How the early-stage gender funding gap stifles UK tech growth – Merian Ventures’ Priya Guha

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Technology, Entrepreneur, Tech, Business, Hr, Sales, Uktech, Investing, Funding, Entrepreneurship, Marketing

5 • 6 Ratings

🗓️ 7 November 2023

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Priya Guha, venture partner at Merian Ventures, discusses the skills gap and the shortage of women in STEM roles, why tech companies shouldn’t overlook the arts, and how the early-stage gender funding gap is holding back UK growth. Elsewhere on the show, the investor and former diplomat discusses the UK’s “untapped capital pool” and reveals what she wants to see from the next British government.

Guha has been at Merian Ventures since 2019, where she invests in women-led innovation. She was previously a career diplomat, most recently as British Consul General to San Francisco where she was embedded in Silicon Valley. In addition to her current role at Merian, Guha holds non-executive director roles at UKRI and Digital Capital, along with advisory roles at Kheiron Medical Technologies and Gallos Technologies. In addition to these roles, she is a member of the investment governance board at Future Planet Capital, council member at Innovate UK and a NED at Reach PLC. In 2021, she was awarded an MBE for services to international trade and women in innovation.

Transcript

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0:00.0	In the UK and indeed in the US as well, you have an ongoing challenge that girls from a very early age
0:14.5	are dropping out of the subjects that are really important for technology.
0:21.6	This can't just be a Golden Triangle story.
0:23.6	There's going to be incredible talent coming out of lots of regions of the UK.
0:30.6	I really hope that whoever will be in power in the UK
0:34.6	and frankly globally in the years to come, we'll be recognising that science and technology and equitable growth
0:43.4	are sort of fundamentals for the future story of every country in the world.
0:51.4	From the first time founders to the funds that back them, innovation needs different.
0:57.1	Our episode partner, HSBC Innovation Banking, is proud to accelerate growth for tech and
1:02.9	life science businesses, creating meaningful connections and opening up a world of opportunity
1:08.0	for entrepreneurs and investors alike. Discover more at www.
1:12.9	hsbc innovation banking.com slash EM dashGB.
1:22.0	Hello and welcome to the UKTN podcast, a weekly chat with the movers and shakers of the UK tech industry
1:28.6	and the destination for all things UK tech related. And this week I'm joined by Priya Gouha,
1:35.1	MBE, now partner at Merri and Benchers and previously General Manager for Rocket Space,
1:40.6	a network of campuses aimed at helping start-ups grow. Welcome, Priya. Thank you so much for
1:46.1	having me, Jane. It's lovely to be here. Now, before we talk about any of those roles I mentioned before,
1:51.0	you were a diplomat, which has got me particularly excited, including being British Consul General
1:56.8	to San Francisco. Now, the ambassadors parties in Silicon Valley must have been amazing.
2:02.4	Spill all. Well, I was so fortunate to have that role in San Francisco for five years,
2:09.9	five years where my job was to network with the amazing world of entrepreneurship and innovation that you get in a place like Silicon
2:19.7	Valley. So working with the largest tech companies, the Googles, the Facebooks, the Microsofts of
	...

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