Amber Grant for Women

Who qualifies

• Business must be at least 50% women-owned (self-attestation — no formal WOSB or other government certification required)
• Business must be based in the United States or Canada
• Owner must be 18 years of age or older
• Any industry or business type eligible, including nonprofits
• Any business stage eligible — from pre-revenue idea phase through established growth businesses
• No minimum revenue requirement
• No minimum time-in-business requirement
• Startup Grant track additionally requires: business in idea phase or under $10,000 in total sales to date
• Previous winners are eligible to apply again in subsequent years

Hard requirements

• Demographic eligibility: women-owned
• Women ownership required

Is the Amber Grant legit?

Yes. WomensNet has run the Amber Grant since 1998 and names its winners every month. The one cost is a $15 application fee.

• Who runs it: WomensNet, which started the Amber Grant in 1998
• Cost to apply: $15, not refundable whether or not you win
• How winners are contacted: From an official @ambergrantsforwomen.com email address
• Watch for: WomensNet says it never asks winners for money to release a grant. Anyone who does is not them.

Sources: ambergrantsforwomen.com · page 2 · page 3. Last checked at the funder on October 18, 2026.

Past Amber Grant winners

Recent monthly winners WomensNet has announced:

• Carla Morán, Mobile Tailor LA, Los Angeles (San Fernando Valley), CA · August 2026 Amber Grant (announced Sep 21, 2026)
• Anne Charles, Sterling Hygiene · July 2026 Amber Grant (announced Aug 20, 2026)
• Schola Eburuoh and Sophia Casino, FiXA · June 2026 Amber Grant (announced Jul 21, 2026)
• Rozanna Weinberger, Rozanna's Violins · May 2026 Amber Grant (announced Jun 18, 2026)
• SheFlag.com · August 2026 Startup Grant
• Babes Pickles · July 2026 Startup Grant

Names as published by WomensNet (source). GrantCompass is not affiliated with WomensNet.

What the Amber Grant for Women application asks

The Amber Grant for Women application asks two written questions, alongside your contact and business details. The entry fee is $15. The deadline is the last day of each month, 11:59pm ET, and you submit on the funder’s own form at ambergrantsforwomen.com. These are the questions as they appear on the form:

1. 1

   Tell us about your business or business idea…

2. 2

   Tell us what you would do with the money if awarded a grant…

What the judges look for

• Your story: passion, business savvy and vision
• Your plan to grow or start the business
• Exactly how you'd spend the $15,000

How to answer the Amber Grant application questions (with examples)

Aim for about 850 words across the two answers. In its tips for applicants (first published in 2019), WomensNet says the average application ran about 600 words, while winning applications averaged nearly 850. It suggests that 800 to 1,000 words is usually enough. Most of that length belongs in the first answer, your story. The second answer is a priced plan.

Question 1: “Tell us about your business or business idea…”

WomensNet’s own prompts for this answer are the story behind your business, what motivates you, and the opportunities and challenges. A strong answer covers all three. We suggest this order:

1. 1

   The why and the how. How you came up with the idea, why now, and what you have done so far.

2. 2

   You, as a person. What drives you and your connection to the business. The judges look for passion, business savvy and vision, in your own words.

3. 3

   The opportunity and the obstacles. Who buys, how big the market is, what demand you have already seen, and the challenges you expect. Naming the hard part makes you more credible.

Why it works: it opens with a person and a reason. It proves demand in plain numbers (sold out by 11am, two cafés asking). And it names the one obstacle the money would remove, which sets up the second answer.

Question 2: “Tell us what you would do with the money if awarded a grant…”

The form asks what you would do with the $15,000 and with the $75,000 year-end grant. WomensNet asks applicants to price out each item and to show how far they would stretch the money. A list of real costs reads better than a paragraph of intentions. The box is optional on the form, but how you would use the money is one of the three things WomensNet says it judges. The form is a plain text box, so write one line per item with its cost.

For the $75,000, describe the next stage of the same plan. In this example, that is a small storefront kitchen and a second oven so wholesale can grow past two cafés.

Mistakes WomensNet warns against

• Too short. If your story fits in 200 to 300 words, WomensNet suggests waiting until you have more to say.
• Corporate language and jargon. The readers are not experts in your industry, and past winners showed business sense without buzzwords.
• Leaning on your website. Put everything the judges need in the application itself, and add links to your site or social pages as extra.
• Worrying about sales figures. They help if you are comfortable sharing them; leaving them out is not a disadvantage.

Want both answers written from your own details? Start your free draft preview. You see the preview before you pay anything.

What it covers

How to apply

1. 1

   Pay the $15 application fee

   A $15 non-refundable fee is required to submit. Pay via Stripe (US and Canada) or PayPal (US only), with MasterCard or Visa accepted. The fee covers all three grant tracks — monthly Amber, Startup, and Business Category — with a single payment.

   ~5 min

2. 2

   Complete your business profile

   Enter your full name, email address, business name, and website or Facebook page URL. If your business is not yet online, a social media page is acceptable.

   ~15 min

3. 3

   Write your business description essay

   Describe your business or business idea in your own words. This is the core of your application — judges specifically look for passion and authenticity over polished corporate language. WomensNet states they care most about 'the woman (or women) behind the business.' A few hundred words is typical; there is no stated word limit. Speak from personal experience.

   ~1.5 hrs

4. 4

   Describe how you would use the grant funds (optional)

   Optionally explain what you would do with the $15,000 if awarded. This field is not required, but specific and grounded plans (e.g., 'purchase a commercial-grade freezer and fund my first farmers market season') are more compelling than vague intentions. No restrictions on fund use — you can propose anything from equipment to marketing to hiring.

   ~30 min

5. 5

   Submit before the month-end deadline

   Submit your application by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the last day of the current month. Your single submission automatically enters you into all three concurrent grant tracks for that month, and your application remains active for 12 consecutive months for the rotating Business Category Grant. Winners are notified and announced publicly by the 21st of the following month.

   ~5 min

Deadline & timing

Applications close on the final day of each month. Winners are announced by the 21st of the following month. A single application enters you into all three monthly grant tracks (Amber, Startup, Business Category). Per the official rules, entries for the Monthly Amber Grant and the Monthly Startup Grant expire at the end of the month you apply; the application stays eligible for up to 11 more months only for a rotating Business Category Grant the business qualifies for. One application per email every 3 months (Amber FAQ): \"Our system will not allow a second application with the same email within 3 months.\"

Planning a full year of entries? See a worked plan across the women's monthly grants, fees included.

Programs that stack well

• IFundWomen
• Cartier Women'S Initiative
• SBA Women'S Business Centers

Amber Grant compared with 9 other microgrants women founders apply to

Business Freedom Grant, Coach K Legacy Grant and IFundWomen grants cost $0 to enter. Amber Grant, HerRise MicroGrant, Hey Helen Grant, SecretSoS Grant, The Hustle Grant and YippityDoo Big Idea Grant each charge $15 and Freed Fellowship charges $19 per entry. Amber Grant pays the largest monthly award, $15,000; Coach K Legacy Grant is the only monthly award in this table with no entry fee.

Table updated November 6, 2026 from the GrantCompass catalog. Entry fees are verified against each funder’s published rules; confirm the date on the funder’s own page before you apply.

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