The reality of female founders in 2025
Let’s be honest: being a female founder in 2025 means waking up with a thousand ideas and still forgetting to eat lunch. It’s negotiating with suppliers in your slippers. It’s one tab open for Canva, one for Companies House, and another for “how to write a contract that doesn’t sound passive-aggressive.”
It’s brilliant. It’s overwhelming. It’s powerful. And no, it’s not just you.
Across the UK, more women than ever are starting businesses — and staying in them. From handmade brands run out of kitchens in Nottingham to fast-scaling tech startups in Sheffield, the female founder scene is buzzing with energy, connection, and actual results.
But here’s the bit we don’t talk about enough: it’s also isolating.
Running your own business as a woman often means juggling more than just strategy and sales. It means running a household, dealing with invisible labour, and wondering if you're taken seriously when you ask for funding in a room full of suits. It means craving a space where you don’t have to prove yourself before you’re allowed to speak.
Enter Orlune
We built Orlune because too many brilliant women were building in silos. No “how’s your business doing?” over brunch. No “I’ve been there” advice at 10pm when your launch flops. Just you, your ideas, and an algorithm that doesn’t care.
Now, we’ve changed that.
Orlune is a place where founders meet online, in London, across the Midlands, and yes, sometimes just in the group chat. It’s part podcast, part party, part power-network. Whether you're based in Bassetlaw or Brixton, we’re the women you text when something big happens (or breaks).
And we’re not just talking, we’re seeing the change:
- 642 founders have joined the community
- 2,863 images shared in our virtual check-ins, events, and podcast launches
- 1,974 thank yous passed between women who get it
We’ve seen beauty founders raise six figures, illustrators get stocked in John Lewis, and service-based businesses land corporate retainers because of a single Orlune introduction.
Meanwhile, out in the world…
💸 The BGF is injecting £300 million into female-led scale-ups
🩷 Rhode was just acquired for $111 million, yes, Hailey is still that girl
🏁 Charlotte Tilbury joined Formula 1 to back the next generation of female drivers
📣 Parliament is (finally) asking questions about female founder inequality
And yet, it still feels like we have to shout twice as loud for half the space.
That’s why Orlune exists, to make space louder, easier, and more connected. We're building a new kind of club. No gatekeeping. No jargon. Just connection, community, and the confidence to grow faster, together.
Ready to step inside?
We’ve got:
- Weekly virtual check-ins
- Expert webinars
- Real-life coffee catch-ups (yes, the pink kind)
- A podcast that actually tells the truth