20% increase in number of women setting up firms

Participation by female entrepreneurs in Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start-Up programme increased to 20% this year. The target was 18%.

Enterprise Ireland female entrepreneurship manager, Sarita Johnston, said that since the introduction in 2013 of measures targetting women, the number of them who are setting up their own businesses has grown year-on-year.

“In 2012, just eight out of 97 high-potential start-ups were female-led. In 2014, this had increased to 18 out of 102, which was 17% and, in 2015, the figure will exceed 20%,” says Ms Johnston, who has yet to finalise the exact number for this year.