Rebalancing Innovation: Women, AI and Venture Capital in the UK

Rebalancing Innovation: Women, AI and Venture Capital in the UK presents a unique picture of gender diversity in AI-focused venture capital (VC) investment over the last decade, based on new research from the Women in Data Science and AI team at The Alan Turing Institute.  

With the explosion of generative AI, the need to ensure that women and marginalised groups have an equal place in the VC ecosystem and tech entrepreneurship more widely is urgent. Venture financing is a vital source of entrepreneurial capital and spurs technological innovation. Yet despite the recent surge in the number of companies set up by women, access to venture capital funding remains more difficult for female founders. The lack of gender diversity in the industry is arguably its most pressing challenge, and reflects the broader problem of the underrepresentation of women in AI fields. 

VC investors have a disproportionate impact on the culture, products and services of the companies in which they invest. The first report in this project analyses the gender (dis)parity in VC investments in UK headquartered startups, first across all sectors, and then honing in on AI. It then examines how the decision-makers (e.g. general partners) of UK headquartered VC firms are themselves characterised by a significant gender divide. The second report begins with an overview of the startup and VC ecosystem in AI in the UK, followed by an exploration of VC investment in AI in the UK by sector (2010-2023). Finally, the paper hones in on AI software, exploring VC investment in software startups.

We hope that these reports provide a solid foundation for recommendations to improve funding outcomes for women-led AI businesses across the UK.