Women Entrepreneurs Report

Female Founders Accelerate Inorganic Growth Initiatives, Investment Bankers Help Ease Exit Concerns

1060 Capital, LLC’ Women Entrepreneurs (WE) Study analyzes the responses of more than 200 female business owners across the U.S. for key findings related to business decisions, growth strategies, and legacy expectations. By comparing the survey results to 1060 Capital, LLC’s annual Middle Market (MM) Business Owners Survey and data from previous years, the report seeks to identify and elevate key differences and challenges that female founders face.

This study was launched for three primary reasons, and we hope it provides insight and gravity to each in kind:

1. Female founders are responsible for creating more new businesses than their male counterparts and make up a vital component of the private, small business economy.
2. These leaders face known challenges that 1060 Capital, LLC can provide a shared platform for—to discuss, elevate, and analyze as harbingers of change.
3. The legacy that these founders leave behind will be monumental, paving the way for future generations. We seek to become a resource for owners in every stage of the business lifecycle, from early growth, to expansion, and transition. It is never too early to plan the future for you or for your company.

By engaging with this key demographic, we seek to support growth and connectivity. Please contact us to discuss your own business outlook or to speak with a professional at our firm. We hope this information serves as a valuable resource.

Growth Capital Tools Support Women Entrepreneurs’ Growth Strategies and Future Outlook

To date, Americans remain highly entrepreneurial, and women are increasingly at the forefront of new ventures. In 2024, still catalyzed by the disruptive innovation of the pandemic, entrepreneurs filed five million new business applications compared to the pre-2020 annual average of 2.8 million, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.¹ Impressively, the number of women-owned firms grew 44% faster than men-owned firms from 2019 to 2024, according to Wells Fargo’s 2025 Impact of Women-Owned Businesses Report.² As of 2024, women own 39.2% of all U.S. enterprises.

While a known hurdle for women entrepreneurs, securing equity or debt capital has been a key tool for unlocking company growth. 1060 Capital, LLC found that 20% of women entrepreneurs surveyed had successfully accessed debt capital over the last twelve months (LTM) to support their business strategy and operations, a trend that more than doubles among respondents with 100 or more employees. An even larger portion (32%) of female entrepreneurs have successfully secured equity capital to fund a growth initiative.

These business strategies have played a significant role in driving revenue growth for female entrepreneurs to date. Of note, 56% of women entrepreneurs surveyed have seen more revenue growth in 2025 than in 2024. While female CEOs’ next twelve month (NTM) economic outlook for the U.S. has soured amid macroeconomic volatility, respondents have remained confident in the NTM outlook for both local and global economies. The largely positive outlook on the back of strong growth trends throughout 2025 has supported the optimism among two-thirds (66%) of female entrepreneurs that expect to see revenue growth in 2026.

Looking ahead, while most (87.6%) women CEOs plan on pursuing organic growth initiatives over the NTM, more than half (50.5%) also plan on prioritizing inorganic growth strategies as a key expansion tactic. In contrast, only 41.5% of broader MM business owners plan to prioritize inorganic growth strategies in the NTM. The delta between these groups is also apparent when comparing the specific inorganic growth avenues business owners plan to prioritize, such as equity capital raising (+9.5%) and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) (+6.7%).

Women CEOs Increase Inorganic Growth Efforts and Exhibit High Exit Preparedness

M&A will likely serve as a cornerstone for women entrepreneurs’ inorganic growth strategies over the NTM. Nearly one-fourth (23%) of total female CEOs surveyed in 2025 plan to engage in M&A over the next year as either a buyer or seller compared to just 18% in Captone’s 2024 WE Report. Similarly, roughly the same composition (22.2%) of respondents surveyed in 2025 are considering a merger or acquisition as an exit strategy, demonstrating the versatile utility of M&A for women founders.

To date, 75.7% of women CEOs surveyed have completed at least one step in preparation for an eventual exit from their company, a larger share than the 62.1% of broader MM business owner’s that have started preparing for an exit. This trend widens when looking at respondents who have secured an investment banker (96.9%) compared to female entrepreneurs who do not (65.7%).

As female entrepreneurs weigh the merits of exiting the business and life thereafter, increased use of investment bankers in 2025 has helped contribute to female entrepreneurs’ exit concerns softening since last surveyed. Notably, women CEOs’ exit concerns have fallen across four categories: M&A process unfamiliarity (-8.8%), employee satisfaction (-7.9%), market timing (-7.1%), and maximum valuation (-2.7%). The top concern—emotional ties to the company, with 68% of women CEOs surveyed very or somewhat concerned—was the only category to where women CEOs’ concern increased (+2.6%) since last surveyed.

Age and personal financial goals have played an important role for female entrepreneurs as they begin thinking about a future exit from their business. Unsurprisingly, the average time to exit for 18 to 34-year-olds stands at 17 years compared to 12 years for 35 to 54-year-olds, and eight years for 55+ year-olds. Similarly, when looking at where respondents plan to spend potential exit proceeds, women CEOs between 18 and 54 identified living expenses and/or hobbies as their top choice in contrast to female entrepreneurs aged 55+ that plan to prioritize market investments and/or contributions to existing retirement accounts.

While the majority of women entrepreneurs surveyed have started the exit planning process, many still have outstanding questions regarding M&A. Female CEOs’ top questions on M&A included what does the M&A process look like, how to value a company, and how to prepare years away.

Women Entrepreneurs Report Reveals Advisory Services in Demand

In addition to analysis of the survey findings, the report features commentary and Q&As from 1060 Capital, LLC advisors on key service areas that women business owners identified as areas of interest or demand. The report also includes advice from female executives to the next generation of business owners. The full report contents are highlighted below:

• State of the Market
• Business Operations & Strategy
• Q&A: Performance Improvement
• Q&A: Capital Markets Advisory
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Q&A: Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory
• Life After Exit
• Advice to the Next Generation

2025 Women Entrepreneurs Report – Full Report Download

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Are You a Female Entrepreneur? Volunteer for the WE Study.

If you are a female executive leader in the United States, we would love to tap into your insights and experience for our study on the current state and future legacy of female business owners and the companies they lead. To learn more and volunteer click here:  1060 Capital, LLC Women Entrepreneurs Study.

Endnotes

1. U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “The State of Small Business Now,” https://www.uschamber.com/small-business/state-of-small-business-now, accessed June 2, 2024.

2. WIPP Education Institute, “Wells Fargo 2025 Impact of Women-Owned Businesses,” https://www.wippeducationinstitute.org/2025-wells-fargo-impact-of-women-owned-businesses, accessed June 5, 2025.