Women-owned business loans are mostly the same loans any owner can apply for, because most financing is not reserved for women and the SBA has no separate women's loan. What differs is the help around the loan, which includes free or low-cost counseling at Women's Business Centers, a federal contracting certification, some state loan programs, and grants that are real but small and competitive. We have no women-only rate or program ourselves. Through our network, offers on revenue-based financing, lines of credit, equipment financing, SBA-equivalent and bank loans, and commercial equity loans are decided on deposits, time in business and credit, whoever owns the business.
What the Fed's survey shows about women-owned business funding
The Federal Reserve Banks publish a yearly chartbook on firms by gender of ownership, and the 2026 edition covers employer firms surveyed from September to November 2025. It counts women-owned, men-owned and equally owned firms separately, so a business split evenly between a woman and a man sits in the last column.
| Measure | Women-owned | Men-owned | Equally owned |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applied for any financing in the prior 12 months | 61% | 60% | 58% |
| Applied for a loan, line of credit or merchant cash advance | 37% | 39% | 37% |
| Of those applicants, fully approved | 49% | 52% | 59% |
| Of those applicants, partly approved | 29% | 29% | 28% |
| Of those applicants, denied | 22% | 19% | 13% |
| Of all financing applicants, sought $50,000 or less | 49% | 32% | 42% |
| Reported low credit risk | 63% | 73% | 72% |
Women-owned firms apply about as often as men-owned firms, and the outcomes differ by a few percent. Among applicants for a loan, line of credit or advance, 49% of women-owned firms were fully approved and 22% were denied, against 52% and 19% of men-owned firms. That leaves 51% of women-owned applicants with less than they asked for or nothing, compared with 48% of men-owned applicants.
The size of the request differs more. About 49% of women-owned applicants sought $50,000 or less, against about 32% of men-owned applicants. Women-owned firms also reported low credit risk less often. Among firms that did not apply, 16% of women-owned firms said they did not expect to be approved, twice the 8% of men-owned firms. The chartbook reports plain shares and does not say how much of the approval difference comes from size, credit or anything else.
If you have held off because you expected a no, this chart from the Fed's 2026 report on all employer firms shows how far credit moves the odds at each kind of lender.
Women-owned business loans: what the SBA and the states offer
The SBA has no separate loan for women. Its loans page lists 7(a) loans, 504 loans, microloans and loans for exporters, and its guide for women owners says women-owned small businesses can use those same programs. As information, 7(a) is the SBA's primary program and goes up to $5 million through participating lenders, and microloans go up to $50,000 through nonprofit intermediary lenders, with an average of about $13,000. We do not place SBA loans. Through our partners we offer SBA-equivalent loans, which are long-term loans with monthly payments where the partner sets the terms, outside the SBA program.
Some states run loan programs that name women owners. Minnesota's Emerging Entrepreneur Loan Program funds nonprofit lenders that make loans to businesses majority-owned and operated by women, minorities, low-income persons, veterans or people with disabilities. New York's Empire State Development lists a lending program for certified minority- and women-owned firms, and a micro enterprise fund that lends up to $7,000 to certified firms with no more than $100,000 in annual revenue. These pages do not say how much money is left, so call the agency before you plan around one.
Where women owners get separate help
Women's Business Centers
The SBA's Women's Business Centers offer free to low-cost counseling and training to women starting or growing a small business, and the SBA's tool finds the nearest one by ZIP code. The SBA lists access to credit and capital among the help on offer, so ask a center to look over your statements and loan package, and ask which local grants and state programs it knows about.
WOSB and EDWOSB certification
The SBA's Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract program opens contracts, and it does not come with a loan. The government limits competition for certain contracts in industries where women-owned firms are underrepresented, and it restricts some of those further to economically disadvantaged firms, known as EDWOSBs. Its goal is to award 5% of federal prime contracting dollars to women-owned small businesses.
