UK universities launch WE Innovate National network to support women business founders
Published: 3 June 2025
The University of Glasgow is to launch a programme of support for women entrepreneurs as part of a roll-out of the UK’s first university network for female business founders.
The University of Glasgow is to launch a programme of support for women entrepreneurs as part of a roll-out of the UK’s first university network for female business founders.
Five universities, including Glasgow, will join the WE Innovate National network with the aim of supporting 150 women-led teams across the participating institutions each year.
The network will be based on Imperial College London’s flagship competition for women entrepreneurs, WE Innovate - a six-month programme for 25 teams led by students, recent alumni and Early Career Researchers that has successfully established dozens of new women-led startups over recent years.
The programme supports women founders through masterclasses, business coaching, one-to-one expert support, and peer mentoring, with the top five teams competing for a chance to win a share of a £30,000 prize fund.
Imperial invited the University of Glasgow to join – the only Scottish institution taking part - along with Queen’s University Belfast, Swansea University and Durham University.
The universities will work together to support the development of WE Innovate National and to adapt the programme to the specific contexts and communities in each region.
Alongside each university’s regional grand final, the WE Innovate National programme will also hold a national ‘Demo Day’ at a different university each year. This will see the winning teams from each university present to an audience of peers, investors, and industry representatives.
WE Innovate was first set up at Imperial in 2014 to address the challenges that women-led businesses often face at the earliest stages of their development, such as limited access to finance, networks, and business support.
Over the past ten years, the programme has supported over 500 women, 250 teams, and seen more than 60 startups incorporate at Imperial. These startups have collectively raised more than £40m for their ventures as a direct result of the programme.
For its part, the University of Glasgow has been working to increase its support for women entrepreneurs. Earlier this year, a FemTech Hackathon was organised and run to encourage more women into entrepreneurship under the Scottish Government’s Pathways Forward Pledge initiative. This resulted in five new business propositions being taken forward with female founders leading the way.
Professor Mary Ryan, Imperial’s Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise), said: “We’ve seen through WE Innovate how targeted support can accelerate the development of women-led ventures – building confidence, strengthening capability, and enabling founders to translate their ideas into real-world impact. That’s why we’re so pleased to be launching this national network.
“By collaborating with leading universities across the UK, we’re extending access to critical support structures – including mentoring, funding, and peer networks – that are proven to enhance early-stage innovation. Expanding opportunities for women in entrepreneurship is not only a matter of equity – it is essential to diversifying the innovation pipeline and driving inclusive, sustainable growth.”
Commenting on WE Innovate National, Dame Alison Rose, who led the UK Government’s Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, said: “The significant benefits that female entrepreneurs can contribute to the UK economy from the research conducted in the Rose Review underpins the high potential of female entrepreneurship.
“Providing the right support and access to networks and financing to drive growth at all stages of their journey can unlock and accelerate progress. The WE Innovate initiative is a great example of the collaboration and support that is so vital for developing successful entrepreneurs.”
Uzma Khan, Vice-Principal for Economic Development and Innovation, and Deputy Chief Operating Officer at the University of Glasgow, said: “The University is passionate about supporting all students and graduates who have aspirations of starting their own ventures. We equally recognise the importance of ensuring that women founders are given every opportunity to develop successful businesses.
“We are therefore delighted to be asked to participate in the WE Innovate National rollout as a way of supporting women entrepreneurs to establish, grow and scale their ideas into successful businesses.”
Title image: Sealeo founder Diana Epel pictured after her team was awarded the top prize of £15,000 in Imperial College London’s WE Innovate Final last year.
First published: 3 June 2025