A new funding initiative aimed at closing one of the most persistent equity gaps in entrepreneurship has been launched in the United Kingdom, offering £10,000 ($13,450) every month to Black and Brown women founders—with no reliance on traditional venture capital or government funding.
The initiative, known as FundHerShip, is run by OmegaSeven, a community-led organisation focused on economic justice and business empowerment. According to OmegaSeven, FundHerShip is the UK’s first fully self-sustaining monthly grant of its kind, designed specifically for Black and Brown women entrepreneurs.
Addressing a Structural Funding Gap
FundHerShip was created in response to stark disparities in access to startup capital. OmegaSeven cites data showing that 88% of Black founders self-fund their businesses, compared to 25% of white founders, highlighting a system that disproportionately places financial risk on Black and Brown entrepreneurs.
“The funding system as it exists today was not built with us in mind,” OmegaSeven said in a statement on its website. “FundHerShip is funding designed by us, for us.”
The organisation argues that conventional investment models continue to favour white male founders who fit a narrow, familiar profile, while Black and Brown women are routinely required to overperform to access significantly less capital.
Not Charity, but Economic Investment
Organisers are careful to distinguish FundHerShip from philanthropic or charity-based models. Instead, they frame the initiative as a direct investment in innovation, sustainability, and community-driven enterprise.
“For too long, Black and Brown women have built businesses, communities, and entire informal economies without institutional backing,” OmegaSeven noted. “FundHerShip exists to reflect the reality that these women are not high-risk—they are historically underfunded.”
The initiative also directly challenges what it describes as the “pipeline myth”—the claim that there are not enough investable Black and Brown women founders.
“The women are there,” OmegaSeven states. “The effort to find and fund them has simply not been made.”
How the Fund Works
Under the FundHerShip model:
- One Black or Brown woman entrepreneur in the UK receives £10,000 every month
- The grant can be used for business growth, expansion, or long-term sustainability
- At the end of each year, one of the 12 monthly recipients receives an additional £25,000, selected through a public vote
Notably, the fund is entirely self-sustaining. It is financed through:
- £20 application fees
- Contributions from allies and supporters of the initiative
OmegaSeven says this model ensures independence, longevity, and accountability to the community it serves.
A Broader Shift in Funding Conversations
The launch of FundHerShip comes amid growing global conversations about racial equity in entrepreneurship, particularly in the wake of research showing that Black women founders receive a fraction of available venture capital despite high business formation rates.
For observers in Africa and the diaspora, the initiative is being closely watched as a replicable model—one that prioritises collective responsibility, community ownership, and economic inclusion over traditional gatekeeping structures.
By reframing who is considered “investable,” FundHerShip is positioning itself not just as a grant programme, but as a challenge to the norms that have long shaped access to capital in the UK and beyond.