To qualify as a WOSB, a business must be small under SBA size standards and at least 51% owned and controlled by women who are U.S. citizens, with women managing daily operations and making long-term decisions. For an EDWOSB, each of those women also needs a personal net worth under $850,000, adjusted gross income of $400,000 or less averaged over three years, and $6.5 million or less in personal assets. The SBA's certification process is free and online, and the SBA says the benefits apply only to federal contracting.
States run their own certifications for state contracts, and New York's MWBE certification uses a similar 51% test. A certificate does not change what a funder offers through us, though a contract can, once its payments are showing in your deposits.
Small business grants for women are real but small
In the Fed's chartbook, 7% of women-owned employer firms received a grant in the prior 12 months, compared with 4% of men-owned firms, and the chart does not show amounts. The SBA's grants page says it does not provide grants for starting and expanding a business, and it describes its limited grants as being for scientific research, community promotion of entrepreneurship and exporting.
Grants are competitive, and most are not free money for operating costs. The FTC's page on grant scams says real government grants require an application and are always for a very specific purpose, and it calls offers of free government money for home business expenses or unpaid bills scams. It also says never to pay for a list of government grants or pay an up-front fee, and that the full list of federal grants is free at grants.gov. We would treat a paid list of private grants, or a fee to release a grant, the same way.
Private grants from nonprofits can be worth an application if you fit the rules, and a Women's Business Center can point you to the ones open now. Check who runs the program and how long the decision takes, because many grants choose winners months after the deadline. A grant on that timeline can help with a planned project, and it will not pay a stock order or payroll due this month. We do not place grants ourselves.
What gets funded through us and how offers are decided
We have no women-only rate or program. One application goes to the funders in our network, and offers are decided on deposits, time in business and credit, whoever owns the business. The funders we work with generally look for about a year in business and about $20,000 a month in deposits. If you're not there yet, apply anyway. Some funders work with newer or smaller businesses, and we'll tell you what's realistic. Our guide to small business loan requirements has the full checklist, and our guide to the easiest business loans to get orders the products by what each one asks for.
| Product | Amount | How fast | How it is repaid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue-based financing | $5,000 to $2,000,000 | Typically funded within one to two business days of choosing an offer | A set daily or weekly payment |
| Line of credit | Up to $2,000,000 | Offers in one to two business days | Weekly or monthly, on what you have drawn |
| Equipment financing | Up to $500,000 | Offers typically in one to two business days | Set payments over the term |
| SBA-equivalent and bank loans through partners | Up to $5,000,000 | Weeks | Monthly payments over years |
| Commercial equity loan or line | Sized on the equity in commercial property you hold | Commonly weeks | Monthly, or on what you draw from a line |
Revenue-based financing is a merchant cash advance. You get money now for part of your future sales, and the funder sizes the amount on your usual revenue and collects a set daily or weekly payment until the agreed total is paid. The cost is quoted as a factor rate and works out in dollars, the decision rests mainly on four months of business bank statements, and it usually needs no collateral. Our guide to a merchant cash advance for small business shows which businesses it fits.
A business line of credit suits costs that repeat, because you draw what each one needs and the limit becomes available again as you repay. Equipment financing covers what the business runs on, whether that is chairs and stations (our guide to salon financing has the detail), a truck for a landscaper or a lathe in a machine shop. SBA-equivalent and bank loans suit long-lived costs such as a buildout, and they can even pay off existing advances.
Who signs when you own the business with a spouse or partner
Our application asks what percentage of the business you own, and it does not ask about gender or marital status. If you hold more than half, you apply and sign on your own, and a spouse with no ownership never comes up. If you hold half or less, the form asks for the other owner's name, direct email, mobile phone and share. We email that person a link to add their own details and sign, so use an address only they read.
In an even split, both owners sign on our form, the business falls short of the 51% needed for WOSB certification, and the Fed counts it as equally owned.
