More women in the United States are starting new businesses than ever before, and in the first three quarters of 2021 alone, $ 40 billion was raised by women-owned startups. Although this is still only a fraction of the $ 239 billion in venture capital invested in the same time period, it is twice the amount raised by women-owned startups throughout 2020 and 2019, marking a rapidly growing presence of women in traditionally dominated men. business world.
Players in the banking and payroll industry need to pay close attention to these developments in the growth of women’s entrepreneurship and understand the jobs these women run and the technology they use to make their endeavors successful. Failure to do so may mean missing out on not only opportunities to empower women in the business world, but also significant revenue streams as these women entrepreneurs seek the latest technologies to start their businesses.
Handbook on Women Entrepreneurs and Technologyand PIMNTS and Paioneer cooperation, investigates how women entrepreneurs hinder the business world with the latest technology in a wide range of areas. This report contains interviews with women entrepreneurs whose success provides a first-hand insight into the challenges they and their peers face and the methods they have used to overcome them.
We learned this.
Successful businesses owned or run by women have become a powerful driving force in the modern economy and are projected to continue their incredible growth in the future.
A recent World Bank study found that in the U.S. alone, women-owned businesses grew more than twice as fast as all other businesses, contributing $ 3 trillion to the economy and employing approximately 23 million individuals. Developing countries see similar growth rates proportional to their economies, with between 8 million and 10 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) having at least one owner.
Women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises are twice as likely to have their loan applications rejected than male-owned small and medium-sized enterprises.
Breaking down this barrier will require an active effort by investors to seek out women-owned businesses and prioritize their success. Women entrepreneurs could also benefit greatly from FinTechs that promote the financial inclusion of women, especially in developing countries. This includes direct investment in women-owned enterprises, and these funds will be far beyond their weight when it comes to promoting women’s equality in the workplace.
The ability to take advantage of the right technologies or platforms often proves to be the primary driver of success in the modern digital economy.
Digital payments are one of these technologies and they can put women-run businesses on an equal footing in key ways. Transactions of buyers, sellers and suppliers are simpler, faster and cheaper when they are conducted digitally, and not by cash or check. Women entrepreneurs can also benefit from simpler cross-border transactions
Women face institutional shortcomings around the world in many aspects of their lives, and the business world is no exception. Technology companies, payment providers, investors and many other companies not only have a moral obligation to invest in women-owned companies, but also a financial one: reducing the gender gap in the business world could bring countless billions in dividends to investors, entrepreneurs and the world around them.
To learn more about how technology can improve the success rates of women entrepreneurs, download the playbook.