Free financing is available for women business owners and it’s important to know how you can get it. This article will go over some of the most popular places to go for small-business grants for women. Some federal grants for small-business owners are to be used in specific research and development projects, so keep reading below to see where potential financing could work for you.
Private Grants
Amber Grant
The Amber Grant Foundation is one of the premier small-business grants for women. This foundation awards $10,000 to a different women-owned business each month. Applying for this grant is simple, too. You’ll need to describe what your business is and how it operates, what you would do with the grant money, and pay a $15 application fee.
IFundWomen Universal Grant
IFundWomen is a great platform that specializes in funding and training women-owned businesses. IFundWomen has worked with companies like Visa, American Express, and Neutrogena. Once a new grant is added to the platform, IFundWomen will then match those grant criteria with a business in the database.
Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards
The Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards offers 3 grants to women-owned businesses in 10 regions around the world each year. These grants are to help early-stage businesses focused on social, environmental, and economic issues.
The awards range from $100,000 to the first place winner, $60,000 for the second-place winner, and $30,000 for third place. Winners also get professional instruction from executive coaches and other training workshops as well.
Other Small-Business Grants for Women
The Small Business Administration funds more than 100 Women’s Business Centers across the country to help women entrepreneurs. Some of these business centers can lend money directly to a women-owned business, while others help you find grants and loans that your business may be eligible for.
Another great resource to look into is Grants.gov, which is a huge database for federally sponsored grant programs. While these programs are not exclusively for women-owned businesses, it’s still a great place to look for free financial assistance.
Simply register an account and use your DUNS number, which is a unique ID number. Then you’ll be able to search and filter results for grants for small businesses.
Break Barriers
It’s a struggle to get any business off the ground. That’s why it’s important to do more research into ways you can get financial support for women-owned businesses. There are plenty of federal and local government programs with access to funding that you should look into right now.
