London Is ‘Third Best Global City’ for Women Entrepreneurs

London has been ranked as the world’s third best city for fostering high-potential women entrepreneurs (HPWE), according to Dell Technologies.

Dell’s 2017 Women Entrepreneur Cities Index ranks cities on their ability to attract and foster the growth of businesses owned by women, based on factors such as the impact of local policies and characteristics, in addition to national laws and customs.

London’s third place makes it the only UK city to make the top 50 and one of only two European cities in the top ten in a list that is dominated by Asia and the US.

City rankings

To compile the list, cities were ranked on five yet characteristics: Capital, technology, talent, culture and markets.

These characteristics were then organised into two groups: operating environment and enabling environment. The final ranking was based on 72 indicators, which were weighted based on relevance, quality of underlying data, uniqueness in the index and gender component.

The top ten reads as follows: 1, New York City; 2, Bay Area; 3, London; 4, Boston; 5, Stockholm; 6, Los Angeles; 7, Washington, D.C; 8, Singapore; 9, Toronto and 10, Seattle.

Also appearing in the top 50 are Paris, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, Barcelona and Dublin.

“Globally, women’s entrepreneurship rates are growing more than 10 percent each year,” said Karen Quintos, chief customer officer at Dell. “In fact, women are as likely or more likely than men to start businesses in many markets. However, financial, cultural and political barriers can limit the success of these businesses.”

“By arming city leaders and policymakers with data-driven research and clear calls to action, we can collectively improve the landscape for high-potential women entrepreneurs, which in turn dramatically lifts a city’s economic prospects – as what is good for women is good for the economy.”

The survey of course links to the extremely topical subject of women in tech, an issue that has been prevalent in various different areas of the technology industry for some time.

But businesses are taking steps to change the tide. For example, PwC has created an apprenticeship programme aiming to bring more women into IT and Intel has committed $100 million (£77m) to buy from women-owned businesses.

Quiz: How much do you know about women in tech?