Hi there,
This week, Joanna Jensen and I met Blair McDougall, the Minister for small businesses, to share the findings of The Rise Report and what can be done to better support underrepresented entrepreneurs in the UK.
We also had our first AI workshop IRL with Siddhi Mittal - learnt a huge amount playing around live with Claude and the importance of the growth mindset with AI.
10 mins a day is a great way to start and get used to asking Claude how it can help you (rather than the way most of us use it). We know this is important, with latest research from Lean In (Sheryl Sandberg) > finds that women are less likely than men to have ever used AI on the job -and less likely to have made it a daily habit.
And an intimate female founders breakfast on all things growth with lots of takeaways for B2B and B2C founders.
Next one on social media and the one after focused on D2C founders. Perfect if you prefer smaller meet-ups.
Have a lovely week
Emmie
P.S. If you are fundraising, come and join us IRL at our next fundraising meetup - always a great time together.
IN-PERSON & ONLINE EVENTS
[London] AI Workshop > Join Emmie Faust and Siddhi Mittal for their second AI workshop on May 11th from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM (get tickets before they sell out!) FFR members can use FFR25 for a discount >> Register here
[London] Launch on Female Founders Rise Show > Join Emmie Faust and Mae Yip for the launch of their new podcast, kicking things off with a live recording at a gorgeous female-founded venue, The Fable, on May 21st from 5:45 pm to 8:45 pm >> Register here
[London] Female Founder Breakfast > Join Emmie Faust and Mae Yip to talk all things social media on May 12th from 8:45 am to 10:45 am (10 spots left!) >> Register here
[London] Fundraising Meet > Join us at Shoosmiths on April 23rd at 9am to 11 am to explore all things fundraising with our panel: Emma Steele, Ascension VC , Dan Bowyer Superseed VC and Catalina Schveninger, Emerge Education >> Register here
[Manchester] Rethinking Productivity for Women > 30th April, 5:30 pm to 8 pm - join the Manchester Chapter leads with speakers Maggie McDaris (Founder & CEO of Phase) and Emma-Louise Fusari RGN (Founder of In-House Health) for a fireside chat on all things women’s health >> Register here
ONLINE EVENTS
[Online] Finding investors and Nailing your Valuation > Tomorrow at 12 noon, join Sam Simpson, Founder of Founder Catalyst >> Register here
[Online] B2B Circle Members > Don't forget virtual networking at 1:30 on Friday
[Online] Fundraising Ask Me Anything with Carmel and Dan > Rewatch the AMA for learnings on fundraising at the crossroads of tech and impact >> Watch here
RESOURCES & EXTERNAL EVENTS
22 & 23 April 2026, SCALE EXPO is happening at the Business Design Centre, London > The meeting point for the UK's most ambitious scaleups and as part of FFR, you shouldn’t miss this one! Spaces are limited, so grab your upgrade while it’s still there >> Join here.
Scale your business with a free AI CRM > You've built something worth growing. Now give your business the AI tools to scale, starting at no cost. Salesforce is offering a free AI CRM with up to 2 users, and Supermums is here to help you make the most of it >> Find out more here.
Female Founders Hub is updated on our site with all the ways that FFR can help you >> Explore here.
We’re working on a few AI initiatives with Siddhi Mittal > we have opened doors for the 11th May one but join the waitlist to hear about others >> Register for waitlist.
EISA Awards 2026 are now open > Completely free to enter and entries close on Friday, 1st May 2026 at 11.59 pm>> Apply and learn more.
Join June Angelides MBE for a 90 Day Challenge starting on April 14th; three live sessions designed to help you master your energy, money and visibility as a portfolio professional. Early bird tickets are £99 and use code FFR10 for 10% off >> Tickets here.
SeedLegals Startup Awards 2026 are open > You’ll stand out to the people that matter - potential investors, valued peers or future collaborators >> Apply and learn more.
WHAT'S HAPPENING ON SOCIALS
Some of our most popular posts:
Eight female founders in AI to watch >> From fashion to food, parenting and content…
Twelve incredible women behind The Rise Report >> Months of work behind the scenes and built by the whole community…
Four incredible women in Tech >> Less than 16% of tech startup founders are women…We need more women in tech!
Twelve female founders to keep on your radar >> Amplifying female founders isn’t just a 'nice to do', it's something we must all do.
Throwback to our mega Manchester summit >> Over 100 female founders in one room.
Ever feel like you're too old to start a business? >> Check out Trinny Woodhall
It’s never too late to get started, it may just be one of the UK’s greatest success stories >> Check out Anne Boden
Do go and follow these fab founders and let us know in the comments who we should spotlight next.
MOVING TO BEEHIIV
In case you missed it last week, we're moving our newsletter to a new platform called Beehiiv cos we think it’s a better option and everyone raves about it. It would REALLY help us if you register here with your email and see if it works ok for you. Let us know if there are any problems.
It shouldn't impact you at all, but we'll share more soon (and you might notice a slightly different layout plus the ability to see previous emails).
Have a great week.
Love from us all at FFR 💜
P.S. Sign up for the Friday AM Fundraising newsletter to learn about exclusive fundraising events and resources >> click here to join
