For women entrepreneurs, investment is still a summit to be scaled

Wednesday 30 August 2023

By Lorraine Acheson, Managing Director of Women in Business Group
Featured on the Irish News

A hundred-plus world-renowned investors. Two days filled with innovation. And one golden opportunity to showcase the best and brightest in Northern Ireland business.
The NI Investment Summit (NIIS), taking place on September 12 & 13, is a global stage for local talent, bringing with it one of the largest pools of global investors and businesses ever seen on these shores.

Investors from all manner of industry, from software and tech, to emerging health and life sciences, will descend on Northern Ireland for what is shaping up to be a seismic event on the business calendar. An arena where stories of success and entrepreneurship will be traded as valuable learnings for women founders and future leaders.

The fact that Northern Ireland businesses will have the opportunity to showcase their wares to 100+ investors from the USA, Middle East, Europe, Asia Pacific regions will serve as a powerful driver for inward investment. And this at a time when Northern Ireland lags behind the rest of the UK in terms of equity funding distribution, with women-owned businesses, in particular, losing out.

A disparity drawn into the pale light of day by Joanne O'Doherty, chief executive of Kinsetsu and WIB member, noting that, in 2022, less than 2p in every £1 of UK equity funding went to all-women founder businesses, with Northern Ireland on the whole receiving just 1 per cent of UK equity funding.

It's a tide that is beginning to change. Since 2021, for example, Northern Ireland has experienced a 29 per cent increase in the value of equity funding. Albeit too slowly on the gender front.

That's why it's so crucial to have companies like Kinsetsu exhibiting at September's summit. To see investment through the lens of women-owned business and ensure the conversations in the room are forward-thinking and inclusive. So that, when the NIIS panel sessions focus on why global investors should look to Northern Ireland when weighing opportunities for new business streams, emerging and established women-owned companies are front of mind.

Another WIB member set to present next month is Susan Kelly, chief executive and founder of Aflo. At the event, they'll present their newly patented inhaler technology as an innovative example of women-led tech businesses in Northern Ireland producing state-of-the-art technology capable of life-changing impact.

By bringing together sector specialist investors, Susan sees the NIIS as an opportunity to short circuit the often lengthy fund raising process that new and emerging businesses face.

An opportunity, yes, so long as there is tangible progress towards equal funding distribution – progress that extends far beyond September.

Only then will the wholesale investment and effort pay dividends. And only then will Northern Ireland begin to close the finance gap in what is now the UK's largest tech hub outside of London.

The NIIS is a timely reminder how Northern Ireland is well poised to spring forward as a lucrative investment hub.

And all business owners – regardless of gender – should have the opportunity to join that collective journey.

Wednesday 30 August 2023