In a striking display of entrepreneurial spirit, women-owned businesses in Singapore are increasingly setting their sights on international markets, with OCBC Bank's new initiative providing crucial support.
Promising growth since launch
The OCBC Women Unlimited programme, launched in April 2024, has already shown promising results.
As OCBC group chief executive Helen Wong revealed at a networking event on Friday (Aug 16), "The number of loans extended to female-owned businesses grew over 30 per cent in the two months after the programme's launch, compared with the two months prior to launch."
This growth outpaced loans to male-owned enterprises, which increased by over 20 per cent in the same period.
Empowering women entrepreneurs
Wong emphasised the programme's commitment to accessibility, stating, "As part of this programme, we expanded our SME sustainable finance framework to include a new category of social loans. This will make financing even more accessible for women entrepreneurs."
The programme offers financing of up to $100,000 for women-led start-ups within their first two years, with waived processing fees.
It also provides customised educational workshops and mentorship opportunities.
Linus Goh, head of global commercial banking at OCBC, highlighted the importance of networking: "It goes without saying that in many of the industries, the business networks are... male-dominated."
He added that providing budding female entrepreneurs access to successful peers who have "done it before and done it well" will be beneficial.
Networking and international expansion
This initiative comes as OCBC's data reveals a surge in international expansion among women-owned businesses.
Over the last five years, the number of women-owned businesses under 10 years old expanding beyond Singapore has increased by 51 per cent, compared to a 27 per cent increase for male-owned companies.
With plans to extend the programme to Malaysia and Hong Kong, OCBC is positioning itself to support the growing trend of women-led businesses going global.
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