Key takeaways

• Women founders make up 49% of all new businesses per the latest data, marking the highest rate in the past five years.
• In January 2026, total new business applications were up near 37% year over year, the largest increase since April 2021.
• Women now make up nearly half of angel investors, and 46% of businesses seeking angel capital are women-owned.

New business data reflects a growing desire among women to build wealth on their own terms through entrepreneurship.

Women are in their entrepreneur era, becoming their own boss at unprecedented rates. The most recent data shows female entrepreneurs are responsible for 49% of all new businesses — a 69% increase from 2019 to 2024.¹ The surge is part of a broader boom in new business formation. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, new business applications were up nearly 37% in January 2026 compared to January 2025, suggesting strong momentum heading into the new year. January marked the largest year-over-year increase since April 2021, when volumes rose almost 112%.²

Empower research finds that nearly half of women (46%) cite financial independence as core to happiness, and 68% highlight living debt‑free — values that align closely with the reasons many women are turning to entrepreneurship as a path to greater control over their financial futures.

From side hustle to full-time founder

Not every trend is on the rise. As more employers push for return-to-office policies, side hustles are slowing In 2024, only 35% of new businesses were side hustles — down from 45% in 2023.³ For many aspiring entrepreneurs, being physically present at the office has limited the time and flexibility to build businesses on the side. Instead, more are making the leap into full-time entrepreneurship.

Women funding women

Women are giving new meaning to the phrase “a girl’s girl.” Across industries, they’re funding, mentoring, and championing one another. Women-owned businesses account for 46% of firms seeking angel capital and more women are stepping in to meet that demand: Nearly half of angel investors are now women, signaling a powerful shift in financial influence.⁴ That influence is only expected to grow, with women set to inherit $34 trillion in assets through the Great Wealth Transfer.

Read more: The $34 trillion shift: How women are reshaping wealth and legacy

Sisterhood as strategy

Still, access to capital — and knowledge — is not always equitable. Anu Duggal, founding partner of the Female Founders Fund, reported she once took 700 meetings to secure $5.85 million in funding — a stark example of the barriers still common even for women launching VC firms.⁵

Meanwhile, women are less likely than men to have workplace sponsors at key career junctures, according to a new McKinsey survey. Some 31% of women with entry-level roles had sponsors in 2025 compared with 45% of men; for VP and above it was 66% vs. 72%, respectively. Support was more balanced for mid-career roles.⁶

Read more: How mentorship can recharge careers and finances

Innovators like Daniella Pierson are creating alternative solutions. Her platform CHASM offers female entrepreneurs free access to pitch decks, legal workshops, and even grants — funded through an invite-only membership model — to bridge the gaps typically closed off to women without legacy networks.⁷ These initiatives are critical steps in making entrepreneurship accessible and inclusive, and big names are following suit. Last year, the Tory Burch Foundation pledged $1 billion in support of women entrepreneurs by 2030.⁸ The move comes at a time when only 4.2% of women-owned businesses in the U.S. surpass $1 million in annual revenue; among Tory Burch Foundation fellows, that number rises to 42%.⁹

Breaking barriers in the workplace

The entrepreneurial rise isn’t happening in isolation. Women are making parallel strides in traditional workplaces, gaining ground in leadership and professional roles. 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.¹⁰ According to data from the Pew Research Center, 46% of all U.S. managers were women in 2023, up from 29% in 1980.¹¹ Women are now filling 38% of majority-male professional jobs — such as computer scientists, physicians, and lawyers — up from 23% in 1980.