“It is no secret that odds are often stacked against female entrepreneurs …”

The theme for IWD 2024 is ‘Inspire Inclusion’, how far do you believe the UK has come in creating an inclusive workspace and community for female entrepreneurs and investors?

The UK is brimming with strong and successful female entrepreneurs, from tech titans like Baroness Lane-Fox to revolutionary entrepreneurs including Pip Jamieson, Tania Boler, Raj Kaur Khaira and Tessa Clarke. There is absolutely no shortage of talent, the journey has been to open doors and possibilities for our female gamechangers.

As a country, we have a long-standing tradition of being a centre for nurturing creativity, and innovation. A key part to maintaining this is working to provide entrepreneurs with an open, supportive environment to build a business and this is especially true when it comes to female entrepreneurs and investors.

To take our growing ecosystem to the next level, our focus must be on helping female entrepreneurs to secure investment and deals. This has been loud and clear in the events I have hosted or attended this week. They need cash, connections as well as companies and people to buy their products and services.

We also need to make sure we inspire the next generation of female entrepreneurs by showcasing and amplifying our brilliant women leaders. We can’t be what we can’t see so role models are important in the tech sector. Maths4Girls is an initiative that I am involved with that invites female founders into schools to connect with female students and inspire them to continuing to study maths which can lead to the jobs of tomorrow. Especially as we know that about 85% of jobs for generation Z have not been invented yet.

You’ve been involved initiatives helping female founders, what’s been the gap in the progression of female founders or what is the key component of these initiatives that have helped them tremendously?

Working with female founders is important to me and is a key component of our work at London & Partners. We are continuously listening to our community and recognise what their needs are. The main thing that tends to keep female entrepreneurs up at night is access to funding, which the global economic situation and cost of living has made even more of a struggle.

Our Female Founders community events are key to the support we offer. These events unite influential female leaders to share their valuable experience in investing, scaling startups, and navigating the role of senior female leadership in the business world. In addition, we have hosted several female founder trade missions to the US and Europe which have been instrumental in creating “tribes” and safe spaces for the CEOs to connect, share challenges and support each other.

As a champion of entrepreneurship, what do you believe are the key pillars of success for founders generally that wish to enter the market and expand within it?

It is no secret that odds are often stacked against female entrepreneurs and whilst we continue to tackle this as a mindset, key practices that lead the way to success and growth include being authentic, bold, and of course, harnessing the power of your community by leaning into your network. And London ecosystem support exists for this purpose to help entrepreneurs of achieve their goals by providing opportunities to meet and interact with investors, advisors, colleagues, and talent.

At Home Grown, we place a lot of emphasis on networking and growing these connections formed, how important is having a good community/network for entrepreneurs?

London stands out internationally as a centre of convergence where businesses can connect directly into the ecosystem, build a community, and access the talent they need to grow and develop. With our ears consistently to the ground, we have a strong grasp on the live needs of the business growth community and that is vital to continuing to foster its growth. We are building a community that includes corporate innovators, investors as well as scale up leaders. By bringing these communities together we give entrepreneurs the access and the connections they need, both in London and in international markets.

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For those seeking to immerse themselves in a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem, consider joining Home Grown Club. Explore exclusive events, resources, and opportunities to connect with industry leaders by reaching out to membership@homegrownclub.co.uk today.