Many believe the social media backlash led to the decision being changed. Credit: Shutterstock/ORIONPRODUCTION

The UK government’s national innovation agency, Innovate UK, has come under fire for reneging on its pledge to provide 50 grants to women founders. The agency was said to be only awarding 25 of the grants promised.

Half of the grants awarded to founders participating in the Women in Innovation scheme have been valued up to £75,000 despite the scheme receiving 1,452 applications and having “up to £4m” available to offer.

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Women-led businesses and allies took to social media in a fury following the revelation that grants were not being awarded correctly.

Anne Ravanona, CEO and founder of Global Invest Her believes said this has reignited concerns about fairness and bias: “The reversal by Innovate UK, prompted by an outcry from the female start-up community, highlights the persistent challenges women entrepreneurs face.

“This incident underscores the need for more than just symbolic gestures; it calls for concrete actions to dismantle systemic barriers. By excluding half the population from crucial sources of funding, we miss out on diverse ideas, perspectives and solutions.”

Global Invest Her aims to fund 1 million early-stage women entrepreneurs by 2030 in order to close the $1.7trn funding gap that exists between men and women.

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Last weekend Emma Jarvis, founder of femtech company Dearbump, called on Innovate UK to award the full 50 awards.

Jarvis’s post on LinkedIn received a flurry of support from other female founders and followers with Rachel Carrell, founder of childcare start-up Koru Kids, commenting: “They’ve actually just wasted a huge amount of very scarce female founder time. The worst of all outcomes.”

On Monday (2 September), Innovate UK announced on LinkedIn that it will now award the full 50 grants, representing a total investment of £4m, “as originally committed”.