Millions of women across the world are starting or operating new businesses, many of whom are driven by opportunity
rather than necessity (see p.16). Women’s entrepreneurial ventures are also an increasingly important source of new jobs.
From the perspective of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), the World Bank reports that women-owned companies in the US are expanding at more than double the rate of all other firms, contributing nearly US$3t to the US$16b US economy (19%) and directly delivering 23 million jobs (16% of all jobs).7 In developing countries, women-run SMEs are also increasing. Across the globe, there are roughly 8 million to 10 million formal SMEs with at least one woman owner.8 Women entrepreneurs also intend to expand their businesses. A predicted 7 million female entrepreneurs and 5 million female established business owners plan to grow their businesses by at least six employees over the next five
years.9 Access to finance remains a hurdle for female entrepreneurs, particularly in countries where financial markets are less developed, but also in countries with more sophisticated entrepreneurial systems.
From 2011–13, just 15% of US companies receiving venture capital funding had a woman on the executive team. This is up 10 percentage points since 1999, but all-men teams in 2013 are still more than four times more likely to receive funding from venture capital investors.10 Policy-makers and other stakeholders will be increasingly challenged to create enabling environments for female entrepreneurs across the globe.