What Small Business Grants For Women Are Available?

To stimulate growth amongst female entrepreneurs, initiatives have opened to provide capital, mentoring and resources to overcome systemic barriers to equity. Grant funding can range from £500 to £10,000, and cover up to 50% of projects that fit eligibility criteria, giving huge advantages to women-owned businesses.

But what are these funding opportunities, and how do women founders apply for them? In this article, Real Business will outline various business grants for women, as well as the application process and more.

What Are The Most Impactful Business Grants For Women In 2024?

The following are some of the most well-known and worthwhile grant funding for women-owned businesses in 2024:

1. Women in Innovation Awards – Ran by Innovate UK, the innovation award offers up to 75k for women entrepreneurs with unique, bespoke business support tailored to that company. To qualify, the company must have been registered for at least 12 months on Companies House, and have a business idea or product that is considered sufficiently innovative. Also, winners will have to submit to being a role model for five days.
2. HATCH Enterprise Support Programmes – Initiatives focused on launch and growth for female founders, offering co-working, training and £10k accelerator grants. Women at the very beginning of their business journey can access the Launchpad Programme, while those looking to scale can apply for the Hatch Accelerator.
3. Female Founders Fund – Pre-seed grants up to £650k for women-led startups via the UK government. The company should have at least one woman in a key decision-making role, and the business should be operating in industries such as B2B, healthcare, finance, or technology.
4. Astia Fund – Global fund deploying £100k to £2M+ growth capital to high-potential, women-run startups. Applications are open globally, but the companies must demonstrate proven traction or market validation.
5. Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards – Worldwide awards spotlighting female entrepreneurs across categories and industries, with prizes up to £100k. Applicants must be in the early stages of their business (typically between 1-3 years old), and show great growth potential.
6. Abie Awards by AnitaB.org – Grants from £10k up to £50k of business funding are awarded to women leaders advancing equity in technology, and applicants must demonstrate this.
7. Diamond Education Grant – Biannual grants up to £1500 helping mothers return to startup ventures through accredited training programs. Applicants must provide evidence of how the grant will support their return to business.
8. Global Fund For Women – Operational grants from £5k-30k for women-led groups driving social change and justice globally. Applicants must demonstrate a strong commitment to gender equality and social justice, and the organisation should be woman-led.
9. Visa Everywhere Initiative – £25k grants and coaching for female FinTech/PayTech founders from underrepresented backgrounds. The startup should have an innovative solution within the payments space and must show potential for scaling.
10. BAWE Funding Support – Consolidates diverse funding streams like loans, crowdfunding and grants tailored for women business owners. The business can apply for various forms of financial support, including grants, loans, or crowdfunding options tailored for women business owners.

Introduction To Small Business Grants

Female entrepreneurs can benefit from the lifelines that small business grants can award them when looking to launch or expand ventures. The grants do not require repayment and sidestep traditional challenges in securing funding.

A small business grant is a type of funding provided by government agencies, corporations, or sponsors to support the growth and development of small businesses. They are usually awarded to support new technological or social trajectories, such as green energy initiatives receiving many research and development grants to progress the field.

UK-Specific Business Grants For Women

The UK has many organisations proud to support women with grant money. The following are examples of some.

Innovate UK Smart Grants

Designed to support small and medium-sized enterprises led by female entrepreneurs, Innovate UK Smart Grants are known mainly for their innovation award scheme, seeking to put women in the history books for inventions and progress in fields they were once locked out of. Female-led businesses are encouraged to apply, with grants providing up to £500,000 in funding.

Other notable UK-specific business grants for women include:

• Women in Innovation Awards
• Female Founders Fund
• Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards
• Women-Owned Businesses

When Should Business Grants For Women Be Considered?

