WCorporation · The 2% → 3% Campaign · Economic Case

What one percentage point
means for Britain

The measurable economic impact of moving female founder VC from 2% to 3%

All-female founding teams receive 2% of UK venture capital. Moving that number by a single percentage point — a 50% increase — unlocks a measurable, compounding economic impact across jobs, tax revenue, GDP and investor returns. Here is the evidence.

View the Live Tracker → Our Methodology →

Female-founded VC share · 2024
Down from 2.5% in 2023

+50%

Increase in capital if we reach 3%
in 2026

£310B

GDP left on table · full gender parity
Women & Equalities Committee, 2025

Moving one percentage point · The measurable impact

£144M

New capital
Year one

Direct Capital Injection

UK VC deployed £14.4B in 2025. Moving from 2% to 3% releases an additional £144M to female-founded teams in a single year — enough to fund approximately 137 companies that currently go unfunded entirely. At the average female-founder deal size of £1.05M, that is 137 businesses that exist because the number moved.

137

New companies
funded

New Businesses Created

These are not abstract companies. They are in healthtech, fintech, deep tech, femtech and AI — the sectors being designed right now, without women's input at scale. Male-led AI startups averaged £5.3M in funding in 2025. Female-led ones averaged £800,000. For the same sector. The innovation gap is concentrated precisely where it matters most.

6,850

Jobs created
Within 36 months

High-Quality Jobs

VC-backed companies typically employ 10–50 people within three years of funding. Across 137 new companies, that is conservatively 1,370–6,850 new high-wage, innovation-sector jobs. The government stated in March 2025 that increasing female employment by 5% would add £125B annually to the economy. Funding female founders is the fastest route to that target.

£30B

GVA unlocked
5-year horizon

Gross Value Added

A sustained 50% increase in female-founder VC, compounded over five years as companies scale, hire, export and pay tax, could unlock £15–30B in incremental GVA. Deloitte estimates women-led SMEs at full parity could contribute £180B GVA to the UK economy. The 2% → 3% shift is the first tranche of that prize.

£274M

Additional tax
5-year horizon

Treasury Returns

VC-backed companies grow faster than average SMEs. Each female-founded company reaching scale generates an estimated £500K–£2M in corporation tax and employer NI over five years. Across 137 new companies, that is £68M–£274M in additional tax revenue — before PAYE from the jobs created. This intervention pays for itself.

+63%

Returns vs
all-male teams

Superior Investor Returns

Female-founded companies generate 35% higher ROI (Kauffmann Fellows) and perform 63% better than all-male investments over a ten-year period (First Round Capital). They produce twice as much revenue per pound invested. VC firms with 10% more female partners see 9.7% more profitable exits. This is not charity. It is correction of a structural pricing error that is costing investors money.

"In a single year, all-male founding teams raised more than three times what all-female teams raised over the previous decade combined. The Women and Equalities Committee's conclusion was unambiguous: voluntary measures have failed. State intervention is now necessary."

The Rise Report 2026 · Women & Equalities Committee, October 2025

The UK in context · How our commitment compares

£3.7B

37× the UK's commitment

Canada's dedicated women's entrepreneurship strategy

£635M

0.2% of the £310B prize

UK Invest in Women Taskforce · total raised

0×

Zero mentions

UK government's £16B Industrial Strategy mentions female entrepreneurship

The case in one line

Moving female founder VC from 2% to 3% is the highest-return, lowest-cost economic intervention available to the UK right now. The market is already doing it wrong. Public data proves it. The only question is whether the people with power choose to act.

Sources

The Rise Report 2026 · Women & Equalities Committee (October 2025) · Barclays / Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship · British Business Bank UK Equity Tracker · Deloitte / Women's Business Council · First Round Capital 10-year portfolio analysis · Kauffmann Fellows · Financial Times (January 2026) · ONS Labour Force Survey · PitchBook All In · Female Foundry Female Innovation Index 2026 · UK Government (March 2025)

What one percentage pointmeans for Britain

Join The FREE Challenge

What one percentage point
means for Britain