**Farida Banu once had no stable income of her own. Today, she runs a jewellery business that employs 15 women in her village. Her story makes the connection between entrepreneurship, ownership and independence tangible.** 

 

What does financial independence make possible? For Farida Banu, the answers are concrete: buying food, paying for her children’s schooling and affording medicine when it is needed. 

 

Growing up in northwestern India, Farida had little economic security and few opportunities to shape her future. Starting her own business gave her a way to begin changing that. 

 

*“I wanted to show that it's possible to create something of your own,”* she says. 

 

With a small loan and entrepreneurship training through Hand in Hand, Farida founded Seyfu Pearls Creation, producing handcrafted pearl jewellery. Today, the company employs 15 women in her village. 

 

Behind that number are women earning an income of their own—and families with more resources to meet everyday needs. 

 

### An income of her own. More choices for her future. 

 

Farida and the women she employs work with beads, tools and materials to create jewellery by hand. Each sale contributes to the livelihoods supported by the business. 

 

*“Having our own income gives us freedom and confidence,”* Farida says. “*I'm proud to give more women the chance to support themselves.”* 

 

Her words capture something that revenue and employment figures alone cannot: the confidence that comes with being able to support yourself and contribute to someone else’s opportunity. 

 

![alt text](https://feminvest-storage.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/feminvest-storage/73d3cd02-d715-4365-be97-7dcf656dc0cd-DSC00199.webp) 

 

### Why this story belongs in the ownership conversation 

 

At Feminvest, we talk about increasing women’s ownership. Farida’s experience gives that ambition a concrete meaning: a woman building a business, earning her own income and creating jobs for others. 

 

It also brings the conditions for entrepreneurship into focus. Farida had the determination to build something. A small loan and access to training helped her put that determination to work. 

 

Her story is a reason to ask: how many more women could build businesses if they had access to the capital and support to get started? 

  

 ![alt text](https://feminvest-storage.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/feminvest-storage/fcb45826-c559-42b6-9245-ad58c3f262e6-Handinhand.webp)

  

 

*Hand in Hand Sweden empowers women to turn ideas into thriving businesses — and into economic independence, ownership, and long‑term security. Through entrepreneurship training, mentorship, and community‑driven leadership, we unlock the transformative power that emerges when women gain the tools to build something of their own. The result is growing enterprises, stronger communities, and a future where more women own their economy, their opportunities, and their path forward.* 

 

![alt text](https://feminvest-storage.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/feminvest-storage/81ae9b34-cb27-4b11-ad5b-58572c4cc186-DSC01527.webp)

She started with a small loan. Today, her business employs 15 women!

> On my way back from [**World Football Summit**](https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-football-summit/) where I was invited by [**CMG Agency**](https://www.linkedin.com/company/thecmgagency/) -one of the largest agencies in the world for women’s professional football players, to co-host a workshop on leadership and share insights into the work of [**Feminvest**](https://www.linkedin.com/company/feminvestsweden/) [**Feminvest Ventures**](https://www.linkedin.com/company/feminvest-ventures/) and [**Feminvest Accelerator**](https://www.linkedin.com/company/feminvest-accelerator/). 

 

*One surprise that I learned is that maternity leave was only first introduced for women professional players in 2022 to be revised in 2024 and for the first time they see that women dare to get pregnant without loosing their career. It shows how one infrastructural change can give women players an additional five to ten years in their football career, the financial impact is huge.* 

 

I sat down to listen to a conversation with Michele Kang, what she is doing in women's football is the clearest example I have seen of what it looks like when someone with capital decides to build infrastructure rather than just write cheques.

After building her fortune exiting an healthcare technology, Michele took majority ownership of three of women's football's strongest clubs, Washington Spirit, OL Lyonnes, and London City Lionesses. The thesis: that women's sport is systematically undervalued, and that the data to prove otherwise does not yet exist. 

