Men in England still make around three times as many cycling trips as women, according to the Department for Transport’s National Travel Survey 2024. Safety concerns remain the single biggest barrier, with Department for Transport data from 2024 showing that 64% of women feel it is unsafe to cycle on the roads, compared with 40% of men. That gap is not only a public-health missed opportunity; it is also a market opportunity. Women making cycling safer in the UK are designing products that directly address those fears, combining engineering, design and entrepreneurship to make cycling feel safer and more accessible.

Regular cycling reduces the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, and replacing short car trips with bike journeys can cut transport emissions. Yet until people feel safe, those benefits remain out of reach for many women.

The economic case is strong. The 2024 Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship found that women-led businesses contribute around £105 billion to the UK economy, while closing the gender entrepreneurship gap could add up to £250 billion. The government continues to fund active travel through the Department for Transport, with the latest Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans aiming to make cycling and walking the natural choice for short journeys. Supporting women who are building safer cycling products therefore has the potential to improve public health, cut emissions and create jobs. For broader context on women in business, see our Women in Business: Key UK Facts page.

Women making cycling safer in the UK

The invisible bicycle helmet: innovation and its limits

The most striking example of this innovation is the Hövding invisible bicycle helmet. Swedish industrial designers Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin set out to solve a problem they knew first-hand: many people, and women in particular, avoid traditional helmets because they are bulky, hot and ruin hairstyles. As students in Lund, they spent seven years developing an airbag collar that deploys around the neck and head in the event of a crash.

Since launching in 2014, the device went through several iterations. The final model used advanced sensors and algorithms to distinguish normal cycling movements from accident situations, inflating in a fraction of a second. Independent research indicated that the airbag design could offer substantially better shock absorption than conventional helmets, and the product was sold across Europe, including the UK. By reframing a safety device as a fashion accessory, Haupt and Alstin proved that protective equipment does not have to look like protective equipment.

The business story is also instructive. Hövding later filed for bankruptcy after struggling with profitability and product recalls. For women founders, the lesson is that breakthrough design does not guarantee a sustainable business model: unit economics, quality control and route-to-market strategy matter just as much as the prototype.

Lighting up blind spots

In the UK, Emily Brooke took a similarly user-centred approach. While studying design at the University of Brighton, she developed Blaze, a front bike light that projects a laser image of a bicycle five to six metres ahead of the rider. The idea was to counteract the blind-spot collisions that are especially common for cyclists in urban traffic.

In 2012, Brooke launched Blaze through a crowdfunding campaign that quickly exceeded its target. The company later rebranded as Beryl and grew far beyond a single light. Beryl supplies safety products and operates shared micromobility schemes in towns and cities across the UK, and its Laserlight technology has been fitted to bike-share fleets in London and elsewhere. Beryl was later acquired by shared mobility operator Shift Transit, giving the business the scale to expand its UK operations further.

Brooke’s funding journey is a useful case study for women founders. Blaze began with a small angel investment and support from friends and family, followed by an early funding round backed by the Branson family and Index Ventures. In the years that followed, Beryl used a mix of crowdfunding, grants and private investment to scale from prototype to national operations. Brooke was also an early participant in Entrepreneur First, the UK tech accelerator, and later joined PCH International’s hardware accelerator, gaining access to the supply chains and manufacturing processes used by major consumer brands.

Her advice to would-be entrepreneurs remains practical: “Go ask people who know better. I had never grown a company, a team, never raised money, never done any marketing… but there is always going to be someone who has. So go and ask nicely, be appreciative of their time, and ask a lot of questions.”

Smart lights and data-driven safety

A more recent UK example comes from See.Sense, a Northern Ireland company co-founded by Irene McAleese. Its intelligent bike lights use AI-powered sensors to detect road conditions, collisions and near-misses, flashing brighter in riskier situations and collecting anonymised data that helps councils identify dangerous junctions. The company has worked with British Cycling, local authorities and fleet operators, turning a consumer safety product into a source of transport intelligence.

See.Sense illustrates a second route to scale: selling not just to individual cyclists but to public-sector buyers and corporate fleets. For women founders in the cycling space, the public sector can be a significant customer, particularly as councils implement Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans and seek data to prioritise investment.

What women founders can learn

The stories of Hövding, Beryl and See.Sense highlight four lessons for women-led startups:

• Start with a problem you understand. All three founders built products rooted in their own experience, which made their pitches and designs more credible.
• Explore every funding route. From crowdfunding for female founders and angel investors to accelerators and business grants for women, the right mix depends on the stage of the business.
• Use your difference. Brooke has said that being a sole female founder made her more memorable in a room full of tech entrepreneurs. Visibility can be an asset.
• Plan for the business, not just the product. Hövding’s bankruptcy shows that even celebrated hardware can fail if the commercial model is not robust.

Funding and support in 2026

Women founders in the cycling and micromobility sector can draw on a range of UK support. The British Business Bank continues to channel government funding into women-led businesses, while Innovate UK runs competitions for transport and clean-tech innovation. For very early-stage ventures, Start Up Loans offer personal loans for business purposes alongside mentoring.

Grant funding is particularly relevant for hardware and sustainability businesses. Cycling safety products often sit at the intersection of clean transport, public health and smart cities, making them eligible for innovation grants, local growth funds and clean-tech competitions. Founders should also look at sector-specific support from organisations such as Cycling UK and British Cycling, which run advocacy, research and partnership programmes.

Conclusion

Making cycling safer is not only about infrastructure; it is also about products that fit the way people actually live. Women making cycling safer in the UK are showing that safety equipment can be stylish, intuitive and embedded in everyday transport systems. For women considering a startup in the sector, the message is clear: there is funding, support and a large, underserved market waiting. For investors and policymakers, backing these ventures is a straightforward way to accelerate both gender equality and sustainable transport.