In the House of Lords on Tuesday, we launched One In A Million: our sixth major report of the Female Founders Forum, which we run with Barclays. The title comes from the fact that there aren’t as many female founders of high-growth firms as there could, and should, be: just 32%. We don’t need to look far to find countries where there is a higher percentage of female founders. Switzerland, the US, Canada, and the Netherlands are all doing better.

One In A Million shares the success stories of many of the most successful of that 32%. Over the last year, Aria Babu, our Head of Policy, has interviewed 59 female founders who have raised over £1 million. As the report reveals, just 16% of equity finance goes to companies with a female founder or co-founder.

Entrepreneurs buck the trend – even their own stereotypes. As the report shows, there is no such thing as a typical female entrepreneur. But there are important questions to ask in the dividing lines, lessons to be learned even from outliers, and, ultimately, concerning trends across the experience of many female founders that require action from government, the finance industry, our education system and society at large.

First, 59% of our sample feel that they have been discriminated against because they are a female founder, and 72% believe that it would have been easier to raise finance if they were a man. If you have any doubts that this is still a problem read the case study of Kim Nilsson, founder and CEO of PeripherAI: “Very few founders ever get concrete proof that they have been discriminated against, although many have stories of when they suspect they had been. Kim is the exception. She said that once, after an Angel investing pitch, one of the investors reached out to her and said that he had made a mistake. ‘He emailed me afterwards and said that he had given money to the other team because they were men and they seemed so much more confident. He told me he regretted that decision.’”

Nevertheless, 76% of the female founders we polled said that they thought there were advantages to being a female founder. As Raissa de Haas, co-founder of Double Dutch says in her case study: “It helps you to stand out. If you’re in a group of ten colleagues, the rest of whom are men, people are more likely to remember who you were.” And Hannah Philp, co-founder and CEO of ARC Club said: “There is an advantage. I feel like there’s less of a prototype for what I have to do. I don’t have a dress code, for example. I don’t have to fit a mould.”

Just over half, 54%, of the founders Aria spoke with think that the media positively portrays them. As Saascha Celestial-One, co-founder of OLIO says: “You get more PR. That’s usually helpful.” But as Elsie Rutterford, co-founder of Bybi says: “The fact that we are both women often poses itself as a PR opportunity. But the story that gets penned could do with work. The stereotype of a female founder is quite cliched. There are only so many stories that get told about women in positions of power. There are only so many things you get to be.” Yet the majority, 79%, still think that the framing of “female founders” is helpful.

Every time I write about our Female Founders Forum reports, I get a couple of emails from men asking why we focus on female founders. Here’s one compelling reason: of those living with a partner, only 18% say that their partner does more housework, while 38% do more housework; the gap is wider for those with children: 12% versus 48%. This points to why childcare is such a big issue for the female founders in our community – as well as for women and households more broadly.

I suggest you read the report (or at least skim it), read a write-up in The Times (paywall), read Aria on how the ‘chore gap’ is still holding female founders back, or read the speech Aria delivered at the launch.

Happy Mondays
Getting the right funding for your business is such an ever-present challenge that there is always the risk we overlook it. That’s why we picked it as the topic for Monday’s event with The Office Group, who we work with (and out of).

You’ll hear from Julia Elliott Brown, founder and CEO of Enter the Arena, member of the Female Founders Forum and author of RAISE: The Female Founder's Guide To Securing Investment; Henry Whorwood, head of research and consultancy at Beauhurst, who we’ve worked with on a number of reports; and Patrick Newton, founding partner at Form Ventures, who back companies in UK startups with public policy exposure, and who we regularly chat to about what the regulations their portfolio companies are struggling with.

We’re a lean operation, so wouldn’t stretch to anything as profligate as a public Christmas party. However, most of the team will be there if you want to pop along and say hello before and after the event, and raise (if not some funds) at least a festive glass.