Funding tips for women with their own business at free event in Lancashire

Budding women business owners can get tips on crowdfunding at free event for Female Entrepreneurship month

NatWest and Boost – Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub – will bring the UK’s first women-only crowdfunding initiative to the region as part of its Female Entrepreneurship month.

Back Her Business supports female entrepreneurs by helping women to start and fund their own business at the early stage level.

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The programme has been developed in partnership with Crowdfunder and forms part of NatWest’s wider commitment to reduce the gender gap when it comes to entrepreneurship and create a further 400,000 female-led businesses by 2025.

Female entrepreneurs in Lancashire will be encouraged to take the leap to launching their own business at the free workshop in Preston on November 26.

The event, at Cotton Court, will provide details on how crowdfunding works and show how the initiative can help increase access to the funds required to start a business.

Back Her Business has already helped 113 female-led businesses generate £741,310 of funds through crowdfunding since launching earlier this year. NatWest has also gifted £274,700 for these campaigns.

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Back Her Business launched in March off the back of NatWest’s Rose Review, which revealed £250bn could be added to the UK economy if women started and scaled businesses at the same rate as men.

The Government backed report also highlighted that only one in three entrepreneurs is female.

Heather Waters, Enterprise Manager at NatWest, said: “Back Her Business is the UK’s first female-only crowdfunding platform and is an important step in supporting female entrepreneurs and unlocking the huge untapped potential that currently exists. It will provide valuable and tailored support to entrepreneurial women, and access to industry-leading advice.”

Lancashire-based Olivia Hooper, who founded Kardia Sports, a social enterprise which aim to increase opportunities for girls to attend sports coaching sessions across the UK is just one of the businesses the initiative has helped.

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She said: “One of my mentors at university told me about NatWest’s Back Her Business and the support that the bank and Crowdfunder has provided has been invaluable. Through

crowdfunding I received backing from 42 generous supporters, who have helped provided the funds needed to fully launch Kardia Sports last month."

To find out more information and to sign up to the event on November 26 go to https://www.boostbusinesslancashire.co.uk/events/back-her-business-preston-turning-ideas-

into-businesses/

The Back Her Business initiative is being delivered UK-wide through NatWest in England and Wales, Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland and Royal Bank in Scotland.

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