Female Founders Rise – An OOH campaign celebrating female founders

You've got what it takes

Only 15% of UK businesses are owned or led by women, the lowest figure since before the pandemic. Upon digging deeper, we were horrified to learn more about the barriers women face in starting and scaling businesses. Lack of VC investment, expensive childcare, and societal expectations all conspire to make it more difficult for women business owners. But perhaps one of the biggest barriers? Representation. You can’t be what you can’t see. Without visible examples of successful female founders, many women struggle to envision entrepreneurship as an option for themselves. YeahNice saw an opportunity to change that.

In partnership with Female Founders Rise, a community that provides resources, advice, and support for female and non-binary founders, we set out to inspire and empower potential female entrepreneurs. With the fact that up to £250billion could be added to the UK economy if women started and scaled businesses at the same rate as men, we knew this was a mission worth championing.

We also created a bank of downloadable assets for people to add to their social media profiles, to show their support, or mark themselves as a founder. It meant we could bring female founders from all industries together and create a real show of unity to the world.

‍Designed to amplify real voices

YeahNice approached Female Founders Rise with a campaign idea: You’ve Got What It Takes. This campaign was designed to address the challenges female founders face while showcasing the untapped potential they bring to the UK economy. At the heart of the campaign was a focus on visibility: showcasing real stories from real female founders to inspire the next generation of business leaders. We wanted to make sure that no one else was speaking for these women and that it was their voices being heard on the creative.

To bring this vision to life, we developed a targeted out of home (OOH) and digital campaign featuring dynamic visuals, animated statistics, and powerful interviews with female founders sharing their journeys. The visual identity was built around the idea of strength and resilience, with all animations featuring a ‘rising’ motif, and paired with a message of empowerment: "You’ve Got What It Takes." By putting real female founders front and centre, we wanted to celebrate their stories and use their experience to empower future entrepreneurs.

‍Laying the foundations for change

The campaign highlighted key facts, including the £250 billion potential value to the UK economy if female founders started and scaled businesses at the same rate as their male counterparts. But beyond the statistics, it was the stories – of resilience, optimism, and overcoming challenges – that made the biggest impact.