Funding for Women Entrepreneurs in the UK – 2025 Guide

Introduction

Women entrepreneurs play an increasingly powerful role in driving the UK’s innovation and business growth.
Yet, access to capital remains a key challenge — with research showing that female founders still receive a disproportionately small share of total business funding.

This guide provides an up-to-date overview of the best funding opportunities for women entrepreneurs in 2025, including government-backed schemes, corporate programmes, and regional initiatives. It also explains how Roott’s AI-powered funding tools can help women founders find, manage, and win more grants efficiently.

1. Why Gender-Focused Funding Matters

Women-led startups and small businesses contribute billions to the UK economy each year.
However, female entrepreneurs continue to face structural barriers, such as limited investor access, lower confidence in pitching, and reduced visibility within traditional funding networks.

Targeted grant and support programmes help to close this gap by:

• Encouraging greater representation of women in innovation and leadership.
• Providing mentorship and networks tailored to women founders.
• Enabling access to non-dilutive finance (grants, competitions, and equity-free funding).

In 2025, several UK and international funders have renewed their commitment to gender equity in entrepreneurship — making this the strongest landscape yet for women-led business support.

2. National Grants and Support Programmes (2025)

Innovate UK – Women in Innovation Awards

Funding available: £50,000 plus business mentoring
Who it’s for: Female founders and senior leaders developing innovative products or services in the UK.
Overview: A flagship Innovate UK programme celebrating exceptional female innovators. Each winner receives £50,000 in grant funding and a bespoke 12-month mentoring package.
Deadline: Opens early 2025.

The Prince’s Trust – Women Supporting Women Initiative

Funding available: £500 – £5,000 startup grants (plus mentoring and training).
Who it’s for: Women aged 18–30 starting or growing a business.
Overview: Provides financial support, workshops, and business coaching for young women seeking to become self-employed or launch small enterprises.

The Female Founders Fund (FFF UK Edition)

Funding available: Variable (equity investment and grants for innovation-led startups).
Who it’s for: Women-led businesses with scalable, high-growth potential.
Overview: Originally US-based, FFF’s UK expansion offers early-stage capital and accelerator support for women-led technology and creative startups.

Enterprise Nation – Female Startup Grants

Funding available: Up to £10,000 per business.
Who it’s for: Early-stage women entrepreneurs launching or expanding small businesses.
Overview: Supported by Enterprise Nation partners, this competitive grant focuses on marketing, digital transformation, and business resilience.

Google.org Women Founders Fund

Funding available: Up to £25,000 in non-dilutive grant support.
Who it’s for: Women-led digital, AI, or social impact startups using technology for good.
Overview: Google.org continues to fund inclusion-focused innovation, supporting founders through grants, mentorship, and digital skills training.

3. Regional and Local Opportunities

Scotland – Women’s Enterprise Scotland (WES) Fund

Funding available: £5,000 – £25,000
Overview: Provides direct grants, accelerator placements, and business support to women entrepreneurs in Scotland, focusing on innovation and export readiness.

Wales – Chwarae Teg “FairPlay Employer” and Female Enterprise Grants

Funding available: £1,000 – £20,000
Overview: Supports Welsh women establishing or expanding businesses, particularly in rural and creative sectors.

Northern Ireland – Invest NI Female Founders Growth Fund

Funding available: £10,000 – £50,000
Overview: A joint initiative supporting high-growth potential startups led by women, with mentoring and investor introductions.

England – Local Growth Hubs and LEPs

Funding available: Regional variations (£2,000 – £25,000 typical).
Overview: Many Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and Growth Hubs offer female-focused business support and startup grants. Search your region on Roott to find active calls in 2025.

4. Application Guidance for Women Entrepreneurs

Follow these principles to improve success rates when applying for business grants or competitions:

• Demonstrate innovation: Clearly show how your product, service, or process addresses an existing market gap.
• Quantify impact: Use measurable metrics such as customer growth, sustainability outcomes, or job creation.
• Show commercial viability: Funders prefer projects that can scale sustainably beyond the grant period.
• Include leadership and diversity evidence: Highlight female leadership, governance, and community impact.
• Build credibility: Attach case studies, prototypes, testimonials, or partnerships demonstrating traction.

5. How Roott Supports Women Entrepreneurs

Roott is designed to make the funding process simpler, smarter, and faster for women-led businesses.

Using AI and data-driven discovery tools, Roott helps you:

• Find tailored funding: Filter grants by eligibility, business stage, and sector.
• Optimise applications: Use the AI Grant Writer to structure responses that align with funder priorities.
• Track progress: Get real-time updates and automated deadline reminders.
• Leverage insights: Access best-practice templates and past award analysis to strengthen future submissions.

Roott empowers founders to spend less time searching and more time scaling their business.

6. Conclusion

Women entrepreneurs are transforming the UK’s business ecosystem — and 2025 offers more funding opportunities than ever before.
By combining structured applications, clear impact storytelling, and technology-driven support, women founders can compete on equal footing for national and global investment.

Roott provides the data, automation, and AI intelligence needed to find, apply for, and win business funding — all in one platform.

👉 Next Step: Visit www.roott.one to explore open grants for women entrepreneurs or try the AI Grant Writer to begin your next application.