Why we need to back women in business

Sally Bridgeland FIA, Development Bank of Wales

Back in the 1980s, when I started work, the world of finance was not particularly welcoming of women, like me, who thought differently and wanted different things. 

Despite progress made, it is still estimated that women receive just 2% of total venture capital investment globally.

The World Economic Forum tells us it will take 123 years to close this global gender gap. But, this is Wales and we have a unique opportunity to be a place where businesswomen are very much welcome, reflecting genuinely different perspectives. 

I first started out as an actuary – a numbers-driven profession that works out financial risk for pension funds and insurance companies. Early in my career, I was fascinated by behavioural finance research, including how men and women approach investment differently.

One study that has stayed with me, over the years, is ‘Boys Will Be Boys: Gender, Overconfidence and Common Stock Investment’ by Barber and Odean in 1998, which found that, while men might achieve higher raw returns, women tend to achieve better risk-adjusted returns. In other words, the idea that women often reach the same outcomes without taking unnecessary risks. The suggestion is that women think longer term, avoid the temptation to chase quick wins, and stay focused on sustainable success. Contrary to popular opinion, they also change their minds less frequently, therefore avoiding costs along the way.  

Another piece of research, Harnessing the Power of the Purse: Female Investors and Global Opportunities for Growth by the Center for Talent Innovation highlighted how financial advisers (who are mostly men advising mostly men) tend to focus on tax efficiency and wealth accumulation. Yet more and more women, whether entrepreneurs or those investing inheritance, want to talk about purpose. They want to know what their money was doing in the world. What impact it is having. Whether it aligns with their values.

The body of research suggests that women are more connected with purpose, with community, with the collective endeavour that sits behind finance and investment. For female founders especially, the question isn’t just how do we grow, it’s why are we doing this, and who benefits. 

This matters because the language of finance often defaults to a model that is built around one, three or five-year horizons. Purpose-led businesses are sometimes misjudged by systems that equate ambition with scale and value with exit. Investors with patience and values can wait for that vision to come into focus.

Wales is uniquely placed to lead here. Our Future Generations Act asks us to think beyond the short term and to consider the world we are building for those who come after us. That is exactly the kind of long-term, values-driven framework that good investment should be built on. 

And this begs the question, whether the industry should be measuring success not just by spreadsheet growth, but also by wellbeing, sustainability and community impact?

That purpose-driven mindset is one of the reasons I feel so at home at the Development Bank of Wales, because money and purpose sit side by side. We’re not just in the business of finance, we’re investing in the future of Wales. We back entrepreneurs who care about their communities, who want to build something lasting, and who understand that economic growth and social value are not competing priorities but mutually reinforcing.

So far in 2025/26, we’ve supported more than 60 female-led businesses in Wales.  These are women who’ve found their secret sauce: that distinctive combination of purpose, resilience and expertise, together with the confidence to turn it into a business.

And the ecosystem supporting women’s secret sauce is growing. Women Angels of Wales is Wales’ first female-led angel investing syndicate, backed by the Development Bank and the British Business Bank. It invests in women, by women, in language that actually makes sense to them.

Take MeOmics Precision Medicine, a Cardiff-based medtech spin-out from Cardiff University, which very recently secured a £300,000 investment backed by Women Angels of Wales and Angels Invest Wales. The business uses stem cell techniques to improve drug treatment for conditions like schizophrenia, matching therapies to patients’ underlying biology rather than broad populations.

Confidence is the thread that runs through almost every conversation I have with women entrepreneurs. Women will frequently tell me what they haven’t done (the qualification they lack, the experience they don’t have yet) rather than the rich tapestry of life and relationships they do bring. I often encourage them to draw from what I call the drama club of life. Because as careers and businesses develop, qualifications matter less and lived experience matters more.

This International Women’s Day, the theme is #GiveToGain, and it resonates. What we need to give is not just capital, though that obviously matters. It’s language that fits how women think about business. It’s investment that understands purpose as a long-term asset, not a liability. It’s small, honest conversations rather than big set-piece events. It’s starting with why, not how much.

Inside the Development Bank, I see daily what it looks like when an institution gets this right. Half our workforce are women. Talented, confident women who can be themselves – thriving in spaces where their contributions are valued for what they offer, not defined by gender. That is rarer than it should be and it’s worth cherishing. 

We need to back women in Welsh business – properly, purposefully, in language they recognise.  The Development Bank of Wales and Women Angels of Wales are here, speaking your language. Come forward. Wales will gain, when you do.