Female entrepreneurs and small business owners are underrepresented. While the number is on the rise, recent reports suggest that fewer than one-third of small business owners are female. It’s tough enough to get a business off the ground, but then comes an even tougher ask: how do you raise funding so that you can scale?

In this salon, we discussed:

• Tips, tricks, and experiences you’ve discovered in helping grow a business.

• How to get your foot in the door and begin the conversation around funding.

• Programs that specifically seek to help female entrepreneurs get funding

Key Takeaways:

• Create virality for your campaign. This can be done by having a super clear pitch and passion for your business.

• Cultivate your network. Gauge interest at the start of your journey and keep people up-to-date with your project.

• Need additional resources? Leverage networks like Elpha, a social network for women in business.

Champion Guest Moderator:

Katie Powers is an Account Manager at Wefunder and co-host of Wefunder's Adventure Capital podcast, with a range of experience working at impact-driven startups. Before joining Wefunder, she managed west coast sales at Kuli Kuli Foods, supported U.S. operations at Kiva.org, and founded her own sustainable food business, Fraction Foods. Her longtime passion for social entrepreneurship has taken her all over the world, including to Cape Town, South Africa to participate in a consulting program for microentrepreneurs, and to Geneva, Switzerland where she conducted research at the United Nations. Katie graduated from Northeastern University with a dual degree in Economics and International Affairs.