General Partner FAQs

1. What is the “Invest in Women Taskforce” funding pot?

The Invest in Women Taskforce funding pot is a dedicated pool of capital to support femalepowered businesses to be deployed via a number of routes that meet the Invest in Women Taskforce criteria. It is funded by major investors Barclays, M&G, the British Business Bank, Morgan Stanley, the Visa Foundation, BGF and Aviva. The funding aims to address the significant gender disparities in the UK investment landscape by providing targeted support to female entrepreneurs across the UK.

2. What is the Women backing Women Fund?

The Women backing Women Fund is one of the routes that the Invest in Women Taskforce funding pot will be deployed. It is a fund of funds that is designed to be a catalyst for systemic change, ensuring the capital will be deployed to female and mixed teams via female and gender-balanced investors. The ‘Women backing Women’ name recognises that female investors are twice as likely to invest in female founders.

3. What kind of fund managers are eligible to run the Women backing Women fund?

The Taskforce is seeking experienced, UK-based female-led fund of fund managers that have demonstrable experience in managing and growing funds and are aligned with the goal of advancing gender equality in the investment ecosystem.

4. What are the expectations regarding the return profile of the investments?

The Women backing Women Fund must be commercially viable and capable of generating attractive returns for investors. The Fund’s dual goal is to create both financial returns for investors and a positive social impact by advancing gender equality and diversity in the investment ecosystem.

5. How is the Women backing Women Fund being deployed?

The Women backing Women Fund will be deployed by the selected Fund of Fund manager through UK-based, female-led General Partners across investment stages, across sectors and across regions.

6. Does the Taskforce provide investments directly to General Partners or female-led businesses?

No, the Taskforce does not provide investment directly into GPs or businesses. Instead, it acts as a facilitator supporting the flow of capital through the Women backing Women Fund, who will manage and deploy the capital.

7. Does the Taskforce recommend specific General Partner firms to deploy the capital?

The Women backing Women Fund is responsible for its own due diligence and investment decisions. The General Partner firms that are engaged with the Invest in Women Taskforce are encouraged to apply for funding from the Women backing Women Fund once it goes live later next year. We will ensure to keep our website & LinkedIn updated with the latest information for General Partners on how and when they can apply.