Visa Foundation has launched a three-year initiative to support and empower women-led small businesses through a new programme.
‘Catalyse Her’ will include comprehensive training, community building and micro-grants for 500 UK-based female founders.
The programme will be delivered in partnership with social enterprise company INCO and aims to deliver impactful financial and business support and address the gender financing gap facing women entrepreneurs in the UK.
It will support early-stage, revenue-generating, small companies with an interest in social and environmental impact.
It will also help to build on Visa Foundation’s existing £16m commitments that have helped support roughly 8,500 small businesses in the UK.
Women entrepreneurs play a crucial role in all economies by driving innovation and impact at scale,” said Najada Kumbuli, head of investments and partnerships at Visa Foundation.
“This programme aims to address the main challenges faced by women entrepreneurs and create a ripple effect across many communities in the UK.”
Women entrepreneurs still face barriers when it comes to access to the investments and resources that support innovation.
According to the British Business Bank, women-founded businesses in the UK receive only a 2% share of total venture capital investments.
The Visa Foundation initiative is aiming to help close this gap by providing women entrepreneurs with the skills and resources they need to further grow their business and unlock new opportunities.
Hannah Rhodes, associate director at INCO, added: “At INCO, we see the meaningful impact being created by women entrepreneurs, despite the extra barriers they face.
‘’Supporting these entrepreneurs to thrive is at the core of our mission to build a new economy that is green, inclusive, and resilient, which is why we’re incredibly excited to partner with Visa Foundation to launch CatalyseHer, an initiative designed to accelerate women-led businesses making impact across the UK.”