WVF COMMENTARY
The State of Funding for Women Entrepreneurs
Statistics derived from studies, surveys, and countless opinions from business experts all agree—women business owners are still challenged in securing funding for their firms compared with men owners.
When it comes to lending, according to Ernst & Young in August 2024, nearly 90% of women owners do not have a business credit card, and only 19% of them have small business loans. Likewise, the number of women business owners who receive funding from venture capitalists is small.
This belies the percentage of new women business owners that of male owners—49% to 45%. In addition, omen-owned firms survive longer than men-owned firms.
The financial industry will continue to slowly chip away at the fallacies surrounding less access to funding for women using two opportunities: 1) Women are hard-wired to be more concerned about building community and securing the well-being of their families and 2) women are more inclined to start a business that features sustainability that can capture the attention of male and female investors alike.
In next month’s newsletter, we will take a deeper dive on the issue of unequal access to business loans experienced by women entrepreneurs. It seems the loan metrics that loan officers—male or female—are mandated to follow are questionable.