Dr Claire Vowell’s Post

TIME TO BREAK SOME BARRIERS! Government research shows that only 15% of UK businesses are owned or led by women, which has declined since before the pandemic. Women face disproportionate barriers in starting businesses, from securing funding to accessing the right support networks. My journey wouldn't be the same without Female Founders Rise. Emmie Faust has seen that connecting us, female founders to a community of similar women has been one of the most powerful elements in bringing our businesses to life. It's time we shout about it. Female Founders Rise, in collaboration with creative agency YeahNice. have launched this amazing campaign showcasing 15 female founders, who’ve started, scaled or sold businesses in the UK. The lack of visibility of female leaders is a big problem and it needs big-thinking solutions. We want to see examples of women entrepreneurs on our streets, in our schools and in our supply chains. Let's celebrate all the female founders already driving growth in the economy and doing great work. The campaign features real stories from female founders, sharing their experiences and insights on what it takes to run a business. Some of the founders include: • Dr. Dupe Burgess, who founded the gynecological health app Bloomful after seeing women were not getting the care that they needed. • Debbie Zaman, who founded and sold PR business 'with' that helps clients in the technology sector. • Pamela Aculey, who founded 'Just Like Me Books' to improve representation in children’s stories after her eldest son was diagnosed with autism. • Catherine Ann Reid, who founded doqit, an app that gives people a single place to manage their day-to-day life admin. Let's spread the word, Inspire the world and Let Female Founders Rise! 💪

Name a woman founder you admire. Can you? 🧐 Unfortunately less than 20% of female teens can. Why? 👉 Because there aren’t enough. Let's see some stats: ↳ Only 15% of businesses in the UK are owned by women. ↳ In Germany, it’s around 8%. ↳ France and Italy do not even reach 7% 💡 Why should you care? ↳ If women started more businesses, they could add £250 billion to the UK economy alone. ↳ VCs could see better returns. Women-led startups generate 78 cents per dollar. Compare that to 31 cents for men. Are you surprised? I am, I am honest. This is why I am supporting Emmie Faust, Female Founders Rise and YeahNice. They organised an incredible campaign in the UK, so every young woman can see that she has what it takes to be a founder. P.S. As a mother of 2 young daughters, I really hope to see more initiatives like this across Europe, we desperately need them! #FemaleFoundersRise #YouveGotWhatItTakes

Only 15% of businesses in the UK are women-led.   Around a year ago I joined Female Founders Rise a brilliant community that supports female and non binary business owners. This community really opened my eyes to the challenges women face when starting and scaling businesses, from being primary carers in the home to a lack of VC money being invested in female-led organisations.   And there are even greater challenges for women of colour.   It’s doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. £250 billion of value could be added to the UK economy if women started and scaled businesses at the same rate as men. This benefits everyone. Both Labour and Conservative governments have spoken at length about growth... well here is a solution!   But, you can’t be what you cant see. It's why I’m so proud YeahNice is partnering with Female Founders Rise for their biggest EVER campaign ‘You’ve Got What It Takes’ a celebration of women-led businesses. It features real women & NB founders of today, sharing their stories to help inspire diverse business owners of tomorrow.   Lots more content to come over the next couple of weeks. Please like and share and visit the campaign page at femalefoundersrise.com to find out what more can be done to support female led businesses. And if you want to really show support download the purple linkedin banner and update your profile.   #FemaleFoundersRise #YouveGotWhatItTakes   Emmie Faust YeahNice.

Come on women and allies for female founders, let's raise the roof! If you don't follow Emmie Faust & Female Founders Rise, do it now 🔥 There's a movement happening in the UK and if you are a female founder or serve female founders, please get behind this. We must stop playing it small - in the narratives we tell ourselves and in the way female led businesses are funded and supported. 🙋♀️I'm delighted to have signed up as a campaign ambassador for Female Founders Rise. Did you know that: £250 billion could be added to the UK economy if women started and scaled businesses at the same rate as men.* - Let's do something about this!🔥 15% of UK businesses are owned or led by women – this is the lowest that figure’s been since before the pandemic.* * - But there is support available to you if you're a female founder ❤️ 81% of 11-18-year-olds are unable to name a single female entrepreneur.*** 🥺 We need to change this 🔥 Young people today need to see and know female entrepreneur role models. *Source Rose Review ** Source The Times *** Source Gov.co.uk Where to start right now with this? Click like on this post and any others you see for this campaign and check out Emmie's post here to find out more: https://lnkd.in/e4BiY2Gr #FemaleFoundersRise & #YouveGotWhatItTakes

The past few months have been a whirlwind of growth and challenges for Perci Health. Kelly and I have been tackling different fronts, a reminder of how invaluable it is to share the entrepreneurial journey – especially as women in this space. Kelly's recent interview with Sky News (link in comments - thanks Jess Sharp) underscored the unique obstacles we face as female founders. It also highlighted the strength of our partnership, something we intentionally built into our business from day one. When we started Perci Health, we made an unconventional move: we planned for motherhood. Our timelines didn’t align perfectly – businesses and babies rarely do – but I had my son first, and Kelly followed six months later. Knowing our first "baby," Perci, was in good hands during those early months of motherhood was an immeasurable relief. I’m a firm believer in women supporting women. I’m not only grateful for Kelly’s partnership but also for the incredible network of female entrepreneurs around us. Unfortunately, this is still rare. According to Sky News, only 18% of UK companies are led by women. I’m incredibly proud to be a female leader in healthcare. We have unique perspectives and strengths to offer, and I’m passionate about empowering other women to rise in this field. #womeninleadership #healthcare #entrepreneurship #diversity #inclusion #femalefounders

