Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he is taking steps to (a) monitor and (b) report on the gender investment gap, such as tracking year‑on‑year venture capital and angel investment into female‑founded companies; and whether targets or timelines have been set by his Department for improvement in this area.

The Department for Business and Trade tracks year-on-year venture capital and angel investment in women-led businesses through its Investing in Women Code, a partnership between government, trade associations in the finance sector, and their members. Starting with 12 signatories in 2019, the Investing in Women Code now has over 300 finance providers signed up, including most major UK banks and Venture Capital funds.

Signatories to the Code report gender-disaggregated data on an annual basis for publication. Investing in Women Code reports demonstrate that Code signatories perform significantly better than the market average as regards investment in female founders.