Angel Academe launches UK’s first female founder focused EIS fund
Opportunity for individuals to take advantage of the higher returns offered by women-owned companies – potentially more than twice as much per dollar invested
London, 18th June 2025: Angel Academe, the angel network that has been investing in women leaders for over ten years, has launched the UK’s first female founder focused EIS fund in partnership with fund manager, SyndicateRoom.
The fund offers early stage investors the opportunity to take part in this high-return asset class, for as little as £10,000, alongside experienced angels – while accessing the full range of EIS tax benefits, including 30% income tax relief on up to £1m invested, and capital gains deferral.
Studies by Boston Consulting Group and the Kauffman Foundation have shown that women-run businesses are more capital efficient and can deliver higher return on investment (ROI) than male-founded startups – sometimes as much as twice per dollar invested. In addition, research from academics at the Universities of Glasgow and Leicester indicates that companies with more than 30% female executives are more likely to outperform those that don’t have female representation in senior positions.
Despite the clear data showing that investment in female-founded businesses makes commercial sense, there remains a significant gap in the funding that women receive. In the first half of 2024, all-female founded businesses secured just 1.8% of equity capital (Beauhurst). The fund aims to close that gap by providing female founders with the necessary capital to grow and scale.
Sarah Turner, co-founder and CEO of Angel Academe, said: “Too often, efforts to address the funding gap have been focused on words rather than actions. In order for women to scale their businesses, they need money, not mentoring. This fund aims to put capital directly into the hands of female founders building innovative businesses. It’s not about pledges — it’s about action. This is just the start and we aim to grow this initiative into a larger, annual fund to support even more innovative companies whilst addressing the funding gap in the years to come.”
Tom Britton, co-founder of SyndicateRoom, said: “The bottom line is that backing female founders represents a market inefficiency and untapped investment opportunity. This fund offers investors the chance to diversify their portfolio, and we know how important diversification is when it comes to achieving strong returns.”
The Angel Academe EIS Fund is open for investment with the objective of co-investing in female-founded tech startups alongside Angel Academe angels from quarter 4 of this year. The fund aims to raise £1.2m in the first year and grow from there..
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About Angel Academe
Angel Academe is a UK-based angel network, best-known for investing in female founded startups in a variety of technology sectors since 2014. The award-winning network is a mixture of successful entrepreneurs and senior leaders, gradually building investment portfolios of female founded tech startups. Angel Academe is a well established angel network, and has now backed 54 (and counting) female-founded startups in more than 100 investment rounds, helping them raise more than £200m in co-investment. For more information please visit: https://www.angelacademe.com
About SyndicateRoom
SyndicateRoom seeks to connect ambitious investors with the country’s most trailblazing companies. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) SyndicateRoom’s products have invested into over 300 startups across six funds and counting. Since 2013, the team has deployed over £77,000,000 into these startups with our members investing from as little as £1,000 up to our largest client who has invested £15,000,000. By relentlessly focusing on the interests of private investors, SyndicateRoom has developed a trusted reputation and has been recognised in numerous awards. For more information please visit: https://www.syndicateroom.com
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