ACCELERATING ACTION: An interview with Lynne Cadenhead, COO of TRICAPITAL Angels Limited

Don’t be afraid to ask for help – asking for help is not a sign of weakness – it’s a sign of confidence, ambition and a willingness to admit what you do not know – yet!

For International Women’s Day 2025, our Emerging Companies team is highlighting the gender funding gap which remains a critical hurdle for many female entrepreneurs. Burges Salmon is proud to be connected with a number of inspirational women and will be sharing a series of articles and interviews (see our previous interviews with (i) Jane Pearce, CEO of Rookwood Operations Ltd, (ii) Cristina Diez Santos, CEO of Open Hydro, (iii) Natasha McKenzie, CEO of Talisman Sparro, (iv) Sophie Creese, CEO of HeyFlow and Founder of MotherBoard and (v) Ana Betancourt, CEO of Black Goblin) to inspire the next generation of female entrepreneurs, and demonstrate the potential and impact of investing in female innovators and female-led businesses.

To finish our accelerating action series, we spoke with Lynne Cadenhead of TRICAPITAL Angels Limited to provide an investor's perspective. Lynne is the Chief Operating Officer at TRICAPITAL Angels Limited, a leading angel investment group committed to supporting early-stage businesses. With extensive experience in start-ups, equity investment, life sciences, business development, and strategic leadership, Lynne is at the forefront of TRICAPITAL Angels mission to foster innovation and entrepreneurship across Scotland. As someone working within the VC space, Lynne kindly took the time to share her insights and guidance for female entrepreneurs looking to secure venture capital funding. 

What are some common misconceptions about female entrepreneurs?

 There are three key misconceptions about women entrepreneurs - they are risk-averse, they lack ambition, and they lack confidence. 

 Any entrepreneur starting a business is taking a risk! Women are not risk-averse but have advanced risk awareness and typically assess risk differently to men. Women tend to prioritise sustainable growth and long-term stability over short-term gains, leading to better financial management and resilience, with less “boom and bust” which makes them a good bet for investment! The flip side of this however is that women can have a slower growth trajectory and in some cases this more considered approach to growth can appear to investors and advisers that women lack ambition and don’t want to grow. This is simply not true. On a like for like basis, given the same amount of starting capital, global research consistently shows that women-led businesses outperform male-led businesses and are more sustainable over the longer-term – but it can take women a bit longer to get to the same inflection points.

It is also said that women tend to run small or lifestyle businesses – again, not true. Whilst a balanced economy is made up businesses of all shapes and sizes and women typically set up their businesses in different sectors than men, there are multiple examples of women entrepreneurs who start up and grow scalable high impact companies. However, a lack of funding can hinder their growth. Less than 2% of equity funding in the UK goes to all women-led businesses – or put another way, men get 50X more funding! On this basis is it any wonder that women cannot grow their businesses as much as men? This is not a lack of ambition – it’s a sign of serious and systemic market failure in a funding system designed by men and for men. And whilst there are positive steps being taken to address this funding deficit, the pace of change is unfortunately still glacially slow. 

 And finally, women lack confidence. Again, simply not true. Whilst confidence - for everyone - can sometimes wobble at key transition points, women can display their confidence in a different way to men – more of a quiet and calm confidence than an overly brash approach. Research also indicates that men can tend to overestimate their confidence and women underestimate their confidence. The key is for everyone to appreciate that confidence is displayed in different ways and to look for both confidence and competence. 

What is your key takeaway from being in both women-only and mixed gender investment organisations?

I am a firm believer in the importance of balance in business. All-male businesses and boards are not ideal, nor are all-women businesses and boards – it is diversity of thought that brings different perspectives and balanced decision-making, which is good for growth. Research indicates that underrepresented voices are heard when they make up 30% of an organisation, so at minimum that is what we should be aiming for to benefit from the richness of different voices, opinions, experiences, thought processes and risk appetites. I have had the privilege over my career of being involved in both women-only and mixed gender investment organisations and in my opinion now, balance is certainly best. However, there is an ongoing need for safe space networking and development opportunities for women entrepreneurs and investors to connect, learn and authentically share their thoughts and questions, free from judgement.   

