The funding platform Kickfurther has awarded a considerable amount of funding to Spinster Sisters, a women-led small business.
Funding for women led small businesses has often had a gender gap that has proven to be detrimental to them. In recent years, large strides have been made to close this gap and more funding has been allocated for women run businesses.
Recently, a no-cost financing giveaway held by Kickfurther was awarded to a women owned business called Spinster Sisters. This win for one small business signals the progress being made for all women owned businesses.
Kickfurther aims to help small businesses through the pandemic
Kickfurther is a platform for inventory funding that is supported by investors behind Robinhood, Tesla, Twitter and other investors. The platform allows for small businesses to be supported by those who like their product while allowing these supporters to make a profit when the inventory is sold.
The $250,000 growth giveaway held by Kickfurther awarded its grand prize to Spinster Sisters, a natural skin care company based in Colorado. This giveaway in particular was held in response to the effect of the pandemic on small businesses. In addition to inventory issues, the giveaway was also considerate of issues such as manufacturing costs and cash-flow issues brought about by Covid-19.
Spinster Sisters set for growth after winning Kickfurther giveaway
For the past eight years, Spinster Sisters has been getting by with limited external funding. This is referred to as bootstrapping, and the founder, Kelly Perkins, had been getting by with it. Though, it meant that their cash flow in the business was unfortunately tight.
On their website, Spinster Sisters writes, “We are committed to creating safe and gentle skin care products that benefit our consumers, our employees and the earth.” Now that they have been awarded the grand prize position in the Kickfurther giveaway, they will have the following resources at their disposal to aid in this mission statement:
- $200,000 in 0% funding ($40,000 value)
- RangeMe Pro subscription ($2,499 value)
- $8,000 in nationwide logistics from Ware2Go
- Complete Digital Analysis from AdQuadrant ($5,000 value)
- Complete supply chain assessment from Rodeo ($5,000 value)
- One year membership plus $5,000 in platform services from WeStock
Considering that the pandemic has caused credit and lending to be particularly difficult to secure for small businesses, Kickfurther did not restrict access to its funding platform. Their reasoning for this openness stems from the fact that those they assist in funding will be vital in building the economy and strengthening it after the hit it has taken during the pandemic.
Women’s difficulty securing funding has improved, and can improve more still.
As mentioned, women have been proven to have a harder time procuring funding for their small businesses compared to their larger, male-run counterparts. Ensuring that women become aware of the opportunities for funding from services such as Kickfurther is important in solving this problem. Rather than relying on financing options that require a connection to banks or kind investors, options like Kickfurther are more accessible for women.
In a report by Fundera released in 2020, the challenges with accessing funding for women led small businesses was highlighted. As it pertains to the amount of funding received, the gap is closing. In the second quarter of 2019, women and men received roughly the same amount of funding for their businesses, which meant each received loans of around $42,000. This is despite the fact that women requested less funding than their male counterparts. Women also received a lower interest rate than men.
Despite receiving equal funding amounts, women still have less access to funding and report lower revenues and profits. Male entrepreneurs were found to be 20% more likely to receive loans than women.
Fundera also reported that women and men were likely to spend their funding differently. Men were apt to use the money for the purchase of equipment, while women were more likely to use it for debt refinancing and consolidation or business expansion.
Funding platforms like Kickfurther provide support for women-owned businesses
Although there are positive aspects to a small business applying for loans, it is important for women entrepreneurs to be aware of alternate funding options. Kickfurther is an amazing option, as Spinster Sisters found out through their giveaway. Other platforms similar to Kickfurther, like Fundable, crowdfunder, indiegogo and are also useful alternatives for women.
The story of Spinster Sisters and the funding they received through Kickfurther is a good sign for women led small businesses looking for funding.
Related:
I’m With Her: Reboarding the Feminist Train to Build Local and Global Sisterhood
Anybody Got a Spare $6.3 Billion to Fund Women and Girls?
