Lifted Ventures celebrates strong progress against manifesto commitments as regional investment movement continues to grow for female founders
Less than a year after launching its two year Manifesto at Lifted’s flagship female founder festival Athena in October 2025, Lifted Ventures is celebrating significant progress towards its ambitious goals to unlock investment for women founders, activate new angel investors and strengthen regional investment ecosystems across the UK.
Founded in September 2023 by Jordan Dargue and Helen Oldham, Lifted Ventures was established to address the persistent funding gap facing women entrepreneurs and to create greater opportunities for people to participate in angel investing. Since then, the organisation has become a leading force in building more inclusive, regionally driven investment communities.
The Lifted Ventures Manifesto released in October 2025 set out a bold two-year vision to:
Support 30 regional female founders to successfully raise investment.
Activate 75 new angel investors into the early-stage investment ecosystem.
Grow an engaged investment community of 500 people.
Educate 500 female founders through accelerator programmes and investment readiness support.
Bring together 1,000 people through events, networking opportunities and community-building activities.
Just months into delivery, Lifted Ventures has already achieved:
12 founders supported to raise investment.
19 new angel investors have been activated.
377 people engaged within the investment community.
231 female founders educated through programmes and investment readiness support.
921 people were brought together through events and community activities.
The progress means Lifted Ventures has already achieved more than 75% of its investment community target and over 90% of its community engagement target, demonstrating the growing demand for accessible investment opportunities and expert-led female founder support across the UK’s regions.
Momentum is also being reflected in the quality and volume of investment activity taking place through the Lifted ecosystem. In the last quarter alone, Lifted Ventures helped secure additional investment through its angel network for wac, ANYA and Maxwellia, while also supporting Caroboo and For The Creators to successfully raise new investment.
These successes demonstrate the practical delivery of the Manifesto commitments in action: connecting ambitious female founders with capital, activating investors to back high-potential businesses, and strengthening regional investment ecosystems. Every investment secured represents evidence of a growing movement that is unlocking opportunities, building founder confidence and creating the conditions for more women-led businesses to scale and succeed across the UK regions.
As a Northern founded female led business with a national reach, Lifted Ventures continues to champion the belief that talent and investment opportunity exist in every region of the UK. By creating pathways for founders and investors outside traditional funding hotspots, the organisation is helping to ensure that innovation can thrive regardless of geography.
“When we launched the Manifesto, it was never intended to be a statement of ambition alone. It was designed as a framework for action, one that would create measurable change in founder-led business support, access to investment, and investor participation across the UK’s regions. Our goal is not simply to support more female founders, but to strengthen the ecosystems around them, connecting capital, expertise, education and networks in ways that drive meaningful and lasting outcomes. The progress we’ve seen so far demonstrates both the scale of the opportunity and the appetite for change. Regional communities are ready to lead the next generation of innovation, and by activating coordinated support through learning programmes, investor engagement and ecosystem development, we can help more women start, scale and succeed in building high-growth businesses’’.
Jordan Dargue, Co-Founder of Lifted Ventures
“We’ve seen first-hand the incredible talent, ambition and opportunity that exists across the UK, particularly among women founders who have historically been underserved by traditional investment networks. We’re proud of what we’ve achieved so far, but even more excited about what comes next. Every founder supported, every angel activated and every connection made strengthens regional ecosystems, unlocks new pathways to capital and creates more opportunities for future generations of entrepreneurs. Our ambition is not only to increase investment into women-led businesses, but to help build the infrastructure that enables female founders to thrive wherever they are based. By bringing together investors, founders, partners and ecosystem leaders, we can create more inclusive, connected and resilient entrepreneurial communities across the UK’s regions’’.
Helen Oldham, Co-Founder of Lifted Ventures
Looking ahead, Lifted Ventures remains committed to delivering against its Manifesto targets while continuing to build stronger founder and investor communities, unlocking more capital for women-led businesses, increasing participation in angel investing across the UK’s regions, and expand support for female founders through accelerated learning programmes, community-building initiatives, and ecosystem development activities that strengthen pathways to growth, investment and long-term business success.
