The Wisdom Fund

An innovative investment product that enables individuals and institutions to invest in the future of women of color.

What Is The Wisdom Fund?

The Wisdom Fund is a fixed income vehicle that increases capital access and lending for women-owned businesses. It is a co-created effort to bring new thinking, experimentation, and sustainable solutions to drive wealth creation for women of color in the United States.

What Problem Is The Wisdom Fund Addressing?

Every day 1,800 new women-owned businesses are added to the U.S. economy, yet women-owned businesses receive a small fraction of total small business lending.1  Recently, there has been increased attention around the funding gap women face in venture capital, however, the impact of the small business lending gap, which can affect many of the 12 million women-owned businesses in the U.S., is likely more significant.2

Capital access is a significant issue for female entrepreneurs3 and is particularly pronounced for minority female entrepreneurs. To illustrate, “if revenues generated by minority women-owned firms matched those currently generated by all women-owned businesses, they would add four million new jobs and $1.2 trillion in revenues to the U.S. economy.”4

The Statistics

Less than 5 percent of small business lending—only about $1 in $23—goes to women.5
Even when controlling for credit risk, low credit risk women-owned firms were approved for business loans at a rate 10% lower than male-owned businesses. 6
Small business ownership can be economically transformative, “the median net worth for Black business owners is 12 times higher than Black nonbusiness owners.” 7
Despite accounting for almost a third of all businesses in the US, women-owned small businesses receive 16 percent of all conventional small business loans issued. 8
Alternative funding sources are also limited, women receive just 7 percent of all venture funding.9

What Kind Of Businesses Will The Wisdom Fund Support?

The borrowers profiled below were all funded by CNote partner lenders. They are representative of the borrowers the Wisdom Fund aims to support.

Wisdom Fund, The Investment

Key Features:

Money invested in the Wisdom Fund is deployed by CDFI partners as affordably-priced loan capital targeting female small business owners, specifically women of color, who will also receive free business coaching
The Wisdom Fund is not just an investment vehicle, but a collaborative effort by lenders across the nation to share loan data and make the lending process more inclusive for female entrepreneurs—as the program continues we will leverage data to improve outcomes
Investors will earn a 1.00% Annual Return10
60-Month Investment Term11
$100,000 minimum12
Two levels of diversification, The Wisdom Fund will invest capital across multiple community lenders who hold a loan portfolio covering diverse geographies13
Historically, women entrepreneuers have faced countless hurdles when it comes to small business lending. In the past, they had to get a man to co-sign their loan. Today, many of those obvious barriers are gone, yet women only get around 5% of all small business lending. Its time to change that.
There are over 12 million women-owned businesses in America. Increasing their access to capital will create more growth and employment opportunities, that can benefit the entire economy.
CNote is working with a dedicated group of partners, thought leaders, and on-the-ground lenders who not only provide capital but tailored business advice to help more women-owned businesses thrive and support their local communities.

Invest In The Wisdom Fund

Currently, the Wisdom Fund is only available to accredited investors.*

If you’re an accredited investor, you can sign up for a CNote account and invest in the Wisdom Fund today.

If you are not an accredited investor, you are still eligible to invest in our Flagship Fund.

We will notify you when the Wisdom Fund launches for non-accredited investors.

Invest in Equality.

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*Note: Individuals are “accredited investors” if their net worth is at least $1,000,000, excluding the value of their primary residence, or they have income at least $200,000 each year for the last two years (or $300,000 combined income if married) and have the expectation to make the same amount this year.

Small Business Owner Seeking Funding?

Are you a small business owner seeking a loan? Provide your information to learn more, or contact Wisdom Fund partners below.

Learn More

Partners

By working with some of the country’s most inspiring and dedicated leaders, The Wisdom Fund collaboration will drive capital and new opportunities into the hands of hard-working women across the United States. Further, CNote and the Wisdom Fund partners are committed to co-creating the product alongside the community we aim to serve, giving female entrepreneurs a voice where they traditionally have not had one.