She means business: Why female entrepreneurs are creating their own success story
What you need to know
- Women are creating businesses at a record pace, helping to reshape the UK entrepreneurial landscape and challenging traditional perceptions of business ownership.
- Female entrepreneurs are increasingly driving wealth creation, building successful companies, creating jobs and contributing to economic growth across a wide range of industries.
- Access to funding, networks and mentorship remains a challenge, but growing support communities and changing attitudes are helping more women turn ambition into business success.
- Business ownership can provide greater flexibility, independence and purpose, enabling women to define success on their own terms while balancing personal and professional priorities.
For years, the narrative around entrepreneurship has focused on the challenges women face in starting and scaling businesses.1 Those challenges remain real. Yet the more remarkable story is what women are achieving despite them.
Female entrepreneurship continues to gain momentum globally, with women launching businesses across an increasingly diverse range of industries. Research from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM)2 highlights growing levels of female entrepreneurial activity, while industry analysis shows women are participating in sectors including technology, healthcare, education, professional services and impact-led enterprises.
They are not waiting for permission. They are creating opportunities, building communities and increasingly becoming investors themselves.
A market too big to ignore
The rise of female entrepreneurship is not a niche trend. It represents a significant economic force.
Women are launching businesses at increasing rates, while the number of women engaging with investing and wealth creation is also rising rapidly. BlackRock's European research highlights the scale of this shift. Across Europe, there were 113 million investors in 2024, equivalent to 34% of adults, with female investor participation growing by 11% since 2022 compared to 4% for men.3
The research also found that women are driving growth across most investment categories, particularly exchange-traded funds (ETFs), where female participation has grown substantially since 2022.4
This growing financial confidence matters because today's female entrepreneurs often become tomorrow's investors, mentors and business leaders.
Success despite a persistent funding gap
While progress is being made, access to funding remains one of the biggest obstacles facing female founders.
Many women continue to encounter challenges when seeking external investment, whether through venture capital5, angel investment or traditional lending channels. As a result, female-led businesses are often built differently. Many founders focus on sustainable growth, profit generation and long-term value creation rather than pursuing growth at any cost.
This measured approach can produce resilient businesses. It also encourages founders to think carefully about how they build and diversify wealth throughout the business lifecycle.
Brown Shipley's experience working with business owners demonstrates the importance of planning for each stage of growth, from innovation and expansion through to profit-taking, reinvestment and eventual exit. Early planning helps business owners retain flexibility and remain in control of future opportunities.
What businesses are women building?
The stereotype that women primarily found lifestyle businesses is increasingly outdated.
Today's female entrepreneurs are creating businesses across technology, fintech, healthcare, manufacturing, professional services and education, alongside more established sectors such as retail and consumer brands.
Many are also building businesses with a strong sense of purpose, combining commercial success with social impact, sustainability or community engagement. This reflects a broader shift among many female founders towards businesses that align financial outcomes with personal values.
The power of community
Funding is important, but access to networks, knowledge and trusted advisers can be equally valuable.
Successful founders often point to mentorship and peer support as critical contributors to their success. Communities provide introductions, insights and encouragement during the inevitable highs and lows of business ownership.
BlackRock's research suggests confidence and knowledge remain barriers for many women considering investing, with 34% of female non-investors citing a lack of knowledge and understanding as a key obstacle.3
This demonstrates why communities that promote learning, shared experiences and practical guidance are so valuable.
At Brown Shipley, we see first-hand the benefits of connecting business owners with specialist expertise, professional advisers and like-minded peers. These relationships often help entrepreneurs make better decisions and identify opportunities they might otherwise overlook.
From entrepreneurs to multipliers
As female founders build and exit successful businesses, many choose to reinvest their experience, networks and resources in different ways.
One of the most exciting developments is the growing number of women becoming investors themselves, reinvesting capital into the next generation of companies. Bringing not only funding but also experience, networks and practical guidance, female angel investors are helping to create a more supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem.
This matters because representation creates momentum. When women see others successfully building businesses, investing capital and creating wealth, entrepreneurship becomes more accessible and achievable.
Other women choose instead to become mentors, philanthropists or advocates, helping create opportunities for the next generation of women in other ways.
Wendy Mathias, a Brown Shipley client and founder of the grant-making charity Another Way Womens Foundation, says: "I've always believed that success and wealth are not the destination. They're tools. For me, founding Another Way Women's Foundation was about using the success of my business to create opportunities for other women and girls. Whether through philanthropy, mentoring, investing or advocacy, every woman has the chance to help the next generation go further than we did. Together, we can create meaningful and lasting change."
Looking Beyond Value
The future of female entrepreneurship is not simply about business ownership. It is about influence, confidence and the ability to shape outcomes.
As women continue to create businesses, build wealth and become investors, the importance of strong networks will only increase. Communities that foster learning, collaboration and meaningful connections will play a crucial role in helping women achieve their ambitions.
Beyond Value was created with exactly this purpose in mind: bringing together accomplished women to share experiences, gain new perspectives and explore the opportunities that come with success.
Because beyond financial success lies the value of connection, perspective and shared experience.
Sources
3 BlackRock: People & Money report, The trends shaping investing in Europe, Maelle Struillou & Tim Broad. EmpowHER Event, Brussels 19th March 2025
4 BlackRock: People & Money report, People & Money The next wave of ETF investors in Europe. Gisèle Duenas Leiva Director 26 March 2026
Important Information
Information correct as of 26 August 2026.
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