AeQuitas Invest (AQi), a women-led financial technology company, has officially launched its online funding portal aimed at expanding capital access for women-owned businesses.
Registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), AQi operates under Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF), providing a regulated pathway for private U.S. companies to raise funds from a broad pool of investors.
The “Why”: Addressing a $24billion disparity
The launch comes at a time of persistent funding inequality in traditional capital markets. Despite founding nearly half of all new businesses in the U.S., women entrepreneurs face significant hurdles in securing growth capital:
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Venture Capital: All-women teams receive less than 2% of total U.S. venture capital funding.
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Traditional Loans: Women-led businesses receive less than 20% of traditional business loans.
These figures stand in sharp contrast to performance data. According to industry analyses from the Boston Consulting Group, women-led companies generate approximately 78 cents in revenue per dollar invested, compared to just 31 cents generated by male-led companies.
Democratizing the capital raise
Through the AQi platform, women founders can prepare and launch Reg CF offerings, allowing them to raise capital from their own communities rather than exclusively courting venture firms or accredited investors. This shift moves the power of the “gatekeeper” to the crowd, within clear SEC-regulated guardrails and investor limits.
“Women founders aren’t failing to raise capital because their ideas aren’t good enough; they’re failing because the system wasn’t built for them,” said Molly Huyck, founder of AQi.
Huyck founded the company following a 21-year career at PayPal and her own challenging experience as a woman entrepreneur attempting to raise capital. “AeQuitas Invest was built to change that. We’ve created a place where women-led businesses can step into a real capital-raising process, with the tools, transparency, and support to do it with confidence”.
Early traction and educational focus
The platform has already seen significant interest, with more than 20 women-led businesses submitting inquiries or preliminary applications to explore potential Reg CF campaigns. Several of these businesses are currently in the early intake and disclosure stages.
Beyond functioning as a transaction portal, AQi serves as an educational resource. The platform provides founders with the necessary tools to understand complex regulatory requirements and effectively manage ongoing investor communications.
About AeQuitas Invest
AeQuitas Invest (AQi) is a woman-owned funding portal dedicated to bridging the capital gap for women-owned businesses. Through the platform, eligible entrepreneurs can raise capital online under Reg CF, while investors can earn returns—similar to publicly held companies—through dividends and exit events. AQi provides an educational funding portal only and does not provide investment, legal, or tax advice.
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