Why Brilliant Female Founders Are Still Hidden in Plain Sight
- Brainz Magazine
- Dec 5
- 6 min read
Written by Amie-Leigh Minshull, Seasoned PR Professional
Amie-Leigh has over 12 years of global experience in PR and marketing and is the founder of Shh! PR, a UK-based agency supporting female entrepreneurs. She is also a mentor to emerging PR professionals and a passionate advocate for accessible, strategic PR.
In the UK, women are starting and scaling businesses at record rates, contributing billions to the economy, yet their presence in media, funding announcements, and business leadership remains disproportionately small. Despite the growth in female-led companies, there is a persistent “visibility gap” that leaves many talented women founders hidden in plain sight. This gap is more than just an issue of media representation, it’s an economic one, influencing funding opportunities, leadership perceptions, and long-term business growth. It’s time to spotlight these impactful women and close the gap for good.
The unseen majority
There are now 5.7 million businesses in the UK, yet only 25% are led by women. While this figure has grown from 17% in 2015 and 19% in 2020, there is still a long way to go to catch up with our male counterparts. It’s a number that reflects both progress and paradox. Women are starting and scaling businesses at record rates, contributing billions to the economy, but their presence, both publicly and professionally, remains disproportionately small.
Scroll through major business news outlets or funding announcements, and a pattern emerges, male founders dominate headlines, investment rounds, and panel stages. So, the question is not where are the women? But why aren’t we seeing them?
This is where the concept of the “visibility gap” enters the conversation, a new lens through which to understand gender inequality in entrepreneurship. Beyond pay gaps and funding disparities lies a subtler, yet equally powerful imbalance, who gets noticed and whose stories are amplified.
Defining the visibility gap
The visibility gap refers to the disconnect between the growing number of women building impactful businesses and the limited recognition they receive across media, investment circles, and leadership networks. It’s a systemic blind spot that keeps women’s contributions underexposed, even when their performance rivals or surpasses their male peers.
In 2023, female-led companies raised 162 deals worth £232 million, while male-led companies raised 1,413 deals worth £6.5 billion during the same period. These disparities appear to apply to follow-on rounds and bear no relation to sector variations. It’s a strong and persistent pattern. The truth is, this bias in perception and exposure shapes opportunity. Visibility creates credibility, and credibility attracts capital.
In short, visibility is not vanity, it’s leverage. When male founders are more visible in the media, they’re more likely to be perceived as thought leaders and innovators. This perception directly influences investor confidence, recruitment power, and even customer trust.
The inverse is also true. When women are underrepresented in the stories we tell about success, they face an uphill battle to access the same networks and resources. The visibility gap doesn’t just reflect inequality, it actively sustains it.
The power of being seen
Visibility, for founders, is a growth strategy. Being publicly recognised for your expertise and impact opens doors that can transform a business’s trajectory. It attracts investors, customers, collaborators, and top-tier talent. But beyond business mechanics, visibility also shapes the narratives of leadership that define our culture.
The stories we consume about entrepreneurship help determine who we subconsciously associate with authority, innovation, and risk-taking. When women’s stories are less present, it subtly reinforces outdated assumptions about who “looks” like a leader.
This has a tangible economic cost. Studies from McKinsey and the Peterson Institute show that companies with women in leadership roles often outperform in profitability, innovation, and workplace culture. Yet these results rarely dominate headlines in the same way as male-led success stories.
That invisibility has cascading effects, fewer role models for aspiring women entrepreneurs, less perceived legitimacy in boardrooms, and lower confidence among potential investors. The saying “you can’t be what you can’t see” remains painfully true in business. Not because women aren’t achieving, but because their achievements aren’t being amplified.
Visibility isn’t just about press, it’s about power.
Why the visibility gap persists in female founders
The reasons behind women’s underexposure in business are complex, rooted in both structural systems and social conditioning.
Media bias and representation: Analyses of business media coverage reveal that stories about male founders outnumber those about female founders by more than three to one. Even when women are featured, coverage often leans toward their personal lives or challenges rather than their business acumen. This narrative framing subtly diminishes authority and reinforces stereotypes about emotional or “soft skill” leadership.
Network effects: Investment and media visibility often flow through established networks, and historically, those networks have been male-dominated. When introductions, speaking opportunities, and coverage are circulated within closed circles, women face higher barriers to entry.
Confidence and conditioning: Social norms still discourage women from “self-promotion,” leading to what some researchers call the visibility paradox, women are penalised both for being too assertive and for being too modest. Male founders, by contrast, are more often rewarded for assertive self-branding and ambitious narrative-building.
Systemic funding disparities: The UK’s Rose Review found that female-led businesses receive less than 2% of total venture capital investment, a figure that hasn’t shifted significantly in years. Media attention tends to follow money, so when women are underfunded, they are also underreported.
These factors interact to form a reinforcing loop, fewer women are covered by the media, which means fewer are perceived as high-growth prospects, which, in turn, limits access to capital and influence, and so the cycle continues.
The cost of invisibility
The visibility gap isn’t just a reputational issue, it’s an economic one. When women founders remain unseen, the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem loses out on innovation, job creation, and growth potential.
Research by Deloitte estimates that closing the gender entrepreneurship gap could add £250 billion to the UK economy. Visibility is a crucial lever in unlocking that growth because it amplifies success stories that inspire others and attract capital.
There’s also a psychological dimension. Being visible validates ambition. It creates momentum. Both for the individual founder and for the community watching her rise. Every profile, panel, and feature has a multiplier effect, normalising women’s leadership and expanding the definition of what business success looks like.
Closing the gap: A collective responsibility
Addressing the visibility gap requires coordinated action across the ecosystem.
Media outlets must diversify the voices they feature and challenge the archetype of the “male entrepreneur” as default.
Investors should recognise visibility as a biasing factor and actively seek out underrepresented founders.
Business networks and accelerators can create platforms specifically for amplifying women’s expertise and achievements.
Women founders themselves can reframe visibility as a form of leadership. Not thinking of it as self-promotion, but instead storytelling in service of their mission.
Visibility is not about ego, it’s about equity. It’s about shifting the narrative so that women’s leadership is not a headline-worthy exception but a visible, undeniable norm.
Unapologetically visible
For female founders, the message is clear, you’ve earned the right to be seen. Visibility isn’t something to wait for or shy away from. It’s a strategic choice to own your narrative and shape the conversation around your success.
The next generation of female entrepreneurs won’t ask for permission to be visible. They’ll recognise it as a core part of growth, leadership, and impact. And as they step unapologetically into the spotlight (cheered on by people like me who can’t wait to see them succeed), the business world will begin to reflect what has long been true, women aren’t emerging leaders, they’re already leading. It’s time everyone else caught up.
Read more from Amie-Leigh Minshull
Amie-Leigh Minshull, Seasoned PR Professional
Amie-Leigh is a seasoned PR professional with over 12 years of experience in global public relations and marketing, spanning both in-house and agency roles. Based in Grantham, UK, she launched Shh! PR to make high-quality, strategic PR accessible to female business owners. Her expertise lies in crafting compelling brand narratives and leveraging both traditional and digital media to amplify visibility. Known for her results-driven approach, Amie-Leigh has built a strong network and reputation in the industry. She is also passionate about mentoring emerging PR talent and supporting the next generation of professionals.
