Barclays Eagle Labs Female Founder Accelerator

Powered by AccelerateHER

Ready to grow your tech business?

This 9-week accelerator is designed for UK-based female founders scaling ambitious ventures and preparing for the next stage of growth. Whether that means strengthening their teams, expanding into new markets, or exploring future investment opportunities.

Applications are closed for the next cohort, but register your interest for future programmes to stay in the loop.

What is the Female Founder Accelerator?

Created and delivered by Barclays Eagle Labs and AccelerateHER, the Female Founder Accelerator is a fast-paced, high-impact programme for women building innovation-led businesses.

It’s for founders who are beyond the idea stage, with a product either in-market or close to launch, and ready to accelerate towards sustainable growth.

Over nine weeks, you’ll gain the tools, guidance and network to grow your business with purpose and clarity. You’ll also become part of a community of female founders who’ve been where you are and are building what comes next.

This isn’t about generic business advice. It’s about real-world learning, founder-to-founder support, backing from experts, and practical steps that move you forward.

What You’ll Gain

This programme is all about unlocking momentum.

By the end of the accelerator, you’ll have:

Sharpened your pitch and clearly articulated your value
Strengthened your financial literacy, forecasting to support confident decision-making.
Connected with mentors, peers and investors who understand your stage and ambition
Built an actionable strategy for growth and team building
Created tangible traction for fundraising or commercial partnerships
Formed deep relationships with fellow founders who’ll support you beyond the programme

What our Accelerator Alumni said:

“AccelerateHER helped me fast-track the fundamentals I didn’t even realise I was missing. It gave me the grounding across all the moving parts of running a business - not just product.”

“At the time we joined, we’d just opened our pre-seed round and were totally overwhelmed by the path ahead. We had built and tested Petscribers and needed support to turn that traction into something fundable. The accelerator didn’t sit above what was happening in the business. It ran alongside it, offering reference rather than direction.”

“Even if you don’t have all the answers, just being in that environment will shape your next steps. You’ll be surprised at what emerges - we certainly were.”

“The masterclasses were relevant and rich in practical advice. But the standout value was the people; fellow founders, mentors, and connections that continue to support me months after the programme ended.”

What’s Included

You’ll join a handpicked cohort of 100 female founders for a mix of expert-led masterclasses, mentoring, and peer support, including:

Weekly online masterclasses (2 hours each) on topics like marketing, sales, pitching, finance, scaling, and procurement
1:1 mentoring with experienced founders and angel investors from the AccelerateHER and Barclays networks
Peer accountability groups for honest conversation and shared learning
Community networking events and optional meetups in London and Scotland
A showcase opportunity to present your venture to investors, partners and ecosystem leaders

Who is this Accelerator Programme for?

This accelerator is ideal if:

You’re a female founder or senior decision-maker in your company
You’ve built, or are close to launching, your MVP or first product
Your business uses digital technology or innovation to deliver your solution
You’re looking for practical support to scale your team, product, and operations

The accelerator is designed for ventures beyond the ‘idea’ stage.

This means:

You’ve created or are close to creating your minimal viable product (MVP) (you have built a minimum viable product and are gathering user feedback to refine your offering)
You’re ready to bring your product to market or have already
You have ambitions to scale in the next 12 to 18 months
You operate within key technology and innovation sectors.

While this programme will cover elements of the investment process, it’s not aimed at businesses who are specifically looking for investment, nor is it an investment-readiness programme.

If your business is looking for investment readiness support, consider applying for the Funding Readiness Programme.

When It Runs - Our Next Programme

Applications open: May 2026

Cohort begins: September 2026

Programme ends: November 2026

Online masterclasses: Fridays, 10:00 to 12:00

Each week focuses on a key topic founders tell us they need most.

Please note that these topics and their delivery order are subject to change.:

Week 1: Building connections and getting started
Week 2: Marketing that scales
Week 3: Sales and negotiation
Week 4: Pitching with purpose
Week 5: Navigating procurement
Week 6: Midpoint Q&A + Big Connect info
Week 7: Finance fundamentals
Week 8: Growing a high-performing team
Week 9: Strategies for scaling

Why AccelerateHER?

We’ve helped over 7,000 female founders unlock investment, confidence and growth. We know the unique challenges — and power — of women building businesses in tech and innovation.

Through our accelerators, mentoring and investor network, we’ve supported:

Over £70m in funding raised
More than 550 jobs created
A 700% increase in investment into female-led businesses since 2015

We’re not here for box-ticking. We’re here to back women who build, and help them scale, lead, and thrive.

This isn’t just an accelerator. It’s a space that gets you

What makes the Female Founder Accelerator different?

It’s not just the quality of the content, though you’ll get that. It’s the environment.

This is a space where female founders are heard, supported and challenged, without the posturing, pressure or performative ‘startup hustle’ energy.

What Our Alumni Say:

“It’s one of the only spaces I’ve been in where I felt truly safe. You’re not being talked over. There’s no ‘sharky’ energy. People actually listen and respect each other. You gain confidence just by being around that energy.”

“As first-time founders, having a support network like this is invaluable.”

Register Your Interest

Applications open in May 2026, but places fill fast, and there are strictly 100 competitive spots available.

Have questions or wondering if it’s right for you? Get in touch

This is the Power of Collective Growth

When female founders collaborate, magic happens.

This isn’t just an accelerator. It’s an ecosystem.

And we’d love to welcome you into it.

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