Further unveiled within the unique study was the dearth of business guidance available for founders looking to scale, as 27% of LGBTQ+ founders received zero mentorship during their career.
The research also found that 15% of LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs are taken less seriously as a business leader with a striking 34% of British women stating they felt like an outcast from their family and community for having different career aspirations. The data also highlights that almost 1 in 5 from the LGBTQ+ community are marginalised from what should be their strongest support foundations – their family and community.
Key stats:
- 36% of LGBTQ+ founders believe that investors do not consider them as a viable investment opportunity
- 9% of LGBTQ+ founders have been denied investment on the basis of their age, race and gender
- 29% of LGBTQ+ founders state they have no support role whom they feel comfortable to take guidance from
- 18% of LGBTQ+ founders agreed that their family do not support their entrepreneurial business endeavours
- 34% of the LGBTQ+ community state they’ve always felt like an outcast in their family and community for having different career aspirations to their families and the wider community
- 30% of LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs state they don’t know where to source investment opportunities to grow their business
- 15% of LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs feel they’re taken less seriously as a business leader
The recent Rose Review Progress Report has brought into effect the foundation of the Taskforce on Women-Led High-Growth Enterprises to help address the disparities faced by female founded businesses. However, the government has yet to launch similar reviews into the experiences of scaling LGBTQ+-led businesses.
Marla Ubhi – co-founder of QU – argues that a similar taskforce for the LGBTQ+ community would be a huge leap towards creating a more inclusive business ecosystem. In the United States, the non-profit StartOut has launched their StartOut Pride Economic Impact Index (SPEII) which is helping to fill the void of determining unrealised potential of LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs, whereas there is currently no such mechanism in the UK. Further demonstrated by QU’s data, the indication is that such measures need to be replicated in Britain as a matter of urgency if such barriers for entrepreneurs are to be removed.Â
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