Why we are launching the Women Mean Business Campaign: 'Women should feel as comfortable, confident and inspired as men'

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The founder of one of the UK's most successful lifestyle start-ups is backing The Telegraph's campaign to close the funding gap facing female entrepreneurs. 

Start-ups run by women receive just nine per cent of venture capital funding despite the fact around a third of businesses in the country are female-owned. 

The Telegraph's new Women Mean Business campaign is calling on the Government to take action to help redress the balance in financing.

Nicola Elliott, co-founder of NEOM Luxury Organics, is one of 200 business leaders, MPs and entrepreneurs backing the movement.

Watch: why women make great business owners

She told us that women are being forced to build their businesses without the support offered to their male counterparts.

"We managed to do it on a small scale. ￡15,000 is not a lot to start a beauty brand."

Her products are now stocked by major high street chains such as John Lewis and Marks & Spencer.

"It's so important that women feel comfortable, confident, empowered and inspired to be able to start a business every bit as much as a man is."

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Florence Adepoju, founded her MDMflow cosmetics brand aged 22 after building a lab in the shed of her parents' home. 

She has witnessed the funding challenges first hand: 

"When you're speaking to an investor, and most investors are men, and you're telling them that women want foundations that make their skin look amazing, that have these actives, that are affordable, they can't relate to that issue."

Watch: Advice for female entrepreneurs

Sarah Akwisombe set up her own interior design business and went on to found the No Bull Business School. 

When we put some of the figures about funding for female-run businesses to her, Sarah said, "It makes me angry. It makes me really, really angry.

"A friend of mine is a female founder who has an amazing software platform. She went to get venture capital and all they told her was that she needed to have a male co-founder to be taken seriously." 

Watch: proving the doubters wrong

Watch: closing the gender funding gap

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