Financing is a difficult subject for many small-business owners. Few, if any, people starting their business fund the entire venture using their capital, meaning finding a source of funds is crucial to the growth of any company. Moreover, it can take two to three years for the average business to profit, making turning to loans a tenuous solution. This is where grants come into play.
Here, we discuss some grants available for women-owned businesses and how they can help grow your business to new heights. We’ll also discuss how women drive the United States’ entrepreneurial spirit, especially following The Great Resignation.
Important Stats about Women-Owned Businesses
There are some great women-owned businesses and some surprising statistics to go along with them:
- According to a Gusto study from 2022, women-owned new businesses increased from 29% in 2019 to 49% in 2021.
- The United States has 12.3 million businesses owned by women as of 2023.
- Only 25% of female business owners seek financing, and those who do ask for around $35,000 less than their male counterparts.
- The average female business owner receives $5,000 less in loans than a male business owner.
- 64% of the new businesses started in 2022 were owned by women of color.
- 40% of all United States businesses are women-owned.
- Female entrepreneurs have increased by 114% in the last 20 years.
As you can see, while women-owned businesses are on the rise, many do not seek financing or receive fewer loans than their male counterparts. Early funding is crucial for small businesses, meaning that for some business owners, seeking financing can be the difference between success and failure.
Thankfully, there are several grants aimed at women business owners. These grants bolster the economy, drive creativity, and help bridge the gap left behind by sexism, discrimination, and unequal opportunities.
Grants VS Loans
Before we dive into some of the various grants available for small business owners in 2023 (and looking forward to 2024), let’s take a moment to discuss the difference between grants and loans.
With loans, business owners pay back what they borrowed with some interest. Depending on the loan terms, this interest rate can vary drastically. As mentioned above, most businesses take at least two years, if not more, to turn a profit, meaning paying back a loan can pose significant challenges to the new business owner. However, loans are a viable way to acquire business capital, although they have hurdles.
Grants are, for lack of a better comparison, a gift in that business owners do not need to pay back the money. While grants come with many requirements (and often a lot of paperwork), they can be a way for small business owners to get startup capital to grow their businesses.
Different grants have different requirements, often aimed at helping historically marginalized groups. There are also usually business plan requirements to qualify for a grant, and stiff competition, meaning it’s crucial to read every part of the grant requirements before applying.
With all of this in mind, let’s look at grants for women-owned small businesses, as well as grants specifically made with minority women business owners in mind.
Grants for Women-Owned Small Businesses
The Amber Grant
WomensNet founded the “Amber Grant” in 1998. The grant was set up with one goal in mind: to honor the memory of a very special young woman, Amber Wigdahl, who died at just 19 years old — before realizing her business dreams.
Today, WomensNet carries on that tradition, proudly giving away at least $30,000 every month in Amber Grant money. In recognition of the diversity of businesses owned by women, they’ve also expanded our grant-giving to include “Marketing Grants,” “Business Category Grants,” as well as two “$25,000 Year End Grants.”
Website: The Amber Grant
BELLE Capital USA
BELLE Capital USA, LP is an early-stage angel fund focused on building great companies in underserved capital markets across the USA. They look for capital-efficient companies with a unique product or service to fill an urgent market need. They target the digital/mobile/internet (IT), technology-enabled products and services, life sciences/medical devices/health IT (Digital Health), and CleanTech market sectors.
Companies seeking their capital must have at least one female founder or C-level exec and/or be willing to recruit top female talent to the C-suite and Board of Directors. They prefer teams with strong domain expertise and proven commercialization and entrepreneurial experience.
Website: BELLE Capital USA
Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards
The Cartier Women’s Initiative is an annual international entrepreneurship program that aims to drive change by empowering women impact entrepreneurs. Founded by Cartier in 2006, the program is open to women-run and women-owned businesses from any country and sector that aim to have a strong and sustainable social and/or environmental impact.
Website: Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards
High-Five Grant for Moms
The Mama Ladder helps ambitious mom entrepreneurs grow their business. This is an international grant program. Mothers who own businesses from any country are welcome to apply. At The Mama Ladder®, they want to see you climb after business dreams that fit your family and invite you to apply for the High-Five Grant.
Website: High-Five Grant for Moms
IFundWomen
IFundWomen hosts several different grants aimed at supporting women entrepreneurs. To check their latest grants or to find education resources for small business owners, check out their website.
