Interactive resources for incubators and accelerators
Interactive resources for incubators and accelerators
Interactive resources for incubators and accelerators

Creating Access to Funding for Enterprises

Access to funding, be it through grants, loans or investments, is often a critical need for enterprises. As an Intermediary, you can play a significant role in creating access to funding for your enterprises either by providing funding directly or acting as a conduit for the enterprise to access funding from funders in your ecosystem.

  • KEY PROBLEM(S)

    There is gender inequality in your entrepreneurs’ ability to access and manage funding. For example, in many regions, women are not permitted to control finances or have access to bank accounts. They may not be able to make financial decisions and may lack the experience to manage money due to poor financial literacy.

  • DESIRED OUTCOME(S)

    All your entrepreneurs have equal access to, and the ability to, manage funding to support their enterprises, regardless of their gender.

  • HOW TO MEASURE THIS

    Example measurement indicators and collection methods can be found here.

Why it matters

Access to funding is often a key step for an enterprise’s ability to grow and scale.

Reflection

Are decision making rights around money equal for all genders?

Do all genders have equal authority to open bank accounts? Authorise transactions? 

Is financial literacy equal across different genders?

How does tradition, culture, religion play a role in how finance relates to  gender?

Strategies

  • 1.

    Use creative approaches to ensure that funds are accessible to entrepreneurs of all genders. E.g. if an entrepreneur is not allowed to have a bank account yet needs funding to purchase equipment, as an intermediary you could provide funds directly to the supplier (instead of the entrepreneur) to enable the transaction to occur.

  • 2.

    Provide additional support to entrepreneurs with lower financial literacy to ensure that they are confident in presenting and requesting funding. Support can be either building their technical expertise or in developing high-level documents.

  • 3.

    Work with and provide incentives to the key financial decision-makers in the families/communities of the entrepreneurs to create buy-in by them to support the entrepreneur in accessing funding to support their venture. Demonstrate the ‘win-win’ for the community or family.