Entrepreneurship initiative designed to support women in high growth sectors
A new programme launched by enterprise support service Go Succeed is aiming to address the continued gender disparity among business leaders in Northern Ireland.
The Female Founders initiative will equip female business owners and leaders with a range of tools and skills to help scale their businesses with a focus on key high-growth sectors.
The scheme, set up by the government backed entrepreneur and business support service, will be delivered free of charge through each of Northern Ireland’s 11 local councils.
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Participants will receive up to 20 hours of expert one-to-one mentoring, gain access to exclusive networking sessions led by other female business leaders, alongside leadership development and business growth strategy support.
Speaking on behalf of Go Succeed, John Walsh, Chief Executive, Belfast City Council said the programme would help to close the continued gender gap at the top of businesses locally.
Just eight of Northern Ireland’s top 100 companies are led by women while a report commissioned by the Invest in Women task force found that all-female founded businesses in Northern Ireland received just 2 per cent of total equity funding in 2024 compared to all-male teams that received 79 per cent.
“Go Succeed is all about helping entrepreneurs and businesses to get to the next level, whether that’s when they are just starting out, growing, or preparing to scale,” John Walshsaid.
“We are committed to closing the gender divide in business, and this fully funded programme offers valuable mentoring and networking opportunities to help scale businesses.
“This initiative will empower female founders and leaders to scale their high-growth business in new and existing markets, and they’ll learn from each other to improve leadership skills and develop business growth strategies.
“Through Female Founders, we’ll build a strong, dynamic network of ambitious women transforming high-growth sectors.”
Entrepreneur Caroline O’Neill, who hosted the launch noted that “we have seen today at Go Succeed’s Female Founders launch, the experiences of female founders, the highs the lows and how they have experienced and how Go Succeed has been key in unlocking success for them
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“Through Female Founders, Go Succeed continues its amazing work, allowing access to funding and I am authentically able to tell everyone this with my own experiences with the service.
“I can’t wait to follow the journeys of those Female Founders that join the programme.”
For further details about Female Founders and information about how you can become involved, visit www.go-succeed.com/female-founders.
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