UK and create a national network for women-led businesses and entrepreneurs. Each university will run its own WE Innovate programme, supporting 25 women-led teams per year, for a total of 175 women-led ventures annually. 

The programme isn’t just about empowering women – it's about including men and creating a more collaborative ecosystem. According to Barclay, “It’s great to see male team members encouraging their women co-founders to step up and pitch at the grand final." She added, “The atmosphere at the final is incredibly empowering and supportive.”  

A critical aim of the programme is to help men understand the unique challenges women face and equip them with a broader perspective. With male participants comprising approximately 40% of WE Innovate’s membership, the programme is designed to ensure that all team members, regardless of gender, emerge as stronger and more capable entrepreneurs, while also providing the men of Imperial the opportunity to collaborate with their innovative female peers and gain valuable experience. 

Over the course of its 11 years, WE Innovate has provided support to over 500 women, and its graduates have raised upwards of £37.5 million. WE Innovate stands out as an excellent opportunity for women who want to get involved in entrepreneurship and take their companies – or problems they are passionate about finding a solution for – to the next level. 

Applications are closing this Sunday 24 November 2024: Apply here