Tide, the business financial platform, has announced it will help 200,000 female-led businesses start out by the end of 2027. It is the first fintech to support female-led SMEs on this scale.
The commitment is part of Tide‘s efforts “to promote gender equality and remove barriers to female entrepreneurship.”
The move builds on an earlier milestone, when Tide announced it “had onboarded 100,000 female-led businesses – 10 months ahead of its 2023 end-of-year target.”
As mentioned in the announcement, female-led businesses “make up just a fifth (20%) of all new businesses in the UK.”
To address this and other challenges, Tide is “launching a Women in Business content series to inspire, inform and champion female Tide members.”
Tide members will be “directed to Mastercard’s Strive UK program.”
Strive UK reportedly “includes free access to training and targeted advice to tackle business challenges such as creating a social media strategy, setting up an online shop or accepting online payments.”
A recent survey of 2,000 Tide members “showed that more than half (53%) of women in the UK find it challenging to start their own business.”
They cited “a lack of mentors, operational knowledge, and self-confidence as some of the most significant barriers.” The survey “showed business mentoring and learning and development are areas where female business owners need support.”
Heather Cobb, SVP Member Engagement at Tide, said:
“Having listened to our members, we know the struggles they face when starting and running a business and we want to make that process as easy as possible. A mere 5.6% of women in the UK run their own business4 – much lower than developed economies such as Canada (15%) and the US (11%). Today’s commitment is just the beginning of our journey to improve gender equality in entrepreneurship and we look forward to working with Mastercard and others to achieve this goal.”
Kelly Devine, President, UK&I at Mastercard said:
“There’s so much we can do to support women entrepreneurs if we work together. Entrepreneurs told us that they often don’t know where to look for credible support services, so it’s great that Tide is helping women find support, inspiration and information that will help them start and grow a business.”
As mentioned in the announcement, Mastercard’s Strive UK program, “an initiative of the Mastercard Centre for Inclusive Growth, focuses on helping small businesses with digital skills, especially those led by women and ethnic-minority owners.”
Through Strive UK, Tide members can:
- Build a personalised business action plan with Enterprise Nation’s Make a Plan tool.
- Connect with experts in strategy, marketing, technology, finance and more for 1:1 or small-group business mentoring through Digital Boost.
- Access their very own board of experienced business people for 12 months, connect with a mentor, or get free technology advice through Be the Business.
- A community for female business owners
Tide’s Women in Business content series “will spotlight lessons from running innovative businesses, helping the community of female Tide members supercharge their ventures.”
One such member “is serial entrepreneur and social advocate Atinuke Awe. (Tinuke), who recently hosted a masterclass on ‘Accessing Alternative Finance’. Tinuke is the founder of Mums and Tea (social platform for Mums), Learning with Ez (diverse educational resources) and co-founder of Five X More CIC, an organisation committed to changing Black maternal outcomes in the UK.”
Tide also has “a growing member base in India, following the launch of its product in December 2022.”
Tide has set “a target of supporting 500,000 women-led businesses to start out by the end of 2027.” To achieve this, it recently “launched the Sarthika web portal, an initiative to help female business owners navigate the delivery of India’s government assistance schemes.”