DURHAM — October is Women’s Small Business Month and up-and-coming fintech platform Cadence Cash is ready to celebrate.
The company is hosting an inaugural “FundHER” event later this month at the American Underground space in Durham.
The event line-up, released today, includes funding experts from across the Triangle and beyond.
A panel discussion on available capital streams will include Shawna Lemon from xElle Ventures, Jenn Summe representing Priomordial, and Scott Wolford from the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA), along with Cadence Cash co-founder and COO Andrea Inokon. The panel will be moderated by TechWire writer and Reify Media owner, Dr. Sarah Glova.
“Our goal is to feature a variety of different types of capital,” Inokon explained. “A lot of times when people think of funding they immediately jump to the idea of venture capital. Obviously, venture is not available for most businesses, and even a smaller portion goes to women-owned businesses. So we wanted to give people an idea of what other types of capital are available, and then also a sense of what may fit your business at different stages.”
Women-owned Business Challenges
There will also be a Fireside Chat with Rodney Hood of the National Credit Union Administration, facilitated by Mikaya Thurmond of VSC. The two will discuss the current landscape and future of capital access for women business leaders.
The topic is highly relevant in the wake of several recent lawsuits. In early August the American Alliance for Equal Rights sued VC firm Fearless Fund, alleging racial bias for its “Strivers Grants” of $20,000 each that support start-ups run by Black women. Also in August, America First Legal filed a class action suit against Progressive and Hello Alice for their $25,000 grant supporting vehicle purchases for Black-owned small businesses.
It’s not all bad news. According to 2021 data from the SBA, North Carolina ranks 12th with 37.2% of businesses owned by women.
“The number of women-owned businesses continues to grow each year and in recent months, there’s been a lot of focus and talk around access to capital for women entrepreneurs, particularly in the face of [lawsuits],” Inokon said. “We thought that this would be the perfect time to bring women small business owners together to talk about the capital options that are available here in the Triangle.”
10 startups – including 2 from Triangle – to participate in Black Founders Exchange
Funding Support
More funding support will soon be available from the event host, Cadence Cash. The company has been working on its AI lending platform that aims to transform invoices into funds and offer micro-loans and lines of credit. The company was recently selected to participate in the Google for Business Black Founders Exchange, and co-founder Charles Inokon received a scholarship from CED to attend the Business of Software Conference which took place in downtown Raleigh last week.
According to Andrea Inokon, the company has plans to share “great news” on the status of its platform launch at the event.
The FundHER event will take place on Thursday, October 26th, and opens at 9:30 am with a welcome from Katrece Boyd of North Carolina Central University. Tickets are available via Eventbrite.
