Invest in Women Taskforce

What a story 👏 Sisters Amelia Miller and Lydia Miller - founders of ivee | The job platform for everyone else, walked into Dragons’ Den with just 12 hours’ notice… By the end of the day, they walked out with four investment offers, a £6.5m valuation, and a powerful message for women everywhere: you don’t need perfect preparation to take your shot. If their LinkedIn page’s name didn’t already give it away, Ivee is a recruitment platform helping people return to work after career breaks. Inspired by their mum’s struggle to restart her career after raising them, Amelia and Lydia built Ivee to fix a system that still overlooks returners, pivoters, and those rebuilding after time away. Their mission: ✅ To make hiring more human. ✅ To help skilled, experienced professionals find their way back in. ✅ To challenge the idea that a career break makes you less valuable. Since the episode aired, Ivee’s website traffic has soared by 80,000%. They’ve already partnered with brands like Deliveroo, Red Bull, and OVO Energy, proving that when women design solutions, they don’t just close gaps - they open doors for thousands of other people. At IWT, we’re proud to spotlight founders like the Miller sisters who are rewriting what inclusion in work really means - with courage, empathy, and action. To anyone who’s ever doubted their timing, their path, or their readiness, this one’s for you 💫 Video credit - BBC/ivee | The job platform for everyone else

Foundervine and Lloyds Business & Commercial have come together to launch an 8-week accelerator designed exclusively for disabled entrepreneurs who are ready to build, grow, and lead ✨ Check out the details below ⏬

Female founders -  make sure to check this out today ⬇️ 🚨 Applications close October 24th....don’t miss out!

🎉 Event Throwback: In September, Voices of Change – Women in Invoice Finance took place – an inspiring industry event that put the spotlight on women working in the invoice finance and asset-based lending (IF/ABL) sector. 💼 What the day looked like: 🎤 A fantastic keynote from Claire Ensell (Lloyds Bank) 💬 An engaging panel discussion on the structural barriers women face in the industry, and how leaders, organisations, and allies are driving real change. Panellists included Vanessa Bertrand Smith (HSBC), Liz Hyde (Time Finance), Andy Dodd (Novuna), and Stephen Hand (Bibby Financial Services), with Laura Murray (HSBC) as moderator. The event achieved 100% attendance and sparked thought-provoking conversations around opportunity, inclusion, and innovation in the sector. If you know of any key industry events, we’d love to hear about them and share with our community. Change comes from events like these – let’s keep making connections and driving conversations forward! UK Finance

💡 Last month, the IWT joined HowTheLightGetsIn Festival - hosted by The Institute of Art and Ideas. The event is the world’s largest ideas and philosophy festival, and we loved participating in a vital conversation about systems, capital, and change. Our ecosystem member Juliet Gouldman took to the stage to share the IWT’s mission: → Tackling the structural barriers that continue to limit women’s access to capital → Advocating for bold reform, not piecemeal fixes → Championing a dedicated funding pool for female and mixed-led businesses and investors Because shifting the dial isn’t about playing within the current system. It’s about redesigning it - and building one that works for everyone. We were proud to bring this conversation to a space designed to challenge orthodox thinking and imagine new futures. Were you at HowTheLightGetsIn 2025 London? We’d love to know what ideas sparked your thinking 💬

One of the UK’s largest reports on Female Entrepreneurship is coming in January 2026…  And your voice matters! 🙌🏾  This landmark report aims to create a clear, data-driven picture of women’s entrepreneurship - setting a benchmark to track progress, highlight challenges, and drive meaningful change.  The report is led by Female Founders Rise, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, and supported by Barclays UK. If you’re a woman running a business, make sure your voice is included 👇 🔗 Take part: https://lnkd.in/eFn5qsdn 🔗 Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/eM8hU7f2  

As more women take their place in senior and board positions, we move closer to addressing systemic bias across our workforces. Thank you, EY and HM Treasury, for spotlighting this data.

Investors – ready to transform your portfolio while championing female founders? 🚀 Check out this opportunity with @Angel Academe: the UK’s first EIS fund focused exclusively on female founders, backed by the leading female-focused angel network. 😇 Its EIS fund is targeting: • A portfolio of up to 10 female-founded startups (pre-seed+) • 3X return on its investment • 50 new angels investing from £10k & benefiting from tax relief ⏳ Deadline: 31 Oct | Deployment: Nov 2025 – Mar 2026 🙌 See how you could benefit from potential capital growth + the full EIS tax reliefs (30% tax relief + capital gains deferral): 👉 http://bit.ly/42ixZd5

What a brilliant discussion at Conservative Party Conference on SME day. At this year’s Conservative Party Conference, our cochair Debbie Wosskow, OBE joined Mims Davies MP for East Grinstead, Uckfield and villages, Shadow Minister for Women, on a panel hosted by Juliet Gouldman, IWT Ecosystem Board Member, to spotlight the role of investment in driving the UK’s next wave of growth – and why that must include female entrepreneurs and investors.  The day was opened by Kevin Hollinrake MP whose powerful speech on the role of SMEs in driving UK growth set exactly the right tone for what followed.  The conversation highlighted: • Networks, mentorship, and visible role models are essential to building confidence, awareness, and ambition for the next generation of female founders and investors • S/EIS benefits are a powerful tool for businesses, but there needs to be greater awareness and visibility to ensure female founders benefit • The UK has a wealth of entrepreneurial talent – we must ensure it’s matched with opportunity and investment. • The Taskforce has built the funding infrastructure – now capital needs to flow.   Great to hear Lord Sharpe of Epsom highlight the vital role entrepreneurship plays in driving the UK’s economic future – a message that truly resonates. Thank you to everyone who joined the discussion, and a special thank you to Mims Davies for being part of this important discussion and her continued leadership championing women. The Invest in Women Taskforce is proud to be driving this national effort - connecting capital, unlocking economic growth, and ensuring women are at the centre of the UK’s investment story. #InvestinWomen #ConservativePartyConference #WomeninBusiness #SEIS

We’re excited to spotlight an all-female hackathon powered by some of the most exciting names in tech and VC: Mercuri, The Tech Bros, Canva, ElevenLabs, and Hugging Face. Here are the key details 👇🏻 📅 When - 29th October: 9 am to 5 pm 📍 Where - Canva Offices, London 👩🏻💻 Who it’s for: women in AI, engineering, product & research Why events like these matter: Women remain underrepresented in the creation of tools shaping the future of media. This hackathon flips the script - creating space for bold ideas, fast builds, and direct feedback from the engineers and investors building at the frontier of tech. What to expect: - Panels, prizes, and surprise guest judges - Live prototyping and real-time testing - Feedback from investors who’ve seen it all This isn’t just about code. It’s about representation, imagination, and impact. And there’s no better time to show what women in tech can do! 🚀 Link to register in the comments 🙌🏻