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Roxanne Goodman, Founder of Female Founder Finance
Female Founder Finance was born out of a concept that had been bothering me for a while. There had been many forums and discussions around the lack of investment into female-led businesses, which is great in itself. But there was no real avenue for those female founders that were struggling to gain access to general commercial finance facilities, such as invoice finance or working capital.
Women are just as capable, if not more, of leading successful businesses, but they continue to face disadvantages when it comes to securing funding. This lack of access to finance might be one of the main reasons why we see fewer female-led businesses in the UK.
Currently in the UK 34% of all SMEs are female-led businesses, in comparison to the 66% led by men. We don’t believe this gap is born out of a lack of talent, capability or ambition, as 63% of women find external funding to be a barrier for growing and scaling their own business.
More than 35% of women seeking funding have reported encountering gender bias from financiers, resulting in more female start-ups being funded by savings and credit cards. Whilst men are more likely to receive external funding.
Our aim at Female Founder Finance is to provide female entrepreneurs access to the first wholly female circle of commercial and investment financiers in the UK. Moving the dial from 34% to 50%, by providing a complete eco system of support tailored specifically to female business owners. This in turn will allow for a more equitable and inclusive environment for female-led businesses to thrive. It really is a passion project for me.
I truly believe that we can change the face of commercial finance for women entrepreneurs for the better, allowing female founders the same opportunities to start and scale businesses and add back to the UK economy.
Find out more at femalefounder.finance.
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