Investing in women

See how we’re supporting female founders and business leaders, with growth capital and support

We’ve committed at least £300 million to the Invest in Women Taskforce funding pot, to support female-powered scaleup businesses, over the next five years. Read on to learn more about our offering, and the community we’re building for women in entrepreneurship and on boards.

How we're different

We’re not like traditional private equity or venture capital funds. We provide:

Minority equity investment (or a mix of equity and debt), without taking control
Patient capital, with exit timeframes that are intended to maximise valuation and outcome for all shareholders
Access to our networks and resources, as well as follow-on funding for new opportunities
Value creation support in scaling your business, with experience across a wide range of growth strategies

And we’re committed to backing ambitious businesses, powered by women, up and down the country.

Learn more

BGF Investor & Head of Origination, Gemma Hamilton, presenting at our 2025 WEB Forum

Our funding criteria

We invest in ambitious businesses, headquartered in the UK or Ireland. We look for private SMEs that match this profile:

Not a startup or seeking seed capital
Typically £1m-£10m profit (or £3m+ ARR for tech businesses)
Strong track record and growth strategy
Seeking initial investment of £3m-£30m from BGF

Or early-stage businesses that are:

Late seed to series B
Operating in life sciences or deep tech
IP-protected
Seeking £5m-£30m investment (£3m-£10m from BGF)

Sound like a good fit? Get started

Mixed-gender leadership team of BGF-backed life sciences startup TidalSense

Additional resources

If you don’t meet our investment criteria, there are other funding sources available that you may be eligible to access. The below resources may be helpful:

In the process of scaling-up? Keep in touch with our team by signing up to the BGF Newsletter, or explore our latest Insights and The Good Growth Podcast, for helpful guidance on expanding your business – plus success stories from fellow founders.

Maya Moufarek on set of The Good Growth Podcast

Women on boards

As part of our commitment to backing female entrepreneurship, we’re working hard to increase the number of female non-execs on the boards of our portfolio companies. Introducing companies to non-execs in our Talent Network — the largest group of business leaders dedicated to entrepreneurial growth in the UK and Ireland — is a central part of our value creation offering.

Join our non-exec network

A community built for you

At our recent Women in Entrepreneurship & on Boards (WEB) Forum, we heard from lots of attendees that shared a common challenge: finding a community of like-minded female entrepreneurs, business leaders, and non-execs to connect with and learn from. So now, we’re helping to build one. Keep an eye out for our next WEB event and apply to join the group below!

Join the WEB community

Women from the BGF WEB community networking at our recent event

“BGF offered us the perfect combination of patient capital, insight, and support.”

Vikki Jackson-Smith, Founder of J&B Recycling
“BGF helped us to create significant value in the business, through our expansion and around succession planning.”

Maria Sarkar, Co-Founder of DriveWorks
“I can’t speak highly enough of BGF. At every stage, they were supportive and enthusiastic for our plans.”

Amanda Torrens, Founder of Brindley Healthcare
“BGF is great to work with – responsive, flexible and supportive.”

Fiona Lowry, Founder of The Good Care Group

Success stories

Hear how female-powered businesses across the UK have used growth capital and support from BGF to realise their potential.

Meet the team

We’re proud to have a close to 50:50 gender split across the business, including more than 40 women in our Investment, Portfolio and Value Creation teams.

See our full team here