Ulster Bank has launched its new Back Her Business crowd funding service, the first female-only crowdfunding platform in Northern Ireland.Recent statistics have shown that the rate of female entrepreneurship in the UK are staggeringly low, with only 5.6% of women running their own business compared to 11.2% of men. Ulster Bank's own statistics have shown that women in Northern Ireland are half as likely to start a business as their male counterparts, and recent research showed that male-founded startups are getting over 80% of VC funding.
Ulster Bank aims to help close the gender gap in business, and has just launched its new Back Her Business crowdfunding service to make a dent in those one-sided figures. The new platform was announced at an event last week in Titanic Belfast and was presented by NatWest’s CEO of Commercial and Private Banking, Alison Rose as part of a panel discussion on ways to tackle real and perceived barriers to female entrepreneurship.
Women can launch crowdfunding campaigns on the new platform to kick-start their business idea, and most of the funding will be provided by those interested in seeing the business become a reality. It follows the Kickstarter type crowdfunding model, allowing the business owner to provide rewards in exchange for support rather than selling equity in the business. Ulster Bank will also be topping up funding with a bonus of 50% of an individual’s fundraising target (capped at £5,000) for certain successful projects, until 1 million has been spent on it.
Alison Rose, CEO of Commercial and Private Banking at NatWest, said: "Backing female entrepreneurs helps everyone. It helps women of course, but it helps our economy, the start-up and business ecosystem, and in the end – the wider consumer. For too long women have been put off from starting a business by a number of factors, we want to make this a thing of the past."
Source: Written based on press release
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