Female Founders in Tech and Innovation: Role Models for Young People

Jasmine and Jo met during their Oxford MBA and saw that teens were getting health information from TikTok misinformation instead of trusted sources. They built Luna, a digital wellbeing companion providing medically-backed advice on puberty, periods and mental health in a safe, judgement-free space. The platform now has over 100,000 members and partners with schools and NHS trusts to ensure every young person has access to reliable health guidance.

A Pembroke College Oxford history graduate and Harvard Kennedy Scholar, Beth faced significant accessibility barriers throughout her career. She founded Patchwork Hub - a disabled-led social enterprise offering consultancy, training and a jobs board connecting talented disabled and neurodivergent professionals with inclusive employers. Listed on the Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 as a cross-sector advocate, Beth is proving that expertise and grit can shatter any ceiling.

A former McKinsey consultant and government policy advisor, Rachel founded Koru Kids after struggling to find reliable childcare for her own children. She built a platform matching families with vetted nannies and childminders, creating flexible, well-paid work for carers while giving parents peace of mind. Koru Kids has helped thousands of families across London and raised significant venture funding to expand its mission of making quality childcare accessible to every family.

Claire founded Equipmii from personal experience of how difficult it can be to find products that suit individual physical needs. Her platform helps retailers understand how their products work for people with different impairments, highlights design improvements, and provides tailored product information to consumers. Winner of the 2025 Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award, she is proving that inclusive design is not just ethical - it is a real business opportunity.

Rikke founded BorrowMyDoggy after borrowing her neighbour's Labrador for a day and having the best time. She'd always wanted a dog but her mum was allergic. She realised thousands of dog owners need help with walks and holidays, while thousands more would love time with a dog. The community has grown to over a million members across the UK and Ireland.

As Director at Labskin, Nicola leads the creation of lab-grown human skin models that allow companies to test cosmetics, medicines and skincare without any animal testing. Her technology produces more accurate, reliable results than traditional methods while being completely ethical. Labskin's models are used by major beauty and pharmaceutical brands worldwide, revolutionising how products reach the market. Nicola is proving that better science and better ethics go hand in hand.

With a background at Google, Slack, LinkedIn and Microsoft, Lara co-founded XRAI Glass with her husband Dan after seeing how his deaf grandfather struggled in conversations. Their award-winning app converts speech into real-time subtitles on augmented reality smart glasses, transforming how deaf and hard-of-hearing people engage with the world. The technology has been recognised globally for making everyday conversations accessible.

Sisters Amelia and Lydia left high-flying careers at Goldman Sachs and Deloitte after watching their mum, a talented accountant, struggle to return to work after raising three daughters. They built ivee from their kitchen table to help people learn the AI skills employers actually want. Within 18 months of launching, they walked away from Dragon's Den with four offers, upskilled over 70,000 members, and raised a $1 million seed round. Their platform now helps professionals future-proof their careers in a world where AI is changing every job.

Alex co-founded Hassle.com, a home-cleaning marketplace, and sold it before launching Resi. Frustrated that home renovations felt expensive and confusing, she used technology to simplify the entire architecture process. Resi is now the UK's largest residential architecture practice, helping thousands of homeowners plan extensions at a fraction of the traditional cost.

Martha co-founded Lastminute.com in 1998 when most people barely used the internet. She built one of the UK's first major online travel businesses, eventually selling it for £577 million. After a serious car accident, she channelled her recovery into public service, becoming the UK's Digital Champion and a Baroness in the House of Lords.

Sharmadean started WAH Nails as a cult East London nail art salon that became a cultural phenomenon. After fifteen-plus years creating women's communities across business and self-development, she brought it all together under The Stack World - a platform for the women's creator economy to buy, sell, coach and connect. Awarded an MBE, she's on a mission to increase the global GDP of the women's economy by giving members the tools to earn more.

Hayley built GoCompare from scratch after spotting a gap in the insurance comparison market. Starting from her kitchen table in Newport, Wales, she grew it into one of the UK's most recognised consumer brands, eventually valued at over £450 million. A proud Welsh entrepreneur, she went on to found Buzzvault, a home contents valuation platform, and was awarded an OBE for services to entrepreneurship and the Welsh economy.

After 25 years in tech, Zandra founded Zygens, an AI consultancy for finance and professional services. Previously she co-founded Panintelligence, scaling it internationally to over 450 customers. An MBE recipient for services to gender equality, and founder of Lean In Leeds and The Whole Point, Zandra champions inclusive growth in technology.

Nino created Young Minds App after talking to hundreds of parents worried about their children's online safety. As a mum of two, she wanted more than just blocking content. Her app uses AI to detect harmful material and teaches kids why certain things are risky. Parents can set screen time limits and custom modes. Selected for TechCrunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield.

Olivia spent years in brand marketing before realising online shopping was broken - endless scrolling, impulse buys, and wardrobes full of things that don't go together. She built Persi, an AI-powered platform that learns your personal style and helps you shop smarter by matching new pieces to what you already own. The result is less waste, fewer regretted purchases, and a wardrobe that actually works.

Mariam founded Menza in 2023 to help consumer brands see what they need to know, when they need to know it. Her AI platform monitors business data around the clock and delivers actionable insights automatically, replacing hours of manual analysis. Backed by Y Combinator - one of the world's most prestigious startup accelerators - she is making data-driven decision-making accessible to brands of every size, not just those with big analytics teams.

