News
Female founders hold less than 10% of startup patents, research finds
Female founders account for fewer than one in 10 startup patent applications in Europe, a study on women in innovation has found.
A Europe-wide study has highlighted how little progress has been made in increasing the number of women recognised as inventors.
Data compiled to build a Europe-wide picture of women in STEM found that fewer than 10 per cent of startup founders applying for patents are women.
That does not mean there are no success stories. One example is Chloe So of PulpaTronics, whose business secured 14th place in this year’s Startups 100 Index.
The venture rose from 48th place the previous year as its metal-free paper RFID tags gained traction.
However, the latest report suggests So is in the minority and that many women are still not getting their names on patents.
The findings come from the EPO Observatory on Patents and Technology and are based on information from 22 national patent offices, as well as data from initiatives being developed at national level in Europe to support women in STEM.
It found that the share of women among inventors in Europe has increased only marginally in recent years, reaching 13.8 per cent in 2022, up 0.8 per cent from 2019.
The UK women inventor rate was 13.7 per cent, just below the European average.
The report also broke the data down by sector and found that women’s participation varies widely. T
he highest proportion of women inventors was in pharmaceuticals at 34.9 per cent, followed by biotechnology at 34.2 per cent and food chemistry at 32.3 per cent.
The figures suggest life sciences is the area where women inventors are most strongly represented.
That contrasts sharply with engineering ventures, where the levels were much lower.
Among machine tools inventors, just 5.7 per cent were women, while only 4.9 per cent of mechanical elements patents were filed by women.
Researchers found, however, that women are increasingly represented in inventor teams, rising from 21.6 per cent in 2019 to 24.1 per cent in 2022.
However, “they remain far less likely to be named as individual inventors or patenting startup founders,” the team said.
The data show that women account for only 10.8 per cent of founders in UK patenting startups, whereas around 14 per cent of startup teams include at least one woman founder.
When startups without patents are analysed, women account for 20.4 per cent of founders.
This points to significant underrepresentation of women among patent owners, and the EPO said that “structural factors, such as sector specialisation, company maturity, and growth stages,” are having a profound impact.
The issue is not that women are absent from entrepreneurship, but that barriers remain to becoming the founders whose names are listed on patents.
Some UK regions are performing above average.
Buckinghamshire ranked eighth among the 30 European regions analysed for women’s participation in inventorship.
It recorded a women inventor rate of 17.9 per cent, indicating that nearly one in five inventors named in European patent applications from the region are women. That was above both the UK and European average.
The EPO team found that universities and public research organisations have by far the highest proportion of women inventors at 24.4 per cent, while smaller businesses show the lowest participation rates.
The researchers also identified funding as a key pressure point.
“Companies co-founded by women appear to face greater challenges in scaling,” the EPO said.
“Women’s representation declines in later, more advanced funding rounds and for successfully acquired firms.”
The barriers women face over funding are already well documented.
A year ago, reporting on advanced tech and AI found that the average industry experience required for female founders to win VC funding was 18 years. For men, the figure was typically nine years.
The same pattern can be seen elsewhere.
Just last week, reporting on a large study by Female Founders Rise found that 45 per cent of female founders said access to funding was the primary obstacle to getting their businesses off the ground.
The EPO researchers did find that newer startups have higher shares of women founders. This was more than 14 per cent for younger ventures, compared with around 5.9 per cent for companies more than 20 years old.
That suggests the ideas are there, but the funding process has become what the original report described as a leaky pipeline that blocks progress.
This may be even more acute at a time when innovation is said to be under pressure across the wider startup ecosystem.
EPO president António Campinos said: “There is an obvious gain for Europe in boosting women’s participation in innovation.
He added: “Diversity is not a nice-to-have, it is fuel for breakthrough innovation.”
However, he also referred to “persistent roadblocks in our path to progress” that have been in place for so long that they appear difficult to overcome.
A new Female Health Hub launched by the English FA will support women and girls in grassroots football in England with trusted advice on health issues affecting play.
The hub brings together expert-backed guidance, practical tools and player insights in one place, giving women and girls practical advice and reassurance on female health in football.
