‘Bridging the Funding Gap’: Female Founders Inc. Unveils Femme Biz Magazine to Connect Guyanese and Caribbean Women Entrepreneurs with Capital and Global Markets

By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News |

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — As Guyana’s rapid economic expansion continues to reshape the regional commercial landscape, a new business and media initiative—Female Founders Inc. (FFI) alongside its flagship publication, Femme Biz Magazine—has been launched to ensure female entrepreneurs are equipped to access capital, scale their enterprises, and compete in international markets.

Spearheaded by Guyanese entrepreneur Kerensa Bart, alongside US Managing Partner and US-based Guyanese journalist Tracey Khan and Guyanese Managing Partner Milcah Joseph, the venture seeks to bridge persistent financing disparities by linking female-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) directly with venture capitalists, financial institutions, development agencies, and cross-border business networks.

Addressing the Capital Deficit Through Data and Venture Networks

Founded by Kerensa Bart, Female Founders Inc. focuses on overcoming structural barriers that limit women-led enterprises from accessing growth financing on par with male-led firms:

• Closing the Gender Financing Gap: Bart noted that women entrepreneurs in Guyana continue to face disproportionate hurdles when seeking commercial loans, grants, and equity investments, underscoring the need to connect female founders directly with institutional capital and venture backers.
• Macro-Level Research & Ecosystem Data: Beyond direct networking, FFI is prioritizing the collection of empirical research and market data to map female entrepreneurial participation and business ownership patterns across Guyana—providing policymakers and financial institutions with actionable benchmarks.
• Origin of Femme Biz Magazine: Recognizing that female business owners rarely share the financial realities, mentorship lessons, and capital-raising strategies behind their ventures, Bart conceptualized Femme Biz Magazine as an accessible platform capable of reaching and empowering women across the broader public.

“I don’t believe that we access as much finance as our male counterparts in Guyana… Part of what our organisation will do at a more macro level is try to get research and data on what female entrepreneur partnership is in Guyana… Yes, we would talk about business, but we don’t share our stories—access to financing, we don’t mentor [on] the money aspect of it… Then I thought, why not create an initiative that can reach the female masses, and that is how I came up with the magazine.” — Kerensa Bart, Founder of Female Founders Inc.

Elevating Untold Stories Across Key Growth Sectors

Joining Bart in leading the consortium, Managing Partners Tracey Khan and Milcah Joseph emphasized the importance of pairing international visibility with practical mentorship and cross-border trade readiness:

• Inspiring Caribbean & Diaspora Synergy: US Managing Partner Tracey Khan highlighted that Femme Biz Magazine will spotlight the achievements of both local and wider Caribbean women in business, showcasing tangible role models so emerging entrepreneurs in Guyana can see pathways to regional and global competitiveness.
• Targeting High-Impact Productive Sectors: Guyanese Managing Partner Milcah Joseph detailed that the initiative specifically targets female-owned small and medium-sized enterprises operating in foundational and high-growth industries—including agro-processing, agriculture, construction, and mining—documenting the unfiltered realities of women building enterprises from the ground up.

“We are going to share so that they can inspire other women in Guyana [so] they can aspire to [it].” — Tracey Khan, US Managing Partner

“Women who founded businesses and are building businesses—those are the women we are targeting because we want to tell their raw stories.” — Milcah Joseph, Guyanese Managing Partner

By uniting ecosystem research, capital access, and authentic storytelling, Bart, Joseph, and Khan aim to build lasting commercial pathways that turn female entrepreneurial ambition into sustainable economic leadership across Guyana and the wider Caribbean.