In the venture capital and startup ecosystem, decisions are increasingly shaped by data. Yet, the availability of demographic data on who gets funded, and who does the funding, remains sparse and inconsistent. This gap limits our ability to understand and address persistent underrepresentation and underfunding across communities.
Building on the successful US Diversity Data Alliance model, the UK Diversity Data Alliance brings together nine organizations across the venture capital and startup ecosystem to introduce a shared framework for collecting diversity data tailored specifically to the UK context.
Rather than starting from siloed efforts, the UK DDA was formed as a collaborative initiative from the outset. Our cross-sector working group adapted the US framework to reflect the UK's legal, cultural, and policy landscape, developing standardised approaches for ethnicity (UK Census-aligned categories with flexible self-description options), disability (tiered, self-identification format aligned with the Equality Act and social model), and socioeconomic background (UK-specific framework informed by social mobility best practices).
The resulting standards draw on national frameworks and community consultation to ensure both rigor and relevance. By providing sample questions, implementation guidance, and clear rationale, we aim to make demographic data collection more consistent, comprehensive, and actionable across the UK venture ecosystem.
We believe that with a trusted, verifiable, and comprehensive approach to data collection and reporting, we can take concrete steps toward a more equitable UK VC ecosystem. We invite VC funds, accelerators, LPs, government bodies, and think tanks to align with these standards and work with us in creating a more evidence-based, inclusive future for UK innovation.
Founding Members
Contributors
Want to be a part of the Alliance?
All you need to do is update your future data collection forms to reflect the standard survey language we’ve included in our paper below. We’ll provide more information in the coming months on how we might all potentially start aggregating the data from everyone; make sure to check back here.
If you have historical data, we also suggest mapping your old data sets to the new standard format.
