Women innovators faced 3.4% success rate for Innovate UK funding despite spending days on applications, report reveals
How underfunding women-led innovation costs the UK billions and what reforms can restore trust
Women innovators had a 3.4% success rate when applying for Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation awards, despite an intensive application process. This inefficiency wastes talent and undermines UK innovation.
The Let’s Fund More Women Report 2025 exposes systemic barriers facing female founders, highlighting how the scheme fuelled “public mistrust” and raised concerns about the assessors’ lack of gender diversity and industry experience.
The report warns that under-investing in female-led businesses costs the UK £1 billion daily in GDP, compounding the £250 billion annual loss noted in the 2023 Rose Review. It urged Innovate UK to ring-fence more funding for women entrepreneurs to drive growth.
Last September, Innovate UK received 1,452 applications but funded only 25 female founders, half the 50 awards it had publicly pledged.
The scheme offered up to £75,000 per business, with up to £4 million available, yet only £3.75 million was awarded, representing only 0.4% of its total £1 billion funding for 2024/25.
More than 650 women innovators, representing 92 female-founder networks, launched a campaign against this unfair decision. Within 48 hours, Innovate UK reversed course and granted all 50 awards.
The report makes ten key recommendations for reform:
Streamline the application process to reduce barriers and boost inclusivity.
Enhance transparency and accountability by publishing performance metrics.
Reform assessor processes—improve recruitment, set clear standards and introduce bias-awareness training.
Increase dedicated funding and ring-fence a larger share of grants for women innovators.
Measure “size of fund vs cost of application” so applicants invest time wisely.
Additional steps include clearer eligibility criteria, signposting to alternative grants, and ongoing collaboration with women-founder networks.
Zandra Moore MBE, who introduced the report on LinkedIn, wrote: Seven months ago, a movement began. Over 650 women innovators, representing 92 female-founder networks, came together when Innovate UK initially funded only 25 of the 50 awards. Within 48 hours, the decision was reversed—and that was just the beginning.”
The 2023 Rose Review concluded that, with equal support, female innovators could scale as fast as their male peers. The Let’s Fund More Women Impact Report argues that investing in women-led innovation isn’t optional, it’s essential to economic growth.
Key findings include:
Application effort: Women spent an average of eight days each on applications, amounting to 45 years of collective effort for the 2024/25 round.
Quality vs reward: 57.9% of WII applicants scored 70% or above, compared with 42.9% in the Smart Grant competition, yet WII awards were capped at £75,000 —less than a quarter of the Smart Grant average of £336,627.
Funding shortfall: Only 0.4% of Innovate UK’s £1 billion 2024/25 budget went to WII awards, and just £315 million (31.5%) of its overall portfolio was awarded to women-led applications.
Actual value: Of the £4 million pledged, only £3.75 million was distributed; after fees, the net value to applicants was just £1.33 million.
Unpaid labour: When only 25 grants were expected, women provided £1.92 million of unpaid labour chasing a £1.87 million fund.
The report concludes: “No competition should fall short of delivering its promised investment. The cost to UK innovators, in time, energy and opportunity, is simply too great to waste.” It urges Innovate UK to clarify eligibility, simplify applications and continue collaborating with women-founder networks to drive real change.
Dr Emily Nott, head of inclusive innovation programmes at Innovate UK, said: “Innovate UK knows that improved access unlocks untapped talent and ensures that the innovations shaping our future reflect the needs and experiences of everyone in society.
“We have been extremely impressed with the commitment and determination shown by the Let’s Fund More Women (LFMW) team to represent and drive positive change for the women in innovation community. We would like to thank the team for the collaborative, constructive and professional spirit in which they have worked with us.
“Innovate UK has invested £11 million in 200 Women in Innovation Awards and built a vibrant community of 10,500 women innovators.
She went to claim that “investment into the award competitions has increased fivefold and the number of applications has quadrupled. Most importantly, across all Innovate UK awards, the proportion of successful women-led applications has risen from 1 in 7 to 1 in 3.
“While this represents real progress, we need to do more. In September 2024, members of the Women in Innovation community encouraged us to go further – to better understand the barriers they face and to listen more actively to their concerns.