A major economic shift could add an annual 10 billion dollars to New Zealand’s GDP if structural barriers blocking female entrepreneurs are removed, according to a newly published study by Westpac NZ. The report, titled Encouraging More Women-Led Businesses, reveals that women currently own or co-own just under a third of companies across the country. Despite this low figure, the data shows that female-led firms match or exceed male-led counterparts in capital efficiency while showcasing superior long-term commercial resilience.
The financial institution identified limited access to finance, weaker investor networks and deep-rooted societal norms as the primary root causes holding female business owners back from reaching parity with men. Cat Feaunati, Westpac NZ Head of Business & Virtual Lending, noted that the lack of professional connections heavily impacts early-stage growth.
“The report cites the fact that in 2024, female-owned firms received less than 3% of total venture capital available in New Zealand,” Ms Feaunati says. “There’s also a lot of evidence that female entrepreneurs have fewer connections to the kinds of people and organisations who can help them to raise initial funding.”
To combat these issues directly, Westpac NZ has launched a new partnership with business coaching and mentoring company re:ampd. The initiative will grant up to 500 female bank clients a free 12-month membership to specialised mentoring sessions. The programme focuses on providing female founders with tools, community support and essential funding networks across Aotearoa. Early testing of the scheme has already shown strong potential.
“We’ve already invited a small number of our customers to apply to join re:ampd and the feedback has been really positive. Customers are excited about the opportunity to connect with and learn from other women in business,” Ms Feaunati says.
To expand immediate funding avenues, Westpac is also promoting its 100 million dollar startup lending commitment, which targets businesses in their initial two years of operation. The bank has already deployed 58 million dollars under this scheme. Ms Feaunati explained that the bank has actively streamlined its criteria to ease the entry process for new applicants.
“We know more work needs to be done to help break down the barriers. We’re really keen to play our part, and are committed to working with business owners, intermediaries and industry bodies to help more women achieve their dreams of starting or growing a business. In October last year, we announced a $100m lending commitment to support start-up businesses in their first two years of operation. Demand for that lending has been really strong and we’ve lent $58m to date. We know it can be hard for entrepreneurs to put together the necessary financials to apply for lending – through our start-up commitment, we only require people to provide us with a business plan, cash forecast and statement of financial position.”
The paper concludes that a highly coordinated national approach to funding and networking infrastructure could eventually scale long-term fiscal benefits as high as 25 billion dollars. Marisa Fong, founder of re:ampd, emphasised the community-driven value of the new alliance.
She stated that she founded the platform “because I know from my own experience that women who are building businesses often feel very alone… they just don’t have the community around them that they need to succeed. My mission is to help women grow their businesses and I’m looking forward to connecting with many of Westpac’s female customers to deliver better outcomes for all New Zealanders. Because we know when women are successful, they don’t hold that success to themselves – they go on to impact communities, causes and conversations that they deeply care about.”