Girls – it’s time to roll up our sleeves. It’s taken me a few days to process the outcome of last week. Although I am not American, this feels personal. Personal that in the 21st century, women do not have a say over their bodies. Personal that as women, we need to continue clawing our way through life to be seen as equals. But I also want to remind you – there is so much good out there. There are tonnes of women (and men), fighting the good fight in progressing women’s healthcare and lifting up communities. 🌟They say that for every dollar spent on a woman, their whole community benefits three-fold. I choose to spend my energy on what we CAN do, instead of making sense of a senseless outcome. Here are a few ways we can turn this disappointment into action: 🩵 Support women founded businesses. I am part of Epic Angels, and we fund female-founded startups in APEC. We are Asia’s 4th most active angel network and the biggest female angel network in the region. Join us in changing the game for female founders. 🩵 Take part in an NGO that supports girls and women.  From empowering financial literacy in marginalised communities, to inspiring young girls to build a career in a male-dominated field… There is something out there for everyone, and we all have something we can offer. 🩵 Continue investing in yourself. Our girls need women like you, who they can look up to. Keep striving, keep going. Show them what it’s like to have the courage to love and the courage to lead. As Kamala so rightly said herself, “Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.” I’m still processing the grief and shock… but not for too long. There’s a lot of work to be done. 📷: With my niece, who’s my biggest motivation for building a better tomorrow for our girls

As the CEO of two companies that has successfully done 5 funding rounds, I've been lucky to be surrounded by lots of awesome people who support me & my businesses ⭐️ But when I see stats like these, I think 🤔, what can I do to change this for my daughters and future generations of women entrepreneurs? Did you know that in 2023, women-founded startups got only 2% of the total VC funding in the U.S. and Europe? 😲 2%. And it's not because there are not enough women entrepreneurs - in fact, it's estimated we account for 43% all entrepreneurs worldwide... Look at it another way: Even in the UK, the average loan for female-led businesses was just £174,000 compared to £507,000 for male-led ones. These numbers are insane and highlight the huge gender funding gap that still exists! 🚨 So how do we create a more equitable environment for female entrepreneurs? And do it faster? I'm curious... if you’re an impact investor, is it this a metric in your investment thesis? 📈💡 If you know other resources, groups (other than Female Founders Rise) that I should be part of to help make a difference, let me know 💪 #WomenInBusiness #GenderEquality #ImpactInvesting #Entrepreneurship #foodtech

This needs to change... Did you know: 🤔 A whopping 81% of 11 to 18 year olds can't name a single female entrepreneur. & 🤯 Only 15% of businesses in the UK are owned or run by women. 🤦♀️ I asked my 13 year old and she didn't even name me (though she did mention Selena Gomez and US based company Rare Beauty). Did you also know that: 💷 Up to £250 billion could be added to the UK economy if women started and scaled new businesses at the same rate as men. So, what can we do? ➡ Female Founders Rise along with YeahNice. have launched the 'You've Got What It Takes' campaign to highlight the opportunity that supporting women starting businesses could have for the UK economy. The campaign featuring female founded businesses is all about women sharing their stories and experiences to inspire future women business leaders. To learn more about how you can join a growing community of women entrepreneurs, visit https://lnkd.in/eaq-rQfy #FemaleFoundersRise #YouveGotWhatItTakes #FemaleFounder -with thanks to Emmie Faust & team for creating this!

❓ Did you know ❓ £250,000,000,000 of new value could be added to the UK economy if women started and scaled new businesses at the same rate as UK men 🤑 That figure astounds me every time I read it. With these figures in hand, you'd think that there would be queues around the block to support female founded businesses. And yet... 🧒🏼 Childcare is extortionate and inaccessible in some areas. My own personal experience is over waiting lists of at least 18 months for local nursery spaces. That is a huge barrier for families and impacts women disproportionately. 💲 Funding for female founded businesses is criminally low. For every £1 invested in a male founded company, women receive 2p - that is an official govt stat. ❌ A lack of support for female founders is a brick wall that is hard to climb; aImperial College London study reported 59% of women lacked access to a network that could help them start, grow and thrive in business. With an election on the horizon, change is coming to the UK and anything is possible. A new government - in any guise - needs to invest in female entrepreneurship in a serious and holistic way for lots of reasons. If it being right and fair isn't enough, then simply to take advantage of the economic impact that it would have. I am personally very lucky to have found the Female Founders Rise network to support me; it is a truly wonderful group of women who have each others' backs as we all rise together. But, it shouldn't take self-organisation for us to get there - everyone needs to be an ally for true equity in business to happen! https://lnkd.in/eFDQ_EY4

This stat is mindblowing! 🤯 See the post below. I am sharing this because it is so important for women to be the future leaders, creating new businesses with a fresh approach. My belief is that if more women could create businesses from the ground up with a new perspective, we can create the structures to support more women coming though. Yes it’s frustrating when businesses don’t recognise what is needed or how to support women particularly post baby, but rather than focusing on what’s not working, we can create businesses that start on the right foot! 💪 And the benefits are incredible for everyone… £250 billion of new value! Let’s get supporting and inspiring female founders, by sharing this post I hope it resonates and inspires you too.