IFundWomen will join Visa to help provide both educational resources and funding for women entrepreneurs around to globe
March 8 marks International Women’s Day, an important day to celebrate the achievements of women throughout history and acknowledge the work ahead. This year, Visa is doubling down on its celebration of Women’s History Month with a series of new initiatives and extension of existing programs aimed to further support female small business owners, their employees and women’s economic empowerment as a whole. While the spotlight is on women’s history this month, Visa remains steadfast in its present and future commitment to empowering women across all facets of life.
Collaboration with IFundWomen
Part of our commitment is developing impactful partnerships that support female founders — and small businesses more broadly – on a global scale. Today, Visa announced a partnership with IFundWomen, a funding and education platform that provides access to capital through grants and crowdfunding, expert business coaching and a network of women business owners.
The partnership is specifically designed to help entrepreneurs secure the funding they need through a series of grants contests for small businesses around the globe.
Our work with IFundWomen will serve as an extension to Visa’s global women’s entrepreneurship initiative, She’s Next, Empowered by Visa. She’s Next is poised for global expansion in 2020 after reaching thousands of women entrepreneurs in North America during its inaugural year.
Path to National Small Business Week
According to Visa’s second annual “State of Female Entrepreneurship” report, nearly 66% of female entrepreneurs surveyed1 cite that funding is still difficult to obtain. To that end, another report found that the average small business requires about $10,000 of startup capital2 in order to get off the ground. To address this issue, Visa and IFundWomen will offer several grants to promising U.S. small businesses, with an expansion of global grants planned later in the year.
During the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) National Small Business Week in May, Visa will hold a She’s Next, Empowered by Visa event in Washington D.C. The event will include a small business pitch competition where three business owners will be recognized with grants from Visa and IFundWomen, based on their winning pitches. To find out more and apply for grants, entrepreneurs can visit IFundWomen.com/Visa.
Resources for Entrepreneurs
Beyond the grants, the Visa and IFundWomen partnership is poised to bring coaching, peer-to-peer connections, and inspiration to women entrepreneurs around the world. This includes working together on an ongoing educational series for aspiring female entrepreneurs, initiated by the launch of tailored videos set to go live in March. The video series will feature content covering a wide range of topics that can help female entrepreneurs run, grow and fund their businesses, including how to create a business pitch, how to determine a capital plan and how to identify your target audience and promote your business online.
For more information on the ways, Visa supports women-owned small businesses, visit She’s Next, Empowered by Visa and IFundWomen.com/Visa.
