More women are starting businesses than at any point in recorded history. At the same time, the barriers have barely moved. This is the story of a global trend that is real, uneven, and far from finished. 

 

Over the past twenty years, the number of women entrepreneurs in the US has surged by 114%. Globally, women now account for 43% of all entrepreneurs — a figure that would have seemed impossible a generation ago. Women-owned businesses in the US grew 43.5% faster than men-owned businesses between 2019 and 2024, and employment in those businesses grew by 19.5%. 

 

Several forces are converging to drive women's entrepreneurship upward globally. Digital tools have lowered the cost of starting a business dramatically. No-code platforms and alternative funding models are helping female founders sustain and scale their startups in ways that were not possible five years ago. Remote work has given women more flexibility to build businesses alongside caregiving responsibilities.

Policy is also moving — slowly, but visibly. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor's 2025/2026 report, nine economies have either achieved or are very close to gender parity in new business startups. Women's entrepreneurship in 2026 stands at a powerful inflection point, shaped by digital transformation, global connectivity, and a renewed emphasis on human-centred leadership.

At the leadership level, the number of women running Fortune 500 companies hit a new high in 2025, with 55 women CEOs leading the nation's biggest firms by revenue. The pipeline is thickening. 

 

> ***"Women-owned businesses grew 43.5% faster than men-owned businesses from 2019 to 2024. That is not a side trend. That is a structural shift."******* 

 

The rise is real. So is the resistance. Despite starting businesses faster than ever, women continue to face structural headwinds that compound over time.

Women entrepreneurs get 8% less in equity capital from investors than their male counterparts and charge 7% more on their credit cards for business funding. Only one in four applicants for business financing is a woman, and women ask for $35,000 less on average than men.

Only 2.4% of women-owned businesses qualify as middle-market firms — meaning that while women are starting businesses at record rates, very few are scaling them to significant size. The top of the pyramid is still largely empty. If women-owned businesses matched men-owned businesses in revenue, it would add $10.2 trillion annually to the global economy. 

 

Female business owners who previously rated their business health as "somewhat or very good" dropped from 60% to 47%, while their male counterparts reported only a five-point drop. Women are starting more but keeping businesses alive under economic pressure remains harder. **Access to capital when it matters most is still the decisive variable.** 

 

**The opportunity hiding in plain sight**

In 78% of economies, women-led small businesses in high and middle-income countries are leading the shift toward sustainability, prioritising social and environmental impact over profit accumulation. This is not softness — it is a different definition of value creation, and one the market is increasingly rewarding.

Women entrepreneurs also hire more women, creating compounding effects through the broader economy. The rise in female-led enterprises means increased diversity of thought, better problem-solving, and more vibrant markets. The business case is not contested. The capital allocation still is.

Challenges remain — particularly limited venture capital access and operational inefficiencies that stall growth for women-led businesses. The infrastructure around women founders — mentorship, networks, patient capital, financial literacy — is still being built. In most places, it barely exists. 

 

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The rise and the resistance of women entrepreneurs worldwide.