Pressure is continuing to grow on Innovate UK despite its U-turn over its flagship Women in Innovation Awards.
The UK’s national innovation agency sparked a social media outcry when it announced it鈥檇 only be awarding 25 grants to female founders through the Awards.
It had previously said up to 50 female founders would share a 拢4m pot. It backtracked on the decision after a furious response on social media.
Yesterday 老九品茶Cloud published an investigation on how the campaign against Innovate UK started with a single email to Liverpool-based FemTech entrepreneur Emma Jarvis and the story has been shared around the world.
High-profile Cindy Gallop (pictured), who is based in New York and is the founder of MakeLoveNotPorn, shared the story to her 122,000 followers with the message: 鈥淚’ve been urging women for decades to get very, very angry – because when we get angry, we make shit happen.
鈥淣othing demonstrates this better than Emma Jarvis, Tara Attfield-Tomes, Zandra Moore and Becky Lodge and how they mobilised female founders around Innovate UK鈥檚 appalling fail to get Innovate UK to reverse their position within hours, and to spark a bigger conversation about how investors everywhere are failing to fund female founders.
鈥淲omen, read this for future reference the next time investors f*ck us over – and investors: are you the kind of investor who talks about funding female founders, or are you the kind that writes cheques?鈥�
The full story of how Innovate UK messed with the wrong women
Hundreds of other people have commented on the 鈥榙ebacle鈥� including Laura Wharton, employment partner at JMW Solicitors, who asked: 鈥淒on鈥檛 we think Innovate UK needs to explain in detail what鈥檚 gone on here, the original decision and how it was reached and the change of 鈥榟eart鈥�?鈥�
Sandy Lindsay, chair of Tangerine Group and an experienced 聽NED, said: 鈥淎bout time Innovate UK have been brought to task – I鈥檝e always had deep suspicions about the way they operate, not just from a gender 聽point of view but something I couldn鈥檛 ever quite put my finger on. Well done to all for forcing this about turn and to you for highlighting.鈥�
Carla Ottersen is the CMO of Silent Sensors and actively supports female founders. She said: 鈥淒on’t forget the hundreds of Women in Innovation applicants who acted collectively from the very moment we got that miserable email from Innovate UK. Not so we could compete for the missing 25 awards – because 95 per cent of us won’t be in the top 50 anyway – but to make sure that those of us who should get the full 50 awards got them, as they should. This was a 100 per cent community effort.鈥�
Karla Morales-Lee, co-founder of Warrior Group, said: 鈥淣one of us are doing this to get a grant for our business. It鈥檚 women (and some very impassioned equally ducked-off male allies) wanting us all to rise. The funding of women is a deeply systemic issue that requires mobilisation of many voices for real change.鈥�
Angela Rawstorne wrote: 鈥淚ncredible work on behalf of Emma Jarvis and all those who got behind her so quickly to shame Innovate UK into a very public U-turn, and loving the publicity opportunity it鈥檚 created! Power to the female investor.鈥�
Applied Futurist Tom Cheesewright said: 鈥淵et again women have to work twice as hard just to get what’s theirs. Brilliant action but ridiculous that it was required.鈥�
Tasnim Khalid, managing partner, Private Client Solicitors, said: 鈥淭hank you for raising awareness on this issue. So many female founders have been deeply affected by this but the support has been phenomenal.鈥�
Lauren Stiebing, founder and CEO of LS International, said: 鈥淎mazing to see the power of collective advocacy leading to tangible change. Here’s to more funding, more innovation, and a brighter future for female founders.鈥�
鈥業t鈥檚 just not good enough鈥�: Female founders call for Innovate UK reform
Claudia Stankler, chief operating officer, Connectd, said: 鈥淚t’s so inspiring to see what women can do when we are listened to, but it’s a shame we are even put in that position in the first place.鈥�
Innovate UK鈥檚 U-turn on Monday came just hours after a press release was shared on social media on behalf of 鈥楲et鈥檚 Fund More Women鈥� and the organisers didn鈥檛 mince their words.
鈥淵our time is up, Innovate UK,鈥� it started. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e messed with the wrong women. Innovate UK has broken its promise to female founders for the final time. We can鈥檛 and won鈥檛 stand for this any more.鈥�
In addition to calling on Innovate UK to fund the remaining 25 awards, 鈥楲et鈥檚 Fund More Women鈥� had three further demands.
- Engage in talks to address the issues raised and implement necessary reforms;
- Acknowledge the shortcomings in the applications process;
- Launch a revamped award program for 2025, with more funding committed.