Investing in women is an economic imperative - Elizabeth Pirrie

In the UK, the British Business Bank demonstrates the astounding impact possible when women secure growth capital and networks to match their talents. Under the visionary leadership of CEO Dr Charmaine Griffiths, the bank has built a £1.6 billion institution underpinning over 100,000 small and medium enterprises across Britain.

Examples like this make one thing clear – enabling more talented female entrepreneurs to turn innovative ideas into world-changing companies is not just morally right, it’s an economic growth engine.

Progress has been made, but barriers still remain for too many women starting out.

Groundbreaking collaboration between government, business and universities is aiming to address these challenges. Last year’s Pathways Report advocated for initiatives like establishing inclusive innovation funds to provide accessible pre-seed funding for women and underrepresented founders. It also called for VC firms and investors to adopt transparent diversity policies and funding targets to reduce the systemic capital gaps women-led startups face.

Importantly, the report highlighted launching networking and mentorship programmes focused on empowering young female founders on university campuses. These would be set up through partnerships with entrepreneurial academic departments to help develop talent pipelines.

To further put this into practice, I’m thrilled to have been given the opportunity to join Heriot-Watt University's new Entrepreneur-in-Residence programme. Alongside fellow Residents Conrad Chin (ex-Skyscanner Director) and Kevin Parker (Founder, KKI Associates Ltd), we aim to help students and staff to transform innovative ideas into commercial successes.

I often say I have the best job in the world, which is CEO of AccelerateHER, an organisation that assists women founders with growth and securing vital investments to scale. I aim to bring this expertise to Heriot-Watt by providing crucial knowledge and connections, as well as guiding both female and male entrepreneurs through business development.

The opportunity before us is clear. If we can come together to address systemic obstacles, drive access to funding and networks, and cultivate future generations we can unlock the full potential of women entrepreneurship.

In doing so, we empower more diverse leaders and entrepreneurs to launch innovations that tackle pressing global needs while elevating communities. This is how we catalyse change – not just through top-down policies, but also grassroots support from campuses to communities. Together, we can build an ecosystem where every founder and innovator has room to thrive.

Elizabeth Pirrie is AccelerateHER CEO and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Heriot-Watt University