BLOOMBERG - Apr 14 - Restaurant owner Simone Jacobson saw her bills piling up fast. She was already in debt and had no savings. So she turned to dating app Bumble. Not to find a date, but to get financing. She applied for one of the $5K grants that Bumble was offering women-run small businesses. Two weeks later, Jacobson got the cash. She plans to use the money to pay for two months' worth of health insurance costs for the 28 employees she let go from her restaurant. "I didn't have time to wait for government funds, my staff needed to know now whether they still have health care," said Jacobson. Women-led companies like Bumble and female billionaires such as Spanx Inc. founder Sara Blakely are giving millions of dollars in grants to small businesses in need of a lifeline amid the coronavirus outbreak. One in ten small businesses are less than a month away from closing permanently, according to a poll released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. About 56% of those businesses favor financial relief in the form of direct cash payments. Bumble is offering 150 grants totaling ~$1M to small businesses globally, with the first wave of recipients being U.S. restaurant owners and others in the food services industry, according to a company spokeswoman. Spanx's Blakely is giving $5K grants from her foundation to help female-run small businesses.
by Saijel Kishan
See fulla article at Washington Post
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