J.P. Morgan Private Bank today celebrates the fifth anniversary of its Top 200 Women-Powered Businesses report – analysing high-growth businesses founded, led, owned or managed by women in the UK. The report reveals that women-powered businesses in Scotland received a record level of investment in 2024, totalling £214m – marking a 10.5% increase on the £194m receivved in 2023, despite overall investment in UK women-powered businesses declining by 29.1%, from £6.36bn to £4.51bn, over the same period.
Over the last decade, total equity investment in Scotland’s women-powered businesses has reached £1.15bn, accounting for nearly a fifth (19.7%) of total investment in Scotland’s high-growth companies. This is reflective of a wider trend across the country of women-powered businesses playing a more promient role in the UK’s high growth landscape.
Gillian Murray, Team Lead for Scotland at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, reflects “This year’s report highlights how Scotland’s women-led enterprises such as Oh Polly and Strathberry are not just participants but are crucial in shaping the UK’s economic future as they scale and bring their ideas to the global stage. The record investment in Scotland’s women-powered businesses, even amid a broader decline, underscores the significant contributions.
Murray continues, “While we celebrate the achievements of women-founded businesses, we must also address the persistent challenges in accessing funding and building networks. By exposing these structural and systemic barriers, we can play a vital role in advancing women-owned and led businesses. These trailblazing companies are the heartbeat of Scotland’s entrepreneurial spirit, and at J.P. Morgan, we are committed to harnessing our global capabilities and networks to propel them onto the world stage.
The picture nationwide: closing the gap in exit value
Across the UK, the value of exits among women-powered businesses are one of the closest on record to male-led companies. Looking at the volume of deals, exit activity among women-powered businesses has followed a clear upward trajectory over the past decade. 2024 delivered both a record number of deals and the second-highest total value in five years, second only to 2021.
Following a contraction in 2023 (when disclosed exit values declined to £731m), 2024 witnessed a significant recovery, reaching £5.23bn across a record number of exits among women-powered businesses – just shy of male-led companies at £6.74bn —marking one of the closest value splits on record.
J.P. Morgan Private Bank.
“While a high proportion of this was driven by major deals, notably Darktrace’s IPO at £1.7bn, the remaining £1.24bn in 2024 surpasses the 2023 valuation altogether. The sustained growth in the number of exits highlights the increasing maturity, scale, and exit-readiness of women-powered businesses” Bobroff continued.
Declining investment as broader high-growth ecosystem also faces challenges
While exit values remain strong, women-powered businesses experienced a greater drop in investment in 2024 as the wider market contracted. In 2024, total equity investment across the broader high-growth ecosystem fell by 13.6%, from £21.2bn to £18.3bn. Women-powered businesses, however, were significantly impacted with a 29.1% decline in funding between 2023 and 2024.
“The disproportionate impact on women-powered businesses is not due to a single factor, but rather the cumulative effect of several structural challenges such as limited access to capital and resources” Bobroff added. Consequently, when the market contracts, these businesses are disproportionately affected.”
Analysing historic data around the proportion of equity investment received by women-powered businesses, in 2024 they secured 24.6% of the total value of equity investment into high-growth UK companies – a decline from the record 30% secured in 2018 and 2023.
Despite the overall decline in funding, 2024 levels remain higher than the amount invested in any year prior to 2021. Women-powered businesses have also shown resilience with a consistent share of total funding by deal count, maintaining over 33% since 2020.
“This could indicate a return to pre-pandemic norms, given the significant increases in investment seen throughout 2021 and 2022 due to economic stimulus measures designed to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19,” Bobroff added. “Importantly, the dilutive effects of equity investment are levelling the playing field, with women founders now retaining an average of 39.5% ownership in their businesses, compared to 33.4% for male founders, highlighting a positive shift towards gender equity in business ownership.”
Venture Capital playing increasingly prominent role
Venture Capital (VC) played an increasingly prominent role in 2024, accounting for 21.9% of all equity deals – its highest share to date. Crucially, women-powered businesses matched this rate, with 22.3% of fundraising deals involving a VC.
Analysing historic data around VC-backed deals, the proportion involving women-powered businesses has risen steadily, from 23.1% in 2015 to 33.8% in 2024. Bobroff said: “this represents a higher concentration than the broader equity landscape, where women-powered businesses accounted for 24.6% of all deals in 2024, 9.2% lower than the VC subset.”
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Women-powered businesses dominating femtech sector
Femtech emerged as the leading sector for women-powered businesses, featuring the highest proportion of women-powered businesses compared to other sectors (85.3%). Although the absolute number remains modest at 55 companies, their collective impact is notable, generating a combined turnover of £88M and since 2020 this proportion has more than doubled.
Women-powered businesses are notably concentrated in sectors that represent the largest sectors in the UK’s high-growth ecosystem including Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), online retailing, and data provision services. These sectors are at the forefront in terms of company numbers and investment deal activity. In 2024, women-led ventures in the SaaS sector completed 44 exits, representing 21.7% of all exits in the sector—a significant increase from just 6.81% in 2015. Despite their strong presence in these dynamic areas, women-led companies contribute a disproportionately smaller share of reported turnover, highlighting structural barriers and leaving considerable economic potential untapped.
