New York City announced on Wednesday that it is teaming up with Goldman Sachs and a few other companies to make it easier for female entrepreneurs to tap affordable lines of credit to grow their businesses.
In a release, the city announced a new program called WE Credit that will help 250 women entrepreneurs access lines of credit, which will average $50,000 at below-market interest rates. The city hopes WE Credit will help close the startup gender gap, and become a model for others to follow.
The program is part of a public-private partnership with Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Small Businesses program, which will provide $5 million to finance lines of credit. Separately, Squarespace, an all-in-one website building platform, and and the New York City Economic Development Corporation will invest $1 million for a loan loss reserve to cover potential defaults, while credit solutions provider Fundation will offer the platform for the women to access and manage the lines of credit.