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The findings of the Female Founders Scottish Index were outlined at today’s Pathway Pledge Annual Review in Edinburgh. Over 40 organisations have now signed up to more than 100 actions aimed at driving gender diversity and addressing the needs of female entrepreneurs.
The ScaleUp Institute’s inaugural Female Founder Scottish Index identified encouraging progress: female-founded scaleups in Scotland are growing at twice the rate of the UK average, with 139 female-founded scaleups identified in the survey. These firms generate in excess of £10 million in revenue or £5 million in assets, collectively worth £1.5 billion and employing over 16,000 people. Notably, 47 per cent of these businesses are based outside Scotland’s main cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh.
However, the index also revealed a significant perception gap. Around 80 per cent of female founders scaling businesses identified a perceived lack of support, compared to only 4 in 10 of male-led businesses. Female founders see particular gaps in support around access to talent, non-executive directors, markets, and investors.
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: “The Female Founder Scottish Index highlights significant achievements of our women-led businesses growing and developing in Scotland, the incredible talent that lies behind these success stories and the clear economic opportunity that will come from ensuring we help more businesses to scale up, attract further investment and stay and flourish in Scotland.”
She added: “This valuable analysis also shows there is more to do to support female founders. The Scottish Government stands squarely behind the excellent work being undertaken across the public and private sectors to get to the heart of tackling under-representation in our business community but this must serve as a call to arms to accelerate our efforts.”
Click here to read the full report – https://www.scaleupinstitute.org.uk/reports/female-founders-scottish-scaleup-index/
