BVCA opens nominations for female leadership award
The British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) today opened nominations for its prestigious Inspirational Women Award.
Born out of the UK Government’s ‘Women-Led High-Growth Enterprise Taskforce’, which published its recommendations in its final report on 28th February 2024, the award aims to inspire the next generation of female entrepreneurs by celebrating the success of leaders from high growth businesses backed by private equity and venture capital.
The award aims to help meet one of the key opportunities identified in the Taskforce’s report– ‘Inspire girls and women to expand career choices and strive for female entrepreneurship’.
Improving access to funding for high-growth women-led businesses, is another key initiative identified by the Taskforce, who recognised that having more women in senior investment roles is also a significant factor in boosting the success of female-led businesses. The current private capital landscape shows that 27% of UK-based investment professionals in 2025 are women, up from 24% in 2023, according to the latest research by Level 20 and the BVCA. The proportion of women in senior level positions has increased to 15% in 2025 from 12% in 2023.
In 2024, the BVCA Inspirational Women Award was won by Baroness Poppy Gustafsson for her work as co-founder and chief executive officer at Darktrace. Under her leadership, Darktrace saw significant growth and global expansion and is today one of the leading technology companies in the UK. Baroness Gustafsson led Darktrace through its IPO, increasing its value from £1.7bn pre-IPO to almost £2.4bn post-IPO, before successfully leading its sale to Thoma Bravo last April for £4.3bn. Shortly after winning the award, Gustafsson was appointed Investment Minister in the newly formed Labour Government.
The 2025 Inspirational Women Award winner will be announced at the BVCA’s flagship Summit Main Conference, taking place on 10 September 2025. The independent judging panel will be chaired by Cheryl Potter, Non-Executive Director of Level 20 and Marks & Spencer. Helen Steers MBE, Partner at Pantheon and member of the Women-Led High-Growth Enterprise Taskforce also sits on the judging panel which includes leading industry figures Kerry Baldwin, Managing Partner at IQ Capital and Anne Glover, Chief Executive of Amadeus Capital Partners.
Amy Abbott, Director of Industry Development at the BVCA said:
“Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is an essential objective for the private capital industry. We must continue to remain committed and lead the way forward to see significant change.
“The Inspirational Women Award celebrates the very best of female talent within private capital, demonstrating the impact and value welcomed by the industry and the economy. We look forward to seeing this year’s nominations and celebrating the industry’s next aspirational leader.”
Cheryl Potter, Non-Executive Director of Level 20 and Marks & Spencer and Chair of the Inspirational Women Award judging panel said:
“The responsibility is on all of us to be a role model. It’s absolutely fantastic that we have more women in all levels within the investment industry. To increase diversity among senior level positions, we must support women from a junior level through their career journey and cultivate an inclusive environment where they can thrive.
“This award presents a remarkable opportunity to celebrate the inspirational women paving the way for future leaders. I am thrilled to chair this year’s judging panel and I look forward to 2025’s award and candidate selection. It is essential that the industry continue its commitment to promoting diversity within the workforce.”
Helen Steers MBE, Partner at Pantheon and member of the Women-Led High-Growth Enterprise Taskforce said:
“The Inspirational Women Award shines a light on the inspiring examples of women making an outstanding contribution to the UK and global economy.
“Initiatives like this by the UK private equity industry, along with the wider recommendations of the UK Government Women-led High-Growth Enterprise Taskforce, should act as a galvanizing force to encourage more women and girls to become entrepreneurs and investors, and in the process to ensure we continue to expand the pool of talent and diversity of perspective to drive British businesses into the future.”
Media contacts
James Gribben, BVCA: [email protected]
Note to Editors
Submit a nomination for the Inspirational Women Award here.
Read the Women-Led High-Growth Enterprise Taskforce report here.
Read the BVCA and Level 20’s Diversity in Private Equity and Venture Capital 2025 report here.
About the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association
The BVCA, as the representative body for private equity and venture capital, connects institutional investors, fund managers, companies, advisers and service providers together, with our membership currently comprising more than 600 businesses from across the private capital ecosystem. This includes more than 250 PE and VC firms, 100 institutional investors and 200 professional services firms.
Private capital drives growth – providing the funding, expertise and long-term view that enables companies to innovate and flourish. Our mission is to advocate the transformative nature of the private equity and venture capital community.
About the Women-Led High-Growth Enterprise Taskforce
The purpose of the taskforce is to increase the number of women-led high-growth businesses, with a particular focus on regions outside of London.
The taskforce will use its convening power to influence high-growth investors and the wider business community, and to raise the aspirations of the next generation of female entrepreneurs.
The taskforce will collaborate with the Rose Review, with which it shares common ambitions. It will also work with organisations across the UK to support the government’s overall target of increasing the number of female entrepreneurs by half by 2030 (equivalent to nearly 600,000 more female entrepreneurs) with a particular focus on driving change in the area of growth capital.
The taskforce will raise the profile of high-growth entrepreneurship, identify the main barriers in accessing high-growth capital, and suggest areas to stimulate regional opportunities based on robust data and engagement.
