Innovate UK U-turns on female founder grants after outrage
Innovate UK has promised to grant awards to a total of 50 business projects as part of its Women in Innovation funding competition after hundreds of founders came together to criticise its decision to only hand out 25 awards.
The group was criticised by female business leaders after announcing that it intended to only award 25, despite initially promising to grant funding to 50 projects, drawing on a total funding pot of £4m.
A campaign titled ‘Let’s Fund More Women’ called on Innovate UK to fulfil all 50 awards, engage with participants on issues raised throughout the application process, and launch a redesigned awards with a “transparent” process moving forward.
In response to the strength of reaction online, Innovate UK today announced that it had “wrongly prioritised” its budget and will commit to funding a total of 50 awards alongside additional support to all participants.
An Innovate UK spokesperson said: “As public funders, we must manage our budgets carefully. The decision to only award this number 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.
“We confirm we will be funding a total of 50 awards. This represents a total investment of £4m for the current cohort, as originally committed.”
Emma Jarvis, founder of maternal health platform Dearbump, said she was “delighted” to hear the news as it is a “huge win” for the female founders who might have applied and missed out.
However, she said it is only a stepping stone towards a much larger goal of equality when it comes to addressing the female funding gap.
Jarvis added: “The mission doesn’t end here. For decades, female-founded businesses have been treated as second-class citizens in the business world, receiving less than 2% of the UK’s multi-billion-pound venture capital funding each year.
“This huge disparity highlights the systemic barriers women face, not only in securing funding but also in achieving high growth.
“If we’re serious about levelling the playing field, we need more financial backing for female-founded businesses.”