The fund was founded in September 2019 and backs female entrepreneurs in the fintech industry across the UK, Europe, Canada and the US

Aviva, which claims to be one of the UK’s leading insurers, announced an investment of $10 million into the Anthemis Female Innovators Lab Fund.

The fund was ‘founded in September 2019 and backs female entrepreneurs in the fintech industry across the UK, Europe, Canada and the US.’

Aviva’s investment will specifically ‘support UK based fintech firms which are founded by women.’ Currently only 4% of UK fintechs are ‘led by women.’

Aviva will be ‘a strategic partner to the Fund, which is the largest female focused fintech fund and is anchored and co-founded by Barclays.’ The Fund deploys capital directly ‘into innovative female led companies within the finance industry and provides female entrepreneurs with access to financial and intellectual resources through the Fund’s extensive network of advisors and experts.’

Ben Luckett, Chief Innovation Officer at Aviva, said: Female entrepreneurs currently lead just 4% of UK tech startups and this needs to change. The Female Innovators Fund is one way we can support this untapped talent. Working with the Fund means more than just a financial contribution, we will have opportunities to partner with, learn from and invest directly in start-ups where they may benefit Aviva and our customers. We are very excited to work alongside Anthemis and Barclays to help reduce gender inequality in financial services.

Amanda Blanc, Aviva’s Group CEO, is ‘the Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter Champion – spearheading efforts to boost gender diversity across UK Financial Services.’

Aviva also ‘supports the UK Government’s Investing in Women Code which advances female entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom by improving access to tools, resources and finance from the financial services sector.’