Discovering the UK's top female-led start-ups

Did you know, almost two-thirds (59%) of British millennial entrepreneurs aged 35 and under are female? Historically, whenever women have set foot into the business world, it has been labelled 'a risk' or 'brave'. However, this seems to be no longer the case. In fact, aspiring female entrepreneurs are hugely beneficial to the UK economy. They provide fresh leadership and very different perspectives on industry to their male counterparts. As a result of this, female-led start-ups are on the rise and are making waves across many industries.Past studies have indicated that female entrepreneurs are indeed natural-born leaders. Businesses with female CEOs are renowned for providing inclusive leadership and fostering companies where employees feel better supported, leading to improved rates of productivity. With indications that females are bringing more to the start-up scene, let’s take a look at some of the UK’s leading female-led start-ups to make an impact in the last 12 months.

Monica Eaton-Cardone, The Chargeback Company

Monica demonstrated her entrepreneurial instincts at the tender age of 19, selling her first business amid the dotcom boom. During her first start-up, her e-commerce business was frequently hit by unnecessary chargebacks that hurt her bottom line. Monica took it upon herself to research and develop a new solution to tackle the issue of costly chargebacks. This new technology has helped generate hundreds of millions of pounds in revenue recovery. Even high-street banks are knocking at her door to help solve the issue of chargeback fraud in the banking sector.

Gabriela Hersham, Huckletree

Former actress, Gabriela Hersham opted to develop her very own co-working community in the UK after being inspired by the shared workspace scene in New York. Huckletree was born in 2014 and became one of the first co-working communities in London to offer dedicated workspace for start-ups and creative entrepreneurs. Gabriela has seen her community expand quickly to more than 2,000 members throughout its capital-based locations and recently attracted £4.5m in funding from real-estate investors, Meyer Bergman.

Charlotte Pearce, Inkpact

The issue of impersonal communications in the digital age is something that Charlotte Pearce, founder and CEO of Inkpact, has attempted to solve. Charlotte’s company allows big brands to distribute genuine, hand-written messages to important customers. This adds a layer of personalisation that emails simply cannot muster. Charlotte’s brand has recently worked for the likes of Moet Hennessy, Unilever, and Mr & Mrs Smith. In these endeavours, they've helped brands become memorable to their valued clients. She was recently named in the Forbes 30 Under 30.

Anne-Marie Imafidon, Stemettes

In terms of innovation and doing things differently, they don’t come more forward-thinking than Anne-Marie Imafidon. Anne-Marie launched an organisation to help female leaders break the glass ceiling in some of the biggest tech firms. Her business, Stemettes, is designed to extoll the virtues of a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Whether it’s hackathons or workshops on app-building, Stemettes has been at the forefront of equipping women with the skills and confidence to make a difference. Anne-Marie was a child prodigy herself, earning her GCSEs in Maths and IT at the tender age of 11. She has since gone on to receive huge recognition for Stemettes, with Management Today placing her in their '35 Under 35' roll of honour.