The Ignite Grant Program offers grants of up to $10,000 to qualified women-owned small businesses in Connecticut.
The Women’s Business Development Council (WBDC) will begin accepting applications for the latest round of the Ignite Grant Program on Tuesday, August 5, 2025. Launched in 2020, the program offers grants of up to $10,000 to qualified women-owned businesses in Connecticut. Applications for Ignite grants will be accepted through September 16.
Ignite is designed to help women-owned businesses grow. In the last round of the grant program, the ninth since its launch, 60 grants totaling $563,897 were awarded.
Twelve percent of the businesses are in economically distressed communities, and 28 percent of business owners are women of color. To date, the Ignite Grant Program has distributed $3.9 million in funding to 424 small businesses across Connecticut.
“We are excited to once again offer this opportunity to Connecticut’s women-owned businesses,” said Fran Pastore, WBDC CEO. “Ignite does exactly as its name implies — it sparks lasting growth, creating jobs, and driving economic momentum led by our state’s inspiring community of women entrepreneurs.”
In June, WBDC embarked on a three-day statewide road show, visiting and celebrating eight recent Ignite Grant recipients. The road show visits included: Scoot & Paddle (Milford), Studio 10 (Berlin), Craves (Manchester), Gemini Seafood (Tony & Sons Seafood (Oakville), Yoga Station (Redding), Fleur Beauty Lounge (Stamford), Shuttle Press & Bindery (Stonington), Hope Lodge (Moosup), and 640 Health Therapies (Westbrook).
About Ignite and Eligibility
Ignite makes available grants of between $2,500 and $10,000 to be awarded for clearly defined projects that will have a measurable impact on the business, its growth, and profitability.
To be eligible, a business must meet the following criteria:
- 51% or more woman-owned.
- Headquartered in Connecticut, registered in the state of Connecticut, and owned by a Connecticut resident.
- In business for at least two years before March 14th, 2024 (business must have been established by March 14th, 2022) with a record of sales.
- A record of annual sales/revenue in the last twelve months greater than $25,000 and less than $2,000,000.
- In good standing with the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services (DRS)
- An established business checking account
- A formal, digital bookkeeping/financial system (e.g., QuickBooks, Sage, FreshBooks, Wave Accounting)
- A for-profit business.
- Owned by a woman at least 18 years old.
- Invested at least $2,500 into the business in the last 12 months — unless the business is located in a distressed municipality
For more information and eligibility criteria, as well as a schedule of upcoming information sessions, visit ctwbdc.org/ignite.
About the Women’s Business Development Council
The Women’s Business Development Council’s (WBDC) mission is to support economic prosperity for women and strengthen communities through entrepreneurial and financial education services that create and grow sustainable jobs and businesses across Connecticut. WBDC educates, motivates, and empowers women to achieve economic independence and self-sufficiency. Since 1997, WBDC has educated and trained over 21,700 clients in all of Connecticut’s 169 towns—helping women to launch, sustain, and scale over 16,250 businesses, create and maintain more than 40,350 jobs in Connecticut, and access over $86 million in capital. Since 2020, WBDC has provided more than $19 million in grants to help fuel growth in small businesses throughout Connecticut. Visit ctwbdc.org for more information.
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