Grants for women-owned businesses
What grants are available for women-owned businesses?
Three kinds of money are open to women-owned businesses. Private grant programs run by foundations and companies award grants to women founders, often with a pitch or short application. The federal government's main advantage comes through contracts: SBA's Women-Owned Small Business program certifies firms to compete for contracts set aside for them. Federal research grants such as SBIR and STTR are open to any eligible small business, including women-owned ones.
Last reviewed October 12, 2026.
Where the money sits
- Private grant programs for women founders
- Foundations, banks and consumer brands run recurring grant competitions for women-owned businesses. Most use a short online application or pitch. Award sizes and deadlines vary from program to program. A current listing matters more than a list someone published last year. Many of these competitions open for only a few weeks each year. A founder who checks a live listing every month will catch far more of them than one who searches once and works from that list for the rest of the year.
- SBA's Women-Owned Small Business program
- Firms at least 51% owned and controlled by women who are US citizens can certify through SBA for free at certify.sba.gov. Certified firms can compete for federal contracts set aside in industries where women-owned businesses are underrepresented. A separate tier for economically disadvantaged women-owned firms opens further set-asides.
- SBIR and STTR research grants
- These federal programs fund small businesses developing new technology. They are open to any eligible small firm, women-owned or not. They are also among the largest sources of non-dilutive money a founder can win.
- Local and state programs
- Economic development agencies, community foundations and SBA's Women's Business Centers run or point to local grant and training programs. These are smaller and far less crowded than national competitions. A first local award also gives a young business the track record that larger funders and lenders look for when they read its next application.
Find the open ones and apply the same day
Quillify searches 4,400+ open grants and 14,000+ government contract opportunities in one place. A women-owned business can work through grant competitions, set-aside contracts and SBIR solicitations without keeping three separate lists.
When one fits, Quillify drafts the application from your own documents and scores the draft against the announcement before you submit. Quillify for small businesses.
Where to go from here
The landscape above is the same whoever you are. What Quillify does about it is not.
Related fields
- Grants for technology and innovationWhat grants exist for technology companies and innovation projects?
- Grants for workforce and job trainingWho funds workforce development and job training programs?
All fields, or the guides.
See who would actually fund your work.
Browsing and keyword search are free, and there is no card required.