If you lead, or are a member of female-led businesses, and have only just heard about grants for women entrepreneurs, there’s no cause for concern. There are several points in the lifetime of a business where opportunities for pursuing grants open up:

1. New business – When opening a new business, ensure that you look into any startup business grants available for women entrepreneurs.
2. Growth opportunity – Larger grants are typically reserved for businesses led by female entrepreneurs when opportunities for growth arise, as these are typically some of the most important points in a business’ life.
3. Economic crisis – When unpredictable events happen that shake the economy, those who are marginalised tend to suffer the most. Many grants are reserved for these times alone.
4. Academic or skill building – The pursuit of skillsets via courses or even educational junctions is an important part of staying ahead of the curve and expanding your potential. When female entrepreneurs feel it’s time, grants await that can help.
5. Outside financing limit – If traditional financing avenues dry up, and you can prove efficient use of finances you’ve already raised, many grants are willing to push you that much further.

Tips For Securing Grants As A Female Founder

The grants highlighted so far are only a drop in the bucket compared to the actual number in the UK. That being said, despite the range of options, competition is very stiff for these programs, so we have recommendations outlined below on the best practices that will help secure a business grant.

Take the following into consideration:

• Stage of Business – There exist grants suited mainly to early-stage startups, whereas others are designed for those who have shown great growth already. Know where you are, or where you’ll soon be, to know which grants are best suited to you.
• Industry & Geographic Focus – Some grants concentrate on specific areas of the country, and others on specific industries. If you’re thinking of founding a business as a woman, take into account which areas meet the criteria beforehand so you can plan.
• Grant Size Range – Grants typically do not come in set amounts, they scale depending on how well you meet eligibility. It’s best to form a realistic idea of how much you can achieve and make sure what you do achieve is of high quality. Do not spread the quality across many achievements, and you may be the strongest candidate for your grant bracket.
• Mentorship & Perks – Aside from the grant money comes a lot of coaching, co-marketing perks and other spotlighting opportunities that female entrepreneurs can take advantage of. This investment into your skillset can go further than grant money, allowing you to expand the potential of yourself and your business.
• Mission & Values Alignment – Think of societal issues today. Economic sustainability, green energy switches, diversity etc. are all things that are in the zeitgeist, being discussed nationwide. Female entrepreneurs who spearhead certain changes align perfectly with the entire goal of grant funding.

Conclusion

Support for women-owned businesses continues to expand across the UK, with government agencies, non-profits, corporations and many advocacy groups recognising the potential. Women in business cast a wide net across ethnicity, sexual orientation and more, making it one of the more surefire ways to push social progress.

The grants, loaning, training programs and networks which aim to empower more women are often specialised, and it’s important to know where you stand in terms of locale, industry and point of progress.

FAQ: What Other General Business Funding Options Are Available?

The following are some ideas for alternate business funding opportunities.

• Bootstrapping – “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps” is a term you’ve often heard, and it means to effectively look after yourself. In this case, self-funding your business by drawing on your financial resources. Not an option for many, as most people in the UK are living within their means. But it does give you full control and ties you much closer to your business.
• Crowdfunding Platforms – Platforms such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Crowdfunder allow startups to raise small amounts of capital from a large pool of backers. Entrepreneurs create campaign pages outlining their product or business concept and give updates and possibly backer rewards along the way.
• Angel Investment – Angel investors are typically high-net-worth individuals willing to provide startups with tens of thousands up to a few million pounds in seed capital. They also tend to take on mentorship roles and add credibility to young ventures.
• Bank Loans – Traditional high street bank loans remain a common funding avenue, though they depend on credit scores. Bank loans are more likely than not to be fairer in terms of interest payments and the like.
• Invoice Finance Solutions – Invoice factoring or financing allows businesses to borrow against unpaid customer invoices to generate working capital.
• Asset Lending – Leveraging assets you have is another approach to tap into capital, especially if they are sitting idle. That being said, loan terms of this kind diminish your control over assets the longer it goes on, especially in cases of lacking progress.
• Venture Capital Investment – Venture capital firms raise large funds from institutional Limited Partners to invest millions into the highest potential startups in exchange for sizeable equity stakes averaging 10-40%.