EY, Panintelligence, and The Data City Spotlight the Female Founders Driving Super-Scaled Growth

Scaling a business is a challenge for any entrepreneur, but for female founders in the UK, the journey to breaking £50 million in revenue often means facing systemic obstacles head-on. Recognising the untapped potential of these high-impact leaders, EY Private launched the “SuperScalers” initiative to do more than just celebrate success stories. They set out to uncover and share the data-driven secrets behind these women-led businesses, equipping future founders with the insights needed to thrive.

To bring this ambitious project to life, EY needed collaborators who could transform complex data into an inspiring narrative that would resonate across industries. Enter Panintelligence and The Data City, who together helped EY turn raw data into a roadmap for understanding scaling success—a roadmap that could help accelerate economic growth in this entrepreneurial demographic throughout the UK.

EY’s mission required a fresh approach. While there was plenty of data on entrepreneurship, the specific patterns and drivers for female-led businesses scaling beyond £50 million were unclear. EY was determined to go beyond traditional analytics, looking to transform numbers into insights that could illuminate pathways to success.

Panintelligence and The Data City joined forces to bring EY’s hypotheses to life, helping the team see beyond the spreadsheets. What made this collaboration unique was that EY came with indicative hypotheses in mind but needed data to corroborate, substantiate and expand those narratives. This “reverse” approach—working backward from stories to data—offered a unique advantage.

The journey wasn’t without its challenges. At the outset, defining the right data scope was crucial, as EY needed clear, actionable metrics to move forward with confidence. The Data City’s platform provided the agility needed to adapt quickly to new insights and questions as they arose. The collaboration was marked by a spirit of discovery, with each stakeholder bringing their expertise to bear on the project’s evolving needs.

The Data City’s embedded analytics allowed EY to explore various data perspectives quickly, turning raw information into visual insights that told a story. Panintelligence’s role as a translator of data further enriched the process, transforming complex numbers into narratives that EY could bring to their stakeholders with clarity and impact. This synergy between teams allowed EY to unearth four core drivers behind the Female SuperScalers’ success.

Through The Data City’s dynamic visualisations and Panintelligence’s contextual expertise, EY identified four critical success factors for female-led businesses that had reached scale:

• These businesses had distinctly greater access to venture capital, an essential resource for scaling.
• A notable concentration of these businesses was London-based, reflecting geographic imbalances in scaling opportunities.
• Many successful female-led businesses were in the consumer products and services.
• International expansion was a significant growth lever for these businesses, underscoring the importance of global ambition.

With The Data City’s clear, visual data insights, EY could share these findings with a wide range of stakeholders, from policymakers to female founders, sparking new conversations about what it takes to achieve growth of this scale.

The “Unleashing the Superscalers: EY Female Founders Insight Series” report brought these insights to life, identifying 45 female-led businesses in the UK with turnovers over £50 million, contributing a combined £7 billion to the economy and employing over 55,000 people. The report sparked widespread interest, drawing attention from major stakeholders, including UK Finance and the Treasury, and igniting discussions on improving access to funding for female entrepreneurs.

• Social media lit up with female founders sharing the report and expressing pride in their contributions. As such,the report received 142,000 impressions, 514 engagements, 14,000 clicks and over 100 shares
• Richard Tyler also wrote an excellent piece in The Times

The report did more than showcase data—it inspired a community of leaders who recognised that their stories were worth telling and that their journeys could pave the way for future success.

The success of the SuperScalers initiative has encouraged EY to keep the momentum going. With Panintelligence and The Data City as trusted collaborators, EY is setting its sights on identifying emerging “ones to watch” and empowering them with the same insights that have proven transformative for the first wave of SuperScalers. Together, they aim to build a supportive network that will foster the next generation of female-led high-growth companies, continuing to push boundaries in the UK and beyond.

This collaboration demonstrated the true power of data-driven storytelling. Panintelligence and The Data City enabled EY to turn data into insights that were not only actionable but deeply resonant. The SuperScalers initiative highlighted the potential of female-led businesses while providing a roadmap for others to learn from.

Through this collaboration, EY didn’t just produce a report; they fostered a movement, inspiring and empowering female entrepreneurs with insights that could fuel their future success. As EY, Panintelligence, and The Data City look to the next chapter, they remain committed to one goal: a more inclusive, supportive business landscape where all leaders have the tools they need to scale and succeed.