South Yorkshire’s Spotlight on Women in Tech 2026: Progress and Potential

Our new report South Yorkshire’s Spotlight on Women in Tech 2026 reveals a landscape showing both encouraging momentum and persistent structural barriers. While the region is taking meaningful steps forward, through investment, visibility and community support, the data makes it clear that progress remains uneven.

Where We’re Moving Forward

Over the past year, female founders and women working in tech have become more visible across the ecosystem. Networks are strengthening, events are platforming more women, and early‑stage support programmes are helping founders take their ideas further. There’s undeniable energy building across the region.

"It is amazing to see more and more initiatives emerging in the region, creating the spaces women need to thrive and innovate." - Luisa Ponces de Carvalho, Co-founder & CEO of Nasalyzer Ltd

However, representation and access to opportunity remain limited. Only 18% of tech roles in South Yorkshire are currently held by women, well below the national average. Tech company boards also reflect this imbalance, with the majority still all‑male. The investment picture mirrors this pattern: since 2014, only 10% of announced funding has gone to female‑founded companies, while all‑male teams have secured 80%.

Why This Matters

Despite these disparities, the performance data is crystal clear that female‑founded companies deliver twice the revenue per £1 invested compared to male‑founded firms, and their valuations continue to rise. The region’s female‑founded tech businesses, though still small in number, are collectively valued at £198m — demonstrating both their impact and their potential.

Founders themselves highlight what’s driving their progress: community, human connection, and peer networks. At the same time, funding access and systemic inequality remain the biggest barriers to growth.

A Call for Systemic Change

South Yorkshire has the talent, the ambition and the beginnings of a strong support ecosystem. But real equality requires more than visibility alone. It calls for sustained investment, intentional allyship from men, and programmes designed to remove the structural barriers women disproportionately face. If we want a thriving, future‑ready tech sector, we need to back women at every stage, as founders, employees, investors and leaders.

"We need more flexible programmes and year‑round financial support that are designed to empower women who are no less ambitious, but building in a different way." - Emma Louise Staines, Founder of ComplyAI Europe

TECH SY will soon be launching a new Women in Tech Taskforce, focused on strengthening support for women across the entire ecosystem — from female founders, to women working in tech roles, to those stepping into or already active in the investment landscape.

The objective is simple: remove barriers, amplify opportunities, and advance women’s progress in South Yorkshire’s tech economy. More details will be shared in the coming weeks as the programme takes shape.

The full South Yorkshire's Spotlight on Women in Tech 2026 report explores the data, stories and opportunities shaping the region’s ecosystem.