What a lender may not ask or do
The federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act and its Regulation B cover business credit and bar a creditor from discriminating on the basis of sex or marital status. With narrow exceptions, such as required data collection, section 1002.5 says a creditor may not ask about an applicant's sex, and it may not ask about birth control or plans to have children. Under section 1002.7, a creditor may not require your spouse's signature if you qualify alone for the amount and terms you requested.
A creditor may still require personal guarantees from the partners, directors or officers of a business and the shareholders of a closely held corporation, based on their relationship to the business. The CFPB's commentary says it may not require guarantees only for women-owned businesses, and it may not automatically require the spouses of officers to sign as well. A spouse or co-owner may need to sign the documents that make jointly held collateral available, such as a building behind a commercial equity loan. Community property states have their own rules on marital status and spousal signatures. If a lender asks for a signature, ask whether it comes from ownership, collateral or a finding that you do not qualify alone.
A worked example with a boutique buying holiday stock
The figures in this section are examples only, not quotes or the terms of any funder. Say a boutique has been open for four years and deposits about $60,000 a month, or about $13,850 in a usual week. Its owner holds 100% of the business, has a $40,000 order due in September for holiday stock, and expects that stock to sell for about $80,000 by January.
With revenue-based financing at an example 1.30 factor rate, the boutique receives $40,000 and pays back $52,000, so the cost is $12,000. At 40 set weekly payments of $1,300, each payment is about 9% of a usual week's deposits. If the stock sells as planned, the $80,000 covers the $40,000 order and the $12,000 cost and leaves $28,000 toward rent, payroll and the store's other bills. The $12,000 is the price of having the full order on the shelves before the season starts. Our guide to retail financing covers the other ways a store pays for stock.
Two more examples show how the product and the signatures change.
| Example business | What it needs | Example product and cost | Who signs on our form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landscaping company, two owners at 50% each | An $85,000 truck and skid steer | Equipment financing at an example 9% over 60 months, about $1,764 a month and about $20,868 in interest | Both owners |
| Electrical contractor, one owner at 60% and a partner at 40% | $30,000 of materials before a job's first progress payment | A draw on a $100,000 line of credit with an example 8% fee, $32,400 repaid in 24 weekly payments of $1,350 | The 60% owner, though a funder may still ask the partner for a guarantee |
How to get offers
Start with the short application and four months of business bank statements as PDFs, or email the statements to us. Getting matched does not need a hard credit pull, because most funders prequalify from bank statements and a soft pull, and a funder that wants a hard pull in final underwriting tells you first. The offers come back side by side, and we go through them with you before anything is signed. There is nothing to pay to apply or to see offers. SBA-equivalent and bank loans also need two to three years of tax returns, a personal financial statement and a debt schedule, and our guide on how to get a business loan walks through that file. To talk it through first, call (818) 351-0225.
Frequently asked questions
Are there small business loans for women?
The SBA has no separate women's loan, and some states run programs such as Minnesota's Emerging Entrepreneur Loan Program, so most small business loans for women are the same products every owner applies for, decided on deposits, time in business and credit.
Does WOSB certification help me get a loan?
WOSB and EDWOSB certification lets a business compete for federal contracts set aside for certified firms, and the SBA says its benefits apply only to federal contracting, so the certificate itself does not provide a loan.
Are small business grants for women free money?
Grants do not need repaying, but they are small, competitive and usually tied to a specific purpose; 7% of women-owned employer firms received one in the Fed's 2026 chartbook, and the FTC says never to pay for a government grant list or an up-front fee.
Does my spouse have to sign my business loan?
Under Regulation B, a creditor may not require your spouse's signature if you qualify alone for the amount and terms requested, though a spouse who is a partner, officer or shareholder can be asked for a guarantee because of that role, and jointly held collateral can require a signature too.
Does Today Capital Group have a women-only rate?
Today Capital Group has no women-only rate or program; one application goes to the funders in our network, and offers depend on deposits, time in business and credit, whoever owns the business.
