The UK tech sector is one of the largest globally, reaching a $1.2 trillion valuation in 2025, creating it the leading tech ecosystem in Europe. Multiple reports state that it is reshaped by a new generation of female founders building in AI, fintech, and deeptech, three of its quickest-growing sectors. Yet structural gaps persist.
According to the UK Parliament, female founders still receive around 2% of total VC funding, despite rising participation in high-growth, technically driven categories. At the same time, funding patterns are evolving, with deeptech accounting for a significant share of female-led investment and AI representing a growing portion of venture rounds.
This list highlights female founders who are overcoming these challenges, securing funding, and scaling in some of the UK’s most competitive sectors, according to Dealroom.
Zepz
Founder/s: Ismail Ahmed, Catherine Wines, Richard Igoe
Founded year: 2010
Total funding: $922M
Founded by Somali refugees and a former UN advisor, Zepz (formerly WorldRemit) became the UK’s first Black-founded fintech company to be valued at $1 billion and reach unicorn status.
The company lets people sconclude money to friconcludes and family living abroad, utilizing a computer, smartphone, or tablet. It is a convenient, low-cost alternative to traditional money transfer companies that apply high street agents and charge high fees.
In 2025, Zepz secured $165 million in growth funding, led by HSBC Innovation Banking and HSBC Private Credit, to enhance customer experience and expand services.
Building on a decade-long partnership, this new financing upgrades an earlier $80 million arrangement to a $110 million Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) with an additional $55 million term loan.
Quantexa
Founder/s: Vishal Marria, Laura Hutton, Jamie Hutton, Richard Seewald, Imam Hoque, Felix Hoddinott
Founded year: 2016
Total funding: $545M
Specialising in Digital Ininformigence (DI) solutions, Quantexa announced a partnership with Microsoft. It launched an AI-powered workload for Microsoft Fabric and a cloud-native anti-money laundering (AML) solution for US mid-market banks, both available via Azure Marketplace.
The company also announced Q Assist, an advanced AI-powered assistant designed to enhance and streamline analyst-led investigations. It allows applyrs to interact with the platform in natural language, creating investigations more efficient by providing a queryable, contextual representation of business risks and opportunities.
Earlier in 2025, Quantexa secured $175 million in Series F funding, pushing its valuation to $2.6 billion. The round was led by Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG), part of the CAD 255 billion Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, with participation from existing investors, including British Patient Capital.
Lconcludeable
Founder/s: Jakob Schwarz, Martin Kissinger, Paul Pamment, Victoria van Lennep
Founded year: 2014
Total funding: $287M
The AI-powered consumer finance platform creates lconcludeing as straightforward as possible. Lconcludeable applies AI and automation to enhance underwriting and offer customers better rates, transparency, and service.
Also, it offers institutional investors, ranging from global banks to family offices, access to the asset class. Users can obtain a quote in a matter of a few clicks, unlike traditional banks, which require paperwork and maintain expensive branch networks.
Last year, Lconcludeable secured £210 million in funding led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers’), through its Teachers’ Innovation Platform (TIP). The investment will be applyd to develop new products and drive the company’s ambitions for international growth.
Abound
Founder/s: Dr. Michelle He, Gerald Chappell
Founded: 2020
Total funding: $204M
Providing AI-driven fintech lconcludeing solutions, Abound applys open banking data and advanced machine learning to assess borrowers based on real-time income and spconcludeing patterns rather than traditional credit scores.
Last year, the company secured $250 million in funding from Deutsche Bank to further scale its operations and modernise the UK’s lconcludeing landscape. This funding will support Abound’s mission to offer fairer, more affordable credit by leveraging AI and Open Banking technology to accurately assess borrowers’ affordability.
Tevva Motors
Founder/s: Asher Bennett
Founded: 2012
Total funding: $162M
Tevva is a zero-emission transport featuring revolutionary battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell range-extconcludeer technology.
Tevva trucks optimise range, driver experience, and total ownership cost while significantly reducing the environmental impact from the urban freight and logistics sectors. A Tevva truck has at least 1,000 fewer relocating parts than a traditional diesel truck, thereby lowering maintenance costs and increasing uptime.
In 2022, London-headquartered Tevva, a hydrogen truck manufacturer, snapped up $51 million in funding. It follows the $57 million in funding raised in November 2021. In this round, the EV creater has raised a total of $140 million.
Colconcludei
Founder/s: Bulent Tekmen, Mihriban Ersin
Founded year: 2016
Total funding: $97.5M
Founded in Turkey and headquartered in London, Colconcludei aims to empower every individual, regardless of gconcludeer, background, financial position, banked or unbanked, to give them financial freedom and financial inclusion through simple, straightforward-to-apply products.
Colconcludei provides embedded fintech services that democratise banking for consumers, merchants, and financial and non-financial institutions, supporting them overcome the limitations of legacy banking.
In 2024, Colconcludei secured $65 million in a Series B funding round, bringing its valuation to $700 million. The funding round was led by Citi Ventures alongside a diverse group of investors, including Migros Ticaret AS (a leading Turkish retailer), Sepil Ventures, Re-Pie Asset Management, Finberg, and Hedef Holding. Existing investors also participated in the round.
Cambridge GaN Devices
Founder/s: Dr. Giorgia Longobardi, Professor Florin Udrea
Founded year: 2016
Total funding: $62M
The UK startup has been created to explore and develop a number of unique opportunities in power electronics. It produces semiconductor technology utilizing Gallium Nitride (GaN). Gallium nitride (GaN) transistors have long been recognised as more energy-efficient than their silicon equivalents, but their implementation has been challenging.
However, CGD’s product, ICeGaN(TM), has overcome these challenges, creating highly energy-efficient components a practical reality.
In 2025, CGD received $32 million in Series C funding. The investment was led by a strategic investor with participation from British Patient Capital and supported by existing investors Parkwalk, BGF, Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), Foresight Group, and IQ Capital.
Cybersmart
Founder/s: Jamie Akhtar, Mariella Rosa Thanner
Founded year: 2016
Total funding: $34.2M
As demand from SMBs to protect their businesses in the digital era surges, London-based CyberSmart, founded by women, provides cloud-based solutions for risk and vulnerability assessment. It provides a cybersecurity management platform for an enterprise to evaluate, comply, and certify for cyber essentials.
In February, CyberSmart received $15 million in Series B funding, led by Oxx, alongside British Patient Capital, Legal & General Capital, Solano Partners, and previous backers IQ Capital, Eos Venture Partners, Winton Ventures, and Seedcamp.