Website: IFundWomen
Ladies Who Launch
Women and non-binary small business owners often lack the funding and resources they need to scale and grow their operations. That’s why the Launch Program exists: to remove barriers to access that prevent them from succeeding. The Launch Program provides women and non-binary small business owners capital through a $10,000 grant, mentorship from industry experts, and six months of free education that supports them on their unique journeys.
Website: Ladies Who Launch
Tory Burch Foundation Fellowship
Each year, the Tory Burch Foundation selects 50 women entrepreneurs for a yearlong program designed to grow their businesses through workshops, coaching sessions, network-building, and financial resources. The program ends with a company presentation and a trip to New York City.
Website: Tory Burch Foundation
Women Founders Network Fast Pitch Competition
Each year Women Founders Network creates a unique opportunity for Female Founders. What makes their pitch competition different than other fast pitch competitions is the valuable mentoring, coaching, and in-kind sponsorships that they offer as part of the program.
This individualized attention allows the top women entrepreneurs to become pitch-ready in a way that sharpens their plans to scale their companies and makes their business more appealing to Angel and VC investors.
In addition, there is cash investment potential from investors that attend the Fast Pitch event and an ongoing support network of successful businesswomen committed to building the female entrepreneur ecosystem.
Website: Women Founders Network Fast Pitch Competition
Women Who Tech
Women Who Tech transformed the Women Startup Challenge at Google to ensure everyone’s health and safety. In its place, they launched the Women Who Tech Startup Grants Program to continue funding game-changing, women-led tech startups virtually during this pandemic. Equity-free grants will be awarded by Women Who Tech to women-led tech startups on a rolling basis through 2023. To find out more, check their website for application FAQs.
Website: Women Who Tech
Grants for WoC Small Businesses
Black Girl Ventures
Founded in 2016 by Serial Entrepreneur and Computer Scientist Shelly Bell, The Black Girl Ventures Foundation (BGV) addresses the unique challenges Black/Brown women face in accessing social and financial capital to grow their businesses.
The BGV Style pitch competition is the largest pitch competition globally for Black/Brown women founders. It uniquely combines the premise of Shark Tank and Kickstarter by activating community participation in donating to support women-owned businesses directly.
Black Girl Ventures provides several pitch programs and investment opportunities to women of color entrepreneurs. For more information, check out their website.
Website: Black Girl Ventures
Comcast RISE
Comcast RISE is supporting the growth of all small businesses and entrepreneurs committed to uplifting their local communities. The program is built to help businesses and their communities thrive with a focus on economic growth. This year, Comcast RISE will award 500 recipients in five cities with a grant package that includes business consultation services, educational resources, a monetary grant, creative production, a media schedule, and a technology makeover.
Website: Comcast RISE
The Fearless Fund
Launched in 2019, Fearless Fund invests in WOC-led businesses seeking pre-seed, seed level, or series A financing. Its mission is to bridge the gap in venture capital funding for female founders of color building scalable, growth-aggressive companies.
The Fearless Fund team also runs The Fearless Foundation, a 501c3 organization with a goal to educate entrepreneurs through training, reduce racial inequities, and empower African-Americans to gain access to capital, as well as the Get Ready Venture Program, a 12-month training program for WOC business owners to acquire the needed training, mentorship, knowledge, and skills needed to gain access to capital.
Website: The Fearless Fund
HerRise Micro-Grant
The HerRise Micro-Grant provides financial assistance, with the help of our corporate sponsors and donors, to women of color creating innovative solutions that impact their community and that are often unable to secure funding for their small business. Each month a $1,000 micro-grant will be awarded to a small business owned by women of color.
Website: HerRise Micro Grant
SoGal Foundation
SoGal Foundation has teamed up with Winky Lux, Bluemercury, twelve NYC, Twilio, Walmart.org’s Center for Racial Equity, and other sponsors to make a small step towards progress by providing several $10K and $5K cash grants to Black women or nonbinary entrepreneurs.
Awardees will also receive tactical help navigating the fundraising environment at large so that they will have a more equitable opportunity to scale the next billion-dollar idea. They will also receive lifetime “ask-me-anything” access to the SoGal Foundation and SoGal Ventures teams.
Website: SoGal Foundation
If you’re looking for other ways to boost your small business, we at Planted Marketing can help. We offer services for small business owners to help develop their online presence and grow their marketing success. For more information, contact us today.
