A new study by UK Virtual Business Assistant firm SpareMyTime, reveals the number of female CEOs and women on boards has increased by 83% since 2018.

SpareMyTime has analysed the number of female CEOs at UK-based FTSE companies, alongside five years worth of government data to reveal an 83% increase in female CEOs and women on boards since 2018, with the sharpest increases in 2021 and 2022. 

The report comes as SpareMyTimes sees searches for ‘female founders’ soar 1,850% in the last 12 months alone, 320% in ‘female founders initiative’, and 300% in people searching for ‘female founders programme’.

Examining female-founded industries that have seen the biggest growth, there’s been a 1,300% increase in femtech companies over the past decade. According to Beauhurst, there was only one active company in 2014, growing to 14 in 2023.

Melissa Gauge, Founder of SpareMyTime said:

“The success of these female-founded companies is a testament to the growing strength of the UK tech scene and the increasing importance of diversity and inclusion in the industry. We are particularly excited to see so many companies on the list that are focused on solving real-world problems, which shows that UK female founders are committed to making a positive impact in the world.”

Elvie, a femtech company that develops innovative products for women’s health and wellness, is the UK’s fastest-growing tech company, with £124M in total funding, according to the new dataset. With four out of five top spots taken by femtech and sustainability startups, the study shows female founders lead the UK’s fastest-growing tech companies.

Other companies on the list include Loop Technology, which is developing an artificial pancreas for people with diabetes, and NovaBiotics, which is developing new antibiotics to combat drug-resistant bacteria. The dataset shows that female-founded startups are increasingly focused on solving real-world problems, with all of the companies using technology to make a positive impact in the world in some way.