By Scott Reid

Copyright scotsman

More than 250 female entrepreneurs and business leaders will gather in Edinburgh this week amid recent data highlighting a “complex picture” for women-led start-ups. This year’s Women on Top Summit, which takes place in the city’s Assembly Rooms on Wednesday, has been organised by Egg, the platform founded by Kylie Reid that “connects, champions and empowers” women in business. It comes after recent figures revealed that female-led start-ups now account for 54 per cent of all new businesses. However, 61 per cent of those ventures still fail to progress beyond the start-up stage. Despite outpacing male-led firms on turnover growth (29 per cent versus 24 per cent), women-led businesses receive just 2.8 per cent of equity investment and typically exit for 25 per cent less than their male counterparts. This year’s summit is set to shine a spotlight on these barriers while celebrating those who’ve broken through them, organisers said. The day-long programme will feature “inspirational talks, intimate workshops offering practical advice, and spaces designed to foster connections and collaboration”. Reid, the founder of Egg and organiser of the summit, said: “In Scotland, we’re seeing encouraging signs – women are starting more businesses and growing them faster than ever before. But the statistics also show we still have brilliant women facing discrimination and struggling to access the funding and support they need. “This summit is about addressing those gaps by creating the connections, confidence and visibility that can transform careers and businesses.” The summit is backed by Royal Bank of Scotland, FreeAgent, Niksen Property, Melville Independent Plc, Orb Group and Your GB. Attendees can also look forward to professional headshots, make-up touch-ups, personal styling, exhibitor showcases and free childcare. A report last week suggested that female-powered businesses in Scotland had received a record level of investment in 2024, bucking the UK-wide trend. Some £214 million was invested in women-led businesses north of the Border last year, marking a 10.5 per cent increase on the year before, according to the fifth annual Top 200 Women-Powered Businesses study by JP Morgan Private Bank. The increase in Scotland came despite overall investment in UK women-powered businesses tumbling 29.1 per cent, from £6.36 billion to £4.51bn, over the same period. Over the last decade, total equity investment in Scotland’s female-powered companies has topped £1.15bn, accounting for nearly a fifth (19.7 per cent) of total investment in the country’s high-growth businesses. JP Morgan said this was reflective of a wider trend across the country of women-powered businesses playing a more prominent role in the UK’s high growth landscape. Gillian Murray, team lead for Scotland at JP Morgan Private Bank, said: “While we celebrate the achievements of women-founded businesses, we must also address the persistent challenges in accessing funding and building networks. By exposing these structural and systemic barriers, we can play a vital role in advancing women-owned and led businesses.” Across the UK, the value of exits among female-powered businesses was one of the closest on record to male-led ventures. Call for urgent action as Scottish female-led start-ups fail at ‘alarming’ rate