It has four core aims: to help women and girls better understand their bodies and how female health affects performance and participation, to educate players on key health topics and when to seek further advice or support, to provide practical strategies to help navigate common female health challenges, and to help break down taboos and normalise conversations around female health in football.
Users of the hub will also be able to hear directly from members of the England women’s national team, who share their own experiences of navigating female health matters while playing at the highest level of the game.
“Our ambition is to create a game where women and girls can thrive,” said Sue Day, the FA’s director of women’s football.
“To achieve that, it’s essential that players feel supported in environments that understand and respond to their female health needs.
“We’ve heard directly from grassroots players that they want better information and support around female health, but that they often don’t know where to find it.
“The launch of the Female Health Hub marks an important step in changing the landscape.
“We want every player to feel confident in her own skin and supported without judgment, so she can feel empowered by her body, rather than held back by it.”
The platform was launched following research conducted by the FA that highlighted the need for better education and support around female health in football.
According to the FA, 88 per cent of adult players surveyed said their menstrual cycle has an impact on their ability to train or play, but 86 per cent reported they had never received education about the menstrual cycle in relation to football performance and training.
The research also found 64 per cent of women experience issues related to sports bras or breast health while playing football, despite sports bras being considered one of the most important pieces of playing kit.
Players also expressed strong interest in learning more about injury prevention, at 87 per cent, nutrition, at 84 per cent, and mental health, at 77 per cent, in relation to female health.
The first phase of the Female Health Hub focuses on three of the most requested topics: menstrual health, breast health and injury resilience, with further content to follow, including nutrition and pelvic health guidance.
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has referred to the women’s health strategy as a ‘missed opportunity’ to address maternity services.
The renewed strategy was released by the government this week, with the aim of putting women’s experiences at the centre of care and ensuring they are “better heard and served”.
However, the government stated that because of ongoing investigations into maternity services across the country, the strategy “does not seek to address safety in maternity and neonatal services”.
The RCM described this as a “missed opportunity” and urged the government to ensure that, following the inquiries, maternity is placed “at the very heart” of the strategy.
Gill Walton, RCM chief executive, said the college was “deeply disappointed” that maternity services “do not feature as a headline priority” in the renewed strategy.
She said: “This is a significant missed opportunity and one that is very difficult to understand.
“Pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period are not a footnote in women’s health – they are one of the most significant and consequential phases of a woman’s life.
“A strategy that treats maternity as an afterthought is not truly a women’s health strategy at all. It is exactly the kind of thinking that has allowed maternity services to reach the point they are at today.”
Walton acknowledged that the strategy contained commitments on ensuring women’s voices shape their care, on supporting families through pregnancy loss and on the principle that services should be held accountable when they fail to listen to women.
She added: “But a strategy that addresses one part of women’s health while leaving maternity care behind is only doing half the job.”
Walton urged the government to ensure that this is addressed when the ongoing investigations into maternity care conclude, with any recommendations placed “at the very heart of this strategy with the seriousness and urgency that women, families and midwives deserve”.
In the foreword to the renewed plans, health and social care secretary Wes Streeting referred to the ongoing independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation as action being taken by the government to improve safety in maternity services.
The strategy also refers to the new National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by Streeting, which aims to help deliver “safer, more equitable care” for women, babies and families.
The foreword said that, because of ongoing initiatives, it was “important that this work continues without restriction and that the government can properly respond to the findings”.
It added: “This renewed women’s health strategy therefore does not seek to address safety in maternity and neonatal services other than that related to women’s health before and during pregnancy and the actions we are taking immediately to improve maternity and neonatal care.”
The strategy does, however, include plans to prioritise health education in schools, communities and healthcare settings to “empower women” with the “knowledge and tools they need to help control their fertility” and “prepare for the best pregnancy outcomes.
It also promises to provide women with access to “safe and high-quality contraception, abortion care, fertility services, preconception care and support after pregnancy loss in convenient settings.
Article produced in association with London Pregnancy Clinic and Jeen Health
For the majority of couples planning a pregnancy, genetic testing is not something they think about until a problem arises.
Pre-conception genetic carrier screening challenges this approach by identifying risk before pregnancy begins.
