The Invest in Women Taskforce (IWT) is an industry-led and government-backed initiative focused on closing the gender funding gap, supporting female entrepreneurs across the UK and driving economic growth. Building on the work of the Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, the Taskforce’s overarching mission is to make the UK the best place in the world for women to start and scale a business.

Launched in 2024, the IWT aims to harness a potential £250 billion boost to the UK economy by enabling women to start and scale businesses at the same rate as men. This mission addresses a position of significant under-representation, where fully female-founded businesses receive just 2% of new equity capital invested into UK-based companies. Recent data from 2025 suggests this figure remains stagnant, underscoring the urgency of the Taskforce’s interventions.

At the same time, women remain under-represented among investors, with only 15% of senior investment roles held by women. To unlock this economic opportunity, the IWT has committed to: delivering one of the world’s largest dedicated investment pools for female-powered businesses, with at least £250 million to be deployed by female investment managers (as of September 2025, over £500 million has been convened); increasing angel investment for female-led firms; and supporting the broader ecosystem by providing women with the tools, resources, and networks necessary to scale. A central pillar of this effort is the Women backing Women Fund of Funds, which specifically targets female-led investment teams to ensure that capital is being allocated by a diverse range of decision-makers.

Further reading

This entry was written by Ali Chappell. Ali is a part of the Barclays Business Banking team, supporting the work of the Invest in Women Taskforce.