Something big is happening in the U.S. entrepreneurship landscape and women are driving it. According to Gusto’s Annual New Business Formation Report, women started 49 percent of all new businesses in 2024, the highest rate in five years and a massive 69 percent increase from 2019. The momentum isn’t slowing.
This isn’t a cute trend or a “nice to see” statistic. It’s a fundamental shift in who is shaping the economy and what the future of work will look like.
Why Women Are Walking Away from Corporate and Toward Entrepreneurship
Gusto’s report makes it clear: women are starting businesses because we want control. Control over our time. Control over how much we earn. Control over the type of work we do. After years of battling rigid workplaces and limited advancement, more women are simply opting out of systems that don’t work for them.
Entrepreneurship gives women something corporate environments rarely do, actual agency.
Flexibility isn’t a perk; it’s a requirement
Women still manage the bulk of caregiving. McKinsey has been reporting this imbalance for years. Instead of shrinking our careers to fit our responsibilities, more women are building businesses that align with the realities of our lives. Entrepreneurship gives women the room to grow without burning themselves out.
The economy pushed us, but opportunity pulled us
Inflation, layoffs, and stagnant wages have pushed women to rethink their income sources. At the same time, AI, digital tools, and business platforms have lowered the cost of starting something new. The Shopify Entrepreneurship Index shows more women launching e-commerce and digital-first businesses because the barrier to entry is so much lower than it used to be.
Economic uncertainty has become a catalyst for women to bet on themselves.
What Women Are Building Right Now
Professional services and fractional roles
Women are taking decades of corporate experience and turning it into consulting practices, fractional CFO/CMO roles, and specialized service businesses. Companies want expertise without full-time overhead, and women are filling that gap fast
Tech-enabled companies
Despite the gender gap in tech, women are moving in and are building SaaS tools, AI-driven products, digital agencies, and fintech offerings. No-code platforms and AI have opened doors that used to require a technical cofounder.
Product-based and e-commerce brands
Health, wellness, specialty foods, beauty, apparel; you name it, women are building it. Shopify and Amazon Marketplace have been key growth engines here.
Digital media, content, and education
Newsletters, online courses, podcasts, niche digital communities; women are building revenue streams around their knowledge and influence.
Women aren’t just participating. We’re leading entire categories.
The Hard Truth: The Barriers Still Haven’t Moved Enough
VC funding is still abysmal
Women founders still receive less than three percent of venture capital, according to PitchBook. That number hasn’t budged in any meaningful way in over a decade.
Access to credit is still uneven
Studies show women-owned businesses have a higher outright rejection rate for financing applications compared to the average for all businesses.
Networks matter, and many women still don’t have them
Studies from the Kauffman Foundation confirm that access to mentorship and investor networks significantly impacts growth and survival rates. Many women are still building those networks from scratch.
Despite all of this, women continue to start and grow businesses anyway. That’s the story.
What Needs to Change if We Want These Businesses To Thrive
Investors need to follow the data
Women are creating nearly half of new U.S. businesses. Morgan Stanley’s “Beyond the VC Gap” report highlights the market inefficiency here: investors are leaving money on the table by ignoring women founders.
Stronger support systems
Women-focused accelerators, founder communities, and Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) are doing important work; there just aren’t enough of them to match the demand.
Policy must evolve
The National Women’s Business Council continues to push for better credit access, childcare support, and targeted incentives. These changes matter. They determine whether women-owned businesses can scale or stay stuck.
The Bottom Line
Women are starting businesses at record levels, and early 2025 data shows the pace is still accelerating. We’re not waiting for workplaces to change, so we’re building the opportunities we want. The next step is ensuring that investors, policymakers, and support systems catch up to the ambition, creativity, and economic power women are bringing to the table.