Analysis
December 5, 2022
Investors could make another £500m a year by backing disabled founders
Disabled business owners are overrepresented in society, but struggle to find investment opportunities
Tim Smith
4 min read
Celia Hensman, founding director at the Disability Policy Centre
Disabled founders are systemically excluded from the investment ecosystem despite the huge value they bring to the economy, according to a new report by the campaign group Access2Funding.
A survey of more than 200 UK entrepreneurs living with a disability, who have either recently sought or received funding, found that 84% of respondents believe they don’t have equal access to the same opportunities and resources as non-disabled entrepreneurs.
This is despite the fact that a quarter of small business owners in the UK are disabled, according to the Federation of Small Businesses, while around 21% of people of working age are thought to live with a disability. It’s worth remembering that this group doesn’t only refer to people with obvious sensory or mobility impairments, and that the majority of disabilities aren’t immediately visible to people.
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Access2Funding says that, [...]