Female founders now represent 24% of the owners of fast-growing businesses in the South East, however only 6% of those businesses acquired in the region in 2023 were female founded. It is worth bearing in mind however, that female founded businesses tend to be younger businesses, reflecting that improvements to the gender diversity of businesses being founded and funded is relatively recent. As these businesses mature, with more female entrepreneurs in the business economy, more investments and M&A deals involving these companies will follow. Gender is of course only one indicator of diversity and the business community still has further to go as regards to diversity as a whole, but there is progress.