As panel sizes have grown and at-home testing options have become widely available, carrier screening is transitioning from a niche clinical referral into a mainstream component of reproductive planning.
What Carrier Screening Tests For
Being a carrier of a genetic condition means carrying one copy of a variant in a gene associated with that condition, without being affected by it.
In most cases, carriers are entirely unaware of their status.
The clinical significance of carrier status emerges when both members of a couple carry a variant in the same gene: in this scenario, each pregnancy carries a one in four chance of resulting in a child who inherits two copies of the variant and is affected by the condition.
The conditions most frequently included in expanded carrier screening panels include cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), fragile X syndrome, sickle cell disease, and a range of metabolic and enzyme deficiency disorders.
The Beacon 787 carrier test, offered by Jeen Health, screens for 787 conditions from a single sample, making it one of the most comprehensive panels currently available to UK families.
Who Is Most Likely to Benefit
Any couple planning a pregnancy can consider carrier screening. It is particularly relevant for:
- Couples with a family history of a known inherited condition
- Those from populations with higher carrier frequencies for specific conditions, including Ashkenazi Jewish, South Asian and African communities
- Couples pursuing fertility treatment, where genetic information informs treatment planning
- Those who wish to have the most complete picture of their reproductive health before conception
Importantly, being a carrier of a condition does not mean a child will be affected. It means there is a defined statistical risk that can be quantified, discussed and planned for with appropriate clinical support.
How the Test Is Performed
Carrier screening is typically carried out on a blood or saliva sample.
For at-home options such as the testing offered by Jeen Health, a cheek swab collection kit is dispatched to the patient, the sample is returned by post, and results are delivered digitally within a defined turnaround period.
In-clinic carrier testing may use a blood draw and provides the advantage of immediate access to a clinical consultation at the point of result delivery.
London Pregnancy Clinic offers genetics counselling through its partnership with Jeen Health, allowing couples to receive and contextualise carrier test results with expert support.
Genetic counselling before and after testing is recommended by Genomics England as a standard component of any genomic testing pathway.
What Happens If Both Partners Are Carriers
If both partners are identified as carriers for the same autosomal recessive condition, they are typically offered further counselling to discuss their options.
These may include proceeding naturally with an awareness of the risk, using prenatal diagnosis (CVS or amniocentesis) during pregnancy to test the fetus, or pursuing preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) in the context of IVF, which allows unaffected embryos to be selected before transfer.
The purpose of identifying carrier status before pregnancy is to give couples time to consider these options without the added pressure of an ongoing pregnancy.
Knowledge of carrier status does not remove reproductive choices; it expands the information available when making them.
The Role of Pre-Conception Services
Carrier screening sits within a broader category of pre-conception care that includes fertility assessments, general health optimisation and, where relevant, management of existing conditions before pregnancy begins.
London Pregnancy Clinic offers pre-conception services encompassing fertility investigations, genetics counselling and carrier testing as part of an integrated 0th trimester approach, allowing couples to address genetic and clinical risk factors before their pregnancy starts rather than after.
Disclaimer: This article is produced for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Clinical guidance referenced reflects published NHS, NICE and RCOG standards as at March 2026. Individual circumstances vary; readers are advised to consult a qualified healthcare professional before acting on any information in this article.
This piece was produced in association with London Pregnancy Clinic and Jeen Health, which provided background clinical information for editorial purposes.
Hyperlinks to external sources are included for reference only and do not represent an endorsement of any product, service or organisation.
Entrepreneur3 weeks agoThree sessions that show exactly where women’s health is heading in 2026
Menopause4 weeks agoCalifornia plans US$3.4m menopause care overhaul
Pregnancy3 weeks agoHow NIPT has evolved and what AI NIPT means in 2026
Menopause4 weeks agoWatchdog bans five ads for women’s heath claims
Events4 weeks agoWHIS USA 2026 announces first ticket release for landmark Women’s Health Innovation Summit
Menopause4 weeks agoMenopause has no lasting impact on cognition, research finds
News3 weeks agoTwo weeks left to make your mark in women’s cardiovascular health
Opinion3 weeks agoQ1 momentum: Female founders are advancing, but the system still hasn’t caught up
1 Comment