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 – which shows that over the last decade, equity investment in Manchester’s women-powered businesses has risen by 332%, from £9.51m in 2015 to £41.1m in 2024.
These businesses now receive 13.2% of all equity investment in high growth companies in the region, up from 5.9% in 2015. While this figure is still relatively low compared to the 24.6% (£4.51bn) received by women-powered businesses nationally, this increase represents a wider trend across the country of women-powered businesses playing a more prominent role in the UK’s high growth landscape.
Women-powered businesses also make up an increasing proportion of Manchester’s high growth landscape, accounting for 26.4% (207) of the high growth companies in the region in 2024, which is up 140% over the last decade.
Khayyam Jumani, Team Lead for the North at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, comments
“The impressive surge in equity investment for Manchester’s women-powered businesses underscores their undeniable role in driving growth. At J.P. Morgan Private Bank, we are committed to celebrating and championing these visionary leaders while acknowledging the challenges they encounter. By highlighting the structural and systemic barriers they face, we aim to play a crucial role in advancing women-owned and led businesses.”
Jumani continues, “Across the wider North, women-powered businesses have £2.73 billion in equity investment and £1.36 billion in Private Equity/Venture Capital funding for women-powered businesses since 2015. Women-powered firms now make up 29.5% of the region’s high-growth companies, with their numbers rising 10.1% since 2020. The North’s momentum is clear, with 43 companies featured in the Top 200— these trailblazing businesses are crucial in shaping the UK’s economic future.”
Beyond Manchester, 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 Top 200: The Top 10
1. Sister – London
2. Be For Beauty – The Midlands
3. Lounge – The Midlands
4. ME+EM – London
5. Vogacloset – London
6. Envisage Dental – The South
7. Unity Trust Bank – The Midlands
8. WB Power Services – The Midlands
9. Clyde Munro – London
10. Hanson Wade – Scotland
The North Top 10
1. Bolton Wanderers Football Club
2. eQuality Solutions
3. Beyondly
4. Boutique Hotel Group
5. Junction 4 Pallets
6. Carron Lodge
7. VetPartners
8. Permanently Unique
9. Mission Mars
10. Flamingo Land Resort
“Although the gap still exists, the rising exit value among women-powered businesses is notable. 2024 is particularly impressive given that these businesses make up a significantly smaller share of the high-growth business population, even amid a general softening in exit activity” says Charlotte Bobroff, Head of UK Women & Wealth at 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.
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 (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.”
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. In 2024, women-led ventures in the SaaS sector completed 44 exits, representing nearly 22% 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.