 

Michele made a $50 million seed investment in the Kynisca Innovation Hub, targeting $100 million in total to fund female-specific sports science research. Research-backed protocols on ACL recovery, menstrual cycle performance, and postpartum return-to-play. Knowledge that should have existed decades ago.  

 

She described that she is often portrayed as a social impact investor but is she really? Isn’t it simply a business opportunity, a new vertical that yet is to be discovered. What Michele Kang is doing in women's sport is what we are trying to do with women's entrepreneurship and the structural parallel is almost perfect. We launched a commercial program [supporting women founders in retail](https://pulse.amazon/survey/YT8ZRYEU) last week  together with Amazon and the response is great.  

 

Michele Kang is building the science that proves women athletes are excellent investment opportunities. We are building the ecosystem that proves women founders are worth backing not because it is right, but because it yields great returns. [Connect with me if you are interested in learning more about how you can take part as an investor.](https://calendar.app.google/ZTX7JYeLowz2Ab7M9)

blog

 What can the financial industry learn from football?

We’re proud to share that Michaela Berglund, CEO & Founder of Feminvest, has been invited by CMG to World Football Summit in Madrid as a speaker to share her perspective on the future of women’s football, investments and the growing value of the women’s sports ecosystem. 

 

CMG has spent the past decade shaping the market in women’s football, representing players, coaches, decision-makers and clubs at the highest level, while continuously pushing the industry forward. 

 

Women’s football is no longer simply a story about participation or visibility. It is a rapidly evolving market with enormous potential  and the next chapter will be shaped by those willing to invest, challenge existing structures and create new standards. 

 

We’re excited for Michaela to bring the Feminvest perspective to Madrid and contribute to the conversation around how we elevate value, shift power and build a more equal future. Thank you, CMG, for the invitation and for creating space for these important conversations.&#x20; 

 

[Connect with Michaela ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelaberglund/)

[michaela@feminvest.se](mailto:michaela@feminvest.se)

[Learn more about CMG](https://agencycmg.com/ "CMG")

Feminvest CEO Michaela Berglund is invited to speak at World Football Summit in Madrid

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."***&#x20;

 

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. 

 

[Join Feminvest membership](https://www.feminvest.se/en/medlemskap/ "Feminvest Membershio")  

 

[Join the Fearless conference ](https://feminvest.confetti.events/fearless-stockholm-autumn26/)

 

[Apply to the fund](https://app.youform.com/forms/wx4np47d "Feminvest Ventures") 

 

[Join Feminvest Accelerator](https://www.feminvestaccelerator.se/ "Feminvest Accelerator")

The rise and the resistance of women entrepreneurs worldwide.

What if we used our lunch break to move? 

Introducing **Feminvest Lunch Run**: a community run for anyone that wants to join. On the 4th we step away from our desks and run together.

No matter your pace. No matter your level.

This isn't about running the fastest. 

Bring your colleagues, your friends, your running shoes and your ambition. 

 

[@runforwomensownership](https://www.instagram.com/runforwomensownership/)

Fearless returns for its 13th edition, this time in a more intimate and curated setting at AtSix in the heart of Stockholm. 

 

Fearless brings together **women who invest, women who build companies and the partners helping them make smarter decisions, create stronger businesses and grow their ownership.** 

 

This is not a traditional conference! 

 

It is a meeting place designed around conversations that can actually lead somewhere: a new investment, a new client, a new partner, a new perspective or the introduction that changes what happens next.

 

#### How to join: 

 

## &#x20;Buy your ticket [HERE](https://feminvest.confetti.events/fearless-stockholm-autumn26) or  

 

Get your free ticket by logging into feminvest website below if you are a member in Feminvest ***Core or Investor Network**. If you are not a member,* *b*[*ecome a member HERE.*](https://www.feminvest.se/medlemskap/)

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She started with a small loan. Today, her business employs 15 women!

What can the financial industry learn from football?

Feminvest CEO Michaela Berglund is invited to speak at World Football Summit in Madrid

The rise and the resistance of women entrepreneurs worldwide.