Women Who Scale, SCALE's ambitious female founder initiative, announces its speaker line-up for SCALE EXPO & SUMMIT, taking place 22–23 April 2026 at London’s Business Design Centre, in partnership with City AM.
Women Who Scale brings together the UK’s most influential founders, investors and ecosystem leaders to champion the next generation of women building and scaling high-growth businesses.
With International Women’s Day 2026 focused on accelerating progress toward gender equity, Women Who Scale takes a practical, solutions-focused approach to improving outcomes for female founders. It aims to close the gender investment gap by giving female founders and women-led businesses the stage, connections, and support they need to grow, turning their ambition into scaleup success stories and economic wealth.
Andrea Sommer, co-founder of Hive Founders and WomanKind Ventures, said:
“International Women’s Day is a moment to reflect on progress, but more importantly to recommit to action. It’s about moving beyond visibility to real outcomes — more women funded, more women investing, and more allies actively opening doors.”
Dwain Reid is a founder growth coach who leads on Entrepreneurial Engagement and Early Stage Investment at Forbes Family Group, where he runs the Cap Table Pitch Programme. Dwain echoed Andrea’s sentiment:
“International Women's Day is a chance to celebrate the success of so many brilliant women-led businesses, but it’s also a time to reflect on what still needs to shift. My hopes for this year? More visibility, more capital and more people stepping up behind the scenes to support women-led businesses in practical ways. Events like SCALE EXPO & SUMMIT help us celebrate what's working and push harder on what still needs to change.”
Amy Knight, co-founder of Women Who Scale said:
“Women Who Scale was established to address the persistent funding gap facing women founders at the scaleup stage. We need to go beyond awareness towards meaningful action, to unlock greater participation and investment outcomes for women. At SCALE EXPO & SUMMIT we’re creating clear pathways for women entrepreneurs to access the capital they need by plugging into a community of investors, advisors and allies all willing them to succeed.”
Headline Speakers Announced
Women Who Scale will give established and emerging female founders the stage at SCALE EXPO & SUMMIT on 22-23 April, with an exceptional line-up of women entrepreneurs, angel investors, VCs and industry leaders. As well as the all important access to capital conversations, the show content addresses the challenges and opportunities facing women scaling businesses today, from building high performing teams to protecting wellbeing at different life stages.
Women Who Scale sessions at SCALE EXPO & SUMMIT 2026 include:
- Keynote Address on 22 April:
Sam Smith, Co-Founder of The SuperScalers - Founders Fireside Chat:
Jordan Brompton, Co-Founder of MyEnergi, in conversation with Frankie James, Founder of Ideas Community - Founders Fireside Chat (Exclusive to Summit Pass Holders):
Louise Hill, Founder of GoHenry, in conversation with Ayesha Ofori, Founder of Propelle - SCALE Summit panel: Capital Culture (Exclusive to Summit Pass Holders):
Creating the Conditions for More Women to Raise, Scale and Invest - SCALE Expo panel: Personal Branding & Thought Leadership, in partnership with Visible PR
How female founders can build authority, visibility and influence to support growth, fundraising and long-term brand equity. - Healthy Hustle: Building and Growing a Business Without Burnout
Practical solutions to handle the challenges unique to women managing wellbeing while scaling fast-growth companies.
Elizabeth Sergeant, founder of Well Nourished and co-founder of healthtech startup FLAIR, who joins the ‘Healthy Hustle’ panel at SCALE EXPO on 22 April, comments:
“For founders, I want more women to build boldly, without shrinking their vision to fit outdated expectations. For investors, I hope for deeper curiosity about how women build, lead and scale and a willingness to back them earlier and with conviction. And for allies, my hope is simple: create environments where women don’t have to choose between wellbeing and ambition, because that’s where the strongest results are produced.”
In December 2025, SCALE announced that sisters Honor and Cat Black, the teenage cofounders of the sportswear brand Maiden Cricket, will join the lineup of Women Who Scale speakers. Honor and Cat said:
“We’re excited to have conversations with entrepreneurs, allies and investors at SCALE who want to get to know our business and our brand. We want other women and girls to be inspired by our story.”
Spotlight on Female Founders: Live Pitch Event 22 April
Women Who Scale is part of SCALE’s platform of support for entrepreneurs, which includes SCALE Ventures, a £300,000 entrepreneur-led investment fund actively investing in EIS and SEIS-approved startups and scaleups.
Andrew B Morris, Chairman of SCALE Ventures, will be on the look out for female founders pitching live to investors at SCALE EXPO on 22 April At SCALE EXPO. Mr Morris said:
“Women Who Scale exists to accelerate access to capital, visibility and strategic opportunity for women founders ready to scale. With the Rise Report 2026 highlighting both the accelerating growth of female-founded businesses and the persistent barriers women face in accessing scale-stage capital, SCALE EXPO & SUMMIT will propel Women Who Scale into the spotlight at a pivotal moment for the UK economy.”
Liz Barclay, former Small Business Commissioner and co-founder of Business 111, will be Head Judge of the female founders pitching competition. She said:
“Women get a tiny fraction of the investment men get for their businesses. I want more investors to include women on their panels, understand the strengths women bring, and help increase the confidence of the female entrepreneurs in accessing the support that's available. Families, communities and the UK will benefit and prosper.
Ms Barclay will be joined by judge Xavier Ballester, Director of Brokerage at the Angel Investment Network, who said:
“The UK doesn’t lack talented female founders, what’s missing is consistent access to the right rooms, relationships and capital at the moments that matter most. When women can learn from one another, meet investors early, and share real experiences of growth, the whole ecosystem becomes stronger and more investable. SCALE brings together founders, investors and operators who genuinely understand what it takes to grow, and that makes it a powerful environment for ideas, relationships and confidence to compound.
Event Details
SCALE EXPO & SUMMIT 2026 will bring together founders, investors, operators and partners on 22-23 April for insight, investment opportunity and collaboration at one of the UK’s most powerful entrepreneurship gatherings.
Register free for SCALE EXPO or upgrade to a SCALE SUMMIT pass to unlock more.
REGISTER FOR SCALE EXPO & SUMMIT 2026
General admission to SCALE EXPO is free, with an upgrade option available for SCALE SUMMIT — which includes access to the full speaker programme and a curated summit experience for senior founders and investors, exclusive access to roundtables, investor panels, high profile speakers and fireside chats with scaleup founders.