Applications are now open for the next Women to Women Programme, the peer-powered investment accelerator created by AccelerateHER and our sister company Investing Women Angels.
This is where female founders meet women who are curious about angel investing. As a result, it’s where investment becomes less intimidating, more practical, and more personal.
Women sit on both sides of the table and learn what it really takes to raise, invest and build strong early-stage companies in Scotland.
The numbers are already telling a powerful story about the impact created by this programme.
Founders from previous W2W cohorts have now raised £1,687,000 since taking part in the programme. And 45% of investor participants have become angel investors.
Why Women to Women Matters
That is exactly what W2W creates: a practical, supportive bridge between curiosity and action.
For founders, it builds clarity and confidence around raising.
For investor-curious women, it makes angel investing feel visible, accessible and possible.
For many founders, raising investment can feel like learning a new language while running a business at full speed.
The pitch deck, financial model, and valuation. The investor questions. The quiet niggle of wondering whether you are “ready” to be in the room.
For many women interested in angel investing, the barrier is different but just as relevant.
They are what we call “investor curious”. They may have business experience, sector knowledge, capital, connections or commercial insight to offer. But they are not always sure where to begin, what questions to ask, or whether angel investing is “for people like them”.
The Women to Women programme has successfully brought those two groups together.
Across five in-person sessions, founders and investor-curious women learn side by side. There is no jargon left unexplained. No performative confidence required. Participants tell us there is “no sharky energy” that they’ve experienced in other programmes.
Instead, they are armed with practical learning, honest conversations and women backing women with knowledge, capital, connections and belief.
What happens inside W2W
The Women to Women Programme is an in-person peer accelerator (in Scotland, for now) designed to bridge the gap between female founders seeking investment and women ready to explore angel investing for the first time.
Participants learn from experienced founders, active angel investors, financial and legal experts, and women who have been exactly where they are now.
By the end of the programme, founders and investors will have:
- Built trusted peer connections
- Strengthened their understanding of early-stage investment
- Explored SEIS, EIS, cap tables, due diligence and valuation
- Practised pitching and investor Q&A
- Created a clear personal action plan
- Heard real stories from women who have raised, backed and built businesses
- Joined a growing movement to increase female representation in Scotland’s investment ecosystem
Real Founders. Real Change.
For Nicky Brugnola, Founder of Wellness Traveller, W2W came at exactly the right moment.
Her business had already proven traction, with more than 80,000 website visitors and strong buying signals. The opportunity was there, but the next stage required capital, clarity and structure.
Through W2W, she sharpened her investment story, strengthened her financial model and began to see the business through an investor’s eyes.
For Natasha Allden, CEO of MULTIPLY, the programme helped shift her from founder mode into leadership mode.
And for Susan Lindsay, W2W opened the door to angel investing.
That is the heart of W2W. It is not just about raising money. It is about changing who gets access to investment conversations, who feels able to take part, and who gets backed as a result.
Is the Women to Women Programme right for you?
Yes, if you are:
- A female founder in Scotland running an early-stage, innovation-led company and preparing for investment
- A woman who is curious about angel investing but unsure where to start
- Ready to learn in an open, in-person environment built for beginners and builders alike
- Able to commit fully to five in-person sessions across five weeks in Edinburgh
There are only 20 places available, and the aim is to create a balanced cohort of 50% founders and 50% investor-curious women.
The programme is free to participants, thanks to support from the Scottish Government, Scottish National Investment Bank, Burness Paull LLP and Johnston Carmichael.
Applications are now closed – but you can register your interest for future programmes here:
Apply for Women to Women
If you have ever thought:
“I’m not sure if I’m ready to raise.”
“I’ve always wanted to understand angel investing.”
“I want to be in the room with women who get it.”
Then W2W could be the place for you.
You do not need to have all the answers before you apply.
You just need the ambition to learn, the openness to ask questions, and the curiosity to step into the room.
Applications have now closed.