What advice would you give to female entrepreneurs looking to secure VC funding?

Firstly, remember that equity funding is not for every business, many businesses can be funded through different finance options. However, if you are looking to raise equity funding to grow a high-growth business, you need a very strong business case that emphasises scalability and market opportunity. You also need to not just “know” your numbers, but “feel” your numbers – what are the financial projections really saying? It’s also important to target the right investors and start to build your network as early as you can in the process – both with investors and fellow women entrepreneurs. Don’t be afraid to ask for help – asking for help is not a sign of weakness – it’s a sign of confidence, ambition and a willingness to admit what you do not know – yet! 

An authentic, concise and compelling pitch is important, but equally important is the ability to answer questions. Many entrepreneurs are great at presenting but crumble when it comes to questions after a pitch. Prepare in advance a list of the ten most difficult questions an investor could ask you (which can often be the ones you don’t want to answer…) and prepare a compelling response – it is likely that an investor will ask the hard questions! If you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t fumble and fudge – just say you will get back with a detailed response – and do so. 

Crucially, be aware of bias within the funding system. It’s not right, it’s not fair, but it is there. Research shows that men are typically asked questions about growth and scale, whereas women are asked questions about risk mitigation. The solution? Answer the risk questions posed to you and then immediately talk about the growth and opportunity again.

Finally, expect rejection, it’s part of the process. Resilience and persistence are all when raising funding. Culturally however, women are typically not as used to handing rejection on such a consistent basis as men are and it can become demoralising. Key is to build a supportive network around you to cope with rejection and ask for as much feedback as you can get from investors to hone your pitch for the next time. 

What strategy do you think is best for addressing the funding gap?

There are three key points here. Firstly, it is for everyone in the policy and funding ecosystems to deeply understand that women typically have a different approach to risk and how that manifests and positively shapes the way they start up and grow their businesses. This understanding needs to be embedded and designed into all systems of support.

Secondly, whilst I personally do not advocate for women-only funds (some research indicates that this can be detrimental to long term funding opportunities for women-led businesses), there is a real need for additional support dedicated to meet women’s needs that works alongside mainstream support services. Funding support needs can change along the growth journey and women benefit from being able to flow in and out of different services as their needs change. Safe space training and development opportunities for women entrepreneurs and investors alike are highly beneficial in developing mutual understanding and funding opportunities. 

Thirdly, more women investors, both at VC firms and as angel investors, who are making the investment decisions and interested in investing in sectors where women typically set up their businesses. With regards to women angel investors, as a nation we are making good strides forward with a number of excellent initiatives, but so many women are not aware of the opportunities and SEIS/EIS tax benefits available to them through angel investment. More awareness through women-focussed networking and education opportunities is so important – many people think that you need to be ultra-wealthy to be a business angel but you can start investing from as little as a few thousand pounds a year. I would encourage women to join a local business angel syndicate and learn and invest alongside others – there is strength in numbers – but only ever invest what you can afford to lose – anything you invest is at high risk.   

What advice would you give to women looking to work in VC, for example, at a fund, or as an angel investor?

Women remain underrepresented in both VC and angel investment – less than 15% of decision-makers in both types of funding entities are women. Build your network by attending VC and start-up events and look for an experienced mentor to understand the basics of investing or seek an internship at a VC firm. The UKBAA and many business angel groups offer training and development programmes to help develop your skills and understanding – join a local business angel group and benefit from the knowledge of experienced investors. It’s also useful to work out your personal risk appetite for early stage investing - it’s not for everyone - as this will help establish your investment appetite in terms of sectors and stages of funding. 

We would like to thank Lynne for taking the time to speak to us about this important issue.

If you would like to discuss any of the points raised in this article, please get in touch with your Burges Salmon contact or the Emerging Companies Team on [email protected] . In addition to providing legal advice generally to start-ups, scale-ups, founders, and investors, we deliver legal advice to early-stage companies through the firm’s legal accelerator: BScale, with the aim of supporting early-stage businesses in scaling up their operations by providing corporate, regulatory, tax, employment, IP and commercial advice.

Written by Victoria MacAulay, Eleanor Furlong and Joanna Gray