British Business Bank and DBT publish Investing in Women Code (2026) report
The government’s sixth Investing in Women Code annual progress report, published today, shows that Code signatories are more likely to back female founders than the wider market for the sixth consecutive year.
Launched in 2019 following the Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, the Investing in Women Code is a commitment to support the advancement of female entrepreneurs in the UK by improving access to the tools, resources and finance required to help businesses scale.
The Code’s purpose is to build a clearer understanding of how female founders access finance, while encouraging signatories to adopt and share best practices that better support female-led businesses. The British Business Bank is a founding signatory of the Code and a Code partner, managing the relationship between the Code and its venture capital signatories.
Investing in Women Code signatories continue to outperform the market in their support for female-led businesses
The report finds that Investing in Women Code signatories have delivered a higher proportion of venture capital deals to teams with at least one female founder. In 2025, 33% of venture capital deals made by Code signatories had funded teams with at least one female founder, compared with 25% across the wider market.
The proportion of funding going to female-led businesses is also increasing. In 2025, 32% of all venture capital investment from Code signatories went to teams with at least one female founder, up from 27% in 2024. Code signatories are more than twice as likely to fund businesses with a female founder than the wider market, where 15% of total equity investment funded teams with at least one female founder.
All-female founder teams received 6% of total investment value from Code signatories (up from 4% in 2023), which is three times higher than the wider market share of just 2%.
Increased diversity improves investment outcomes
This year’s report found that investment committee and investment team diversity can influence investment outcomes. 11% of deals made by Code signatories with majority female investment committees went to all-female founder teams, compared with 8% among majority-male investment committees. When women make up the majority of an investment team, 13% of investment committee decisions involve all-female founding teams, almost double the rate in majority-male investment teams (7%).
British Business Bank committed to backing female founders
As a founding signatory of the Investing in Women Code, the British Business Bank remains committed to improving access to finance for underrepresented groups. In 2025, the Bank launched its £400m Investor Pathways Capital programme to support first-time and emerging fund managers from diverse backgrounds, targeting 50% of investment to female investors. Last month, the Bank announced the first investments under the Microfunds segment of the programme, with up to £90m committed to ten new fund managers. 57% of General Partners in this first cohort were female.
In addition, the Bank is also deploying £130m specifically into female-led funds through its existing programmes, including a £100m pledge to the Invest in Women Taskforce, an industry-led and government-backed initiative aimed at making the UK the best place in the world to be a female entrepreneur. In 2025, the Bank also made an additional £30m anchor investment into the Taskforce’s “Women Backing Women” Fund of Funds, bringing its total support for female-led funds to £130m through its existing programmes. The Fund of Funds has now deployed its first capital into three female-led venture funds, further strengthening the pipeline of female investors and women-backed businesses across the UK.
The Bank is also introducing pre-application drop-in sessions for emerging female investors to give prospective applicants greater clarity and confidence before entering the formal process. The initiative is open to emerging female investors of all backgrounds, including angels, GPs and fund managers.
Kristen McLeod, chief strategy officer, British Business Bank said, “This year’s findings show that the Investing in Women Code is helping to gradually shift the dial, but it’s clear there is much more to do.
“Through the Bank’s work, from backing the Invest in Women Taskforce to committing significant funding to the next generation of female fund managers through Investor Pathways Capital, the British Business Bank is focused on widening access to finance and knocking down barriers so that more and more female founders can reach their full potential.”
Blair McDougall, minister for small business, said,“For the sixth year in a row, Investing in Women Code signatories have outperformed the wider market, showing that backing female founders is good for business and good for growth.
“Yet women-led businesses still face greater barriers to funding and growth. That is why the Code matters – helping more women start, scale, and succeed, while unlocking talent, creating jobs and strengthening the UK economy.”