In the wake of COVID-19’s devastating impact on small businesses, EnrichHER, a fintech lending platform serving women-led and POC-owned companies.
EnrichHER, as launched an effort to pool resources among investors to create a loan fund that will meet the increased demand for capital for diverse business owners. Entitled “Ownership Reimagined,” the campaign is now live at https://enrichher.com/learn.
Unlike traditional fundraising campaigns, “Ownership Reimagined” is not about donations, gifts or equity investments. It’s a call to activate the community of funders who want to make an impact on the future of business while making a profit. Campaign participants submit funds to EnrichHER as a loan and, after a year, will be repaid total note plus interest.
“We receive about $15M in loan requests per month,” says Dr. Roshawnna Novellus, founder and CEO of EnrichHER. “Obviously, the pandemic plays a large role in this, but women and founders of color have been under-funded and under-resourced for decades. That’s the very reason EnrichHER exists – to change this reality. However, we can’t sufficiently address the financial challenges that diverse business owners face without funding. ‘Ownership Reimagined’ is centered around meaningful community impact, but there’s also a return for those who participate. We’re offering a chance to put your money into an opportunity that has proven to work and has cultural relevance.”
Launched in 2019, EnrichHER makes business capital affordable and accessible to qualified but underserved companies.
Black women, part of the New Majority, are the fastest-growing demographic of business owners, yet struggle to secure adequate business financing, if at all.
They are often targeted by predatory lenders, and are the least likely to receive investment funds.
Only 0.0006% of venture capital investments between 2009 and 2017 went to Black women. In general, women get approved for business loans at rates about 20 percent lower than the same rates for men. They also receive smaller loans than men, with 4% of business loan dollars ($1 out of every 23) going only to women.
EnrichHER is designed to counteract the injustice in the finance industry through affordable lending options, algorithms that reduce underwriting bias, and educational coaching that increases financial literacy.
Our goal is to fund 100,000 businesses led by women and people of color across the U.S.
EnrichHER’s fintech platform makes it easy for retail investors, corporate impact funds, foundations, and social responsibility groups to deploy capital to diverse, revenue-generating businesses.
To date, EnrichHER has deployed $14M in capital to over 200 women-led, POC-owned businesses from 47 states, amassed a network of 98,000 New Majority owners, built a social media following of 300,000 users (230K of those on LinkedIn), and is currently a portfolio company of Techstars, Fearless Fund, and Georgia Tech’s ATDC Accelerate Program.
A Certified B Corporation™, the company has been featured in Forbes, Fortune, Bloomberg, and Business Insider for its advocacy of equal access to business capital.
For more information on “Ownership Reimagined” and how you can support, visit enrichher.com/learn/ or email invest@enrichher.com.
EnrichHER
EnrichHER is a financial technology platform that matches revenue-generating companies led by women and founders of color to individual and institutional sources of funding. A Certified B Corporation™ and Techstars alum, EnrichHER has been in-market since 2019, deploying $14M in capital to traditional businesses from 47 states.
Our network has engaged with over 98,000 companies through our digital community and in-person activations.
Named one of Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 2021 “Atlanta Startups to Watch,” winner of the FinTech South Challenge and the TiE Atlanta ACCESS Pitch Day, EnrichHER is proud to fuel the fastest-growing demographics of business owners — Black women and diverse-led companies — by providing capital, coaching, and connections.
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