Expanding access to capital for women-owned businesses

Brooke Hill launched Swella Braid Bar in Atlanta in 2022, with her co-founder, Zanbria Asante. Like many woman-owned businesses, Swella is more than a source of revenue, it’s a powerful way to give back to the community—in this case, delivering luxury hair braiding services at an affordable price. 

While nearly 40% of all U.S. businesses are woman-owned—around 14 million—the numbers have consistently shown that women struggle to access working capital at the same rate as men (more on that in a minute). 

With the power of female business owners to drive economies, impact communities, and create jobs, access to unbiased capital is crucial.   

The economic power of women-owned businesses

Women-owned businesses aren’t just a growing segment of the economy—they are a driving force behind job creation, innovation, and community development. Across industries, female founders are building businesses that serve essential needs, create employment opportunities, and reinvest in their local economies.

The numbers speak for themselves:

• Women-owned businesses in the U.S. generate $1.8 trillion in annual revenue.

• They employ more than 10 million people, contributing significantly to economic growth.

• Women reinvest 90% of their income back into their families and communities, compared to 30-40% for men.

This reinvestment creates a multiplier effect, benefiting education, healthcare, and local businesses. When women-owned businesses thrive, entire communities prosper. But for many female founders, accessing the capital needed to start, sustain, and scale a business remains a major hurdle.

The funding gap: challenges facing female entrepreneurs

Despite their economic contributions, women entrepreneurs continue to face significant barriers when it comes to securing funding. The playing field is far from even.

Take Brooke Hill, for example. Before launching Swella, she spent five years at Google and earned an MBA from Wharton—credentials that should make any investor take notice. Yet, like many female founders, she found that access to capital wasn’t just about experience or expertise. The reality is that many traditional financing models weren’t built with women-owned businesses in mind.

One major challenge is the reliance on credit bureau scores, which can disproportionately disadvantage women due to historical factors like wage gaps, caregiving responsibilities, and systemic biases in credit assessment. On top of that, women-owned businesses tend to be asset-light and cash flow-based, meaning they don’t fit the mold for traditional bank loans, which often require significant collateral.

The result?

• Female-founded startups receive just 2% of venture capital funding.

• In 2023, 45% of women-owned businesses were approved for the full loan amounts they requested, compared to 55% of men-owned businesses.

• Many women entrepreneurs are left relying on personal savings, credit cards, or less scalable funding sources to keep their businesses running.

This funding gap doesn’t just hold individual entrepreneurs back—it limits economic growth, job creation, and innovation. Expanding access to unbiased, scalable capital solutions isn’t just about fairness; it’s about unlocking the full potential of women-led businesses.

How Pipe is helping level the playing field

Overcoming these challenges is no small task. You may be asking, “What can we do to expand capital access for women-owned businesses?” We believe it starts with new models and evolved, unbiased approaches to underwriting that minimize or eliminate dependence on credit scores and better account for differences in business model and size.    

At Pipe, this starts with underwriting small businesses and providing offers (typically pre-approved) based on real-time transaction data. This eliminates reliance on credit scores and more accurately reflects the potential of smaller, asset-light businesses. We also require no collateral or personal guarantees, both of which shift risk onto small business owners and are often a barrier to capital access. 

The impact on woman-owned businesses like Swella can be significant: 

“As a small business owner, the weight can be heavy in securing the financial means to launch a retail space,” says Brooke. “Often, traditional loans want a personal guarantee, which is not founder-friendly. [Pipe] was able to see our performance and [offer] us the capital to multiply without the need for a personal guarantee or even a lengthy application and approval process."

Unbiased capital access allowed Brooke and the Swella team to expand into a new location, growing the business and its impact. 

Conclusion: Driving equity through access

Expanding capital access for women-owned businesses isn’t just about financial fairness—it’s about fueling economic growth, strengthening communities, and unlocking untapped potential. When female founders have the resources they need to scale, they create jobs, drive innovation, and reinvest in the people and places around them.

Yet, too many women entrepreneurs still face systemic barriers when seeking funding. Traditional financing models weren’t built with them in mind—but that doesn’t mean we can’t change the landscape. By embracing more inclusive, data-driven underwriting models, we can break down these barriers and open new pathways to growth.

At Pipe, we’re committed to making capital access more equitable by eliminating outdated biases and providing women-owned businesses with the resources they need—embedded in the software they use to run their business every day. When businesses like Swella thrive, so do the communities they serve.