Cien founded LaunchLemonade to make AI accessible to everyone, not just engineers. Her no-code platform lets non-technical teams build intelligent AI agents that automate real business tasks. A young Filipina founder based in London, she raised $480,000 in an oversubscribed pre-seed round and has been celebrated as one of the most exciting new voices in UK AI. Cien is proving you don't need a technical background to build powerful technology.

Catherine Ann founded doqit after feeling overwhelmed by household paperwork while caring for her daughter with additional needs. She channelled 30 years of sales and marketing experience into building an app that simplifies life admin for busy families. Featured on billboards at Liverpool Street Station for International Women's Day.

Sisters Olivia and Tanyka launched Cubbi in 2024 after Olivia discovered how expensive life becomes on maternity leave. Even small treats like a coffee felt loaded with guilt. So they built a discount platform just for new and expecting parents - like a student discount card, but for mums and dads. Cubbi has already helped thousands of families save money, and the sisters even pitched on Dragons' Den in 2026.

Pip saw that LinkedIn simply didn't work for creative professionals - portfolios, not CVs, are how they show what they can do. She built The Dots as a visual-first professional network where designers, artists and makers connect with employers and collaborators. Backed by major investors and personally championed by Sir Richard Branson, the platform has grown to hundreds of thousands of members and is reshaping how creative talent finds meaningful work.

Victoria previously built and sold a company at a 33x return. Sarah ran a global business with offices in 75 countries. Both knew the same frustration: finding the right outfit online meant endless, exhausting scrolling. Together they co-founded Hey Savi, an AI-powered fashion search app that understands exactly what you are looking for and matches you to the perfect outfit from hundreds of retailers in seconds rather than hours.

Charlotte joined Intel's graduate programme without a degree, driven by curiosity and determination. She spent six years at Arm working at the forefront of AI. In 2021, her father suddenly passed away and her family lost access to years of digital memories - photos and videos capturing her childhood. That experience changed everything. Charlotte founded Memorify to help people curate, protect, and pass on their most meaningful digital memories using AI.

Heather spotted that most people were being left behind by AI because the training was too technical and full of jargon. She founded AI for Non-Techies, a learning platform that makes AI accessible to everyone, regardless of their background. Her practical approach has helped generate $75 million in client sales and she now works with global brands including Toyota, Salesforce, and HSBC. An AI advisor to the UK government, she sits on the ISO committee for AI in education and is regularly featured in Forbes as a top global MarTech influencer. She also speaks for the BBC as an AI expert and dedicates 20% of profits to funding social events for isolated elderly people.

Dimple is a multi-exited founder and CEO of NatureMetrics, the leading provider of nature data intelligence. The company uses environmental DNA and AI to generate biodiversity insights for businesses and governments globally. Recognised as a World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer and Earthshot Prize Finalist in 2024, Dimple previously founded Trouva, which ranked number one in the Startups 100 list and operated across 50 markets before exit.

George studied Law at university but kept getting underpaid in her part-time jobs. After one job didn't pay her at all, she decided to fix the problem herself. She built WAC – an app that helps hourly-paid workers track their shifts and make sure they get paid properly. Since launching in 2020, WAC has helped over 500,000 workers reclaim thousands of pounds in lost wages.

Avye was already a coder and maker when she noticed something at every workshop she attended – most of the kids there were boys. At just 11 years old, she decided to change that by launching Girls Into Coding, a series of hands-on tech and robotics events for girls aged 10 to 14. Now a registered social enterprise, it has grown into a movement inspiring thousands of girls to give tech a go.

Georgina was diagnosed with MS at 26 and later with ADHD. After years of navigating the extra costs that come with disability, she launched Purpl – a platform offering exclusive discounts to disabled people across the UK. What started as a personal mission has grown into a community trusted by thousands, proving that lived experience is one of the most powerful foundations for a business.

Solveiga was studying design at Brunel University when she learned that a third of all food gets thrown away – often because people just follow 'use by' dates that aren't always accurate. She thought: what if the label itself could tell you when food has really gone off? She invented Mimica Touch – a gel-based label that changes texture as food spoils, so you can feel whether it's still fresh. Her idea won multiple awards and she built Mimica to bring it to market. Now her technology is helping major food brands reduce waste and keep people safer.

Asti started sharing photos of London's best food spots on Instagram while studying for her A-levels - and her page @eatwithast quickly grew to thousands of followers. When brands started reaching out for collaborations, she realised how messy the process was. So she built Invyted, an app that matches top creators with brands in minutes instead of weeks. Now based in London, her platform is making influencer marketing faster and fairer.

Ilinca Georgescu founded Trem to tackle Essential Tremor, a neurological condition affecting over 140 million people globally yet chronically under-researched and misdiagnosed. Trem is building the first clinically validated digital tremor scale, capturing objective data through wearables and phone-based tasks. An AI assistant provides personalised insights and therapeutic content. The platform serves patients via charity partnerships and licenses its tremor scale to pharma companies running clinical trials.

Dr Katie King founded BioOrbit to do something the pharma industry called impossible - make drugs in space. With co-founder Dr Leonor Teles, she uses microgravity in Low-Earth Orbit to grow crystals of biological drugs that can be reformulated as self-injectable treatments, moving cancer care out of hospitals and into patients' homes. In 2026, BioOrbit raised £9.8 million - the world's largest seed round for in-space manufacturing - co-led by LocalGlobe and Breega.