MPs challenge VC firms over record on female and minority-led firms

Companies in Cambridge (above), Oxford and London receive 80% of venture capital investment. Photograph: Chon Kit Leong/Alamy

The venture capital industry has come under fire from MPs for its “unacceptable failure” to invest in businesses located outside London or south-east England, or those run by women and ethnic minorities.

Businesses founded exclusively by women were revealed to have received just 2% of all venture capital funding in 2022, while even less investment went to companies led by black or other minority ethnic executives.