Bellevate.com, a boutique crowdfunding site for women, is born today

AUSTIN, Texas, April 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The next generation of Crowdfunding is opening doors for women. Today Bellevate.com launched a site dedicated to helping women use the internet, and their social media currency to start or expand a business.

Bellevate uses Dreamfunding^SM,  next generation Crowdfunding - a hot new way for entrepreneurs to raise funds through small individual contributions. It's a way for businesses to use the Internet and their established social media networks to find the funding to launch new ideas or expand existing operations.

But, women are often still getting lost in the shuffle.

On most crowdfunding sites, businesses looking for funding are all pooled together. One artist is raising funds to write the next great American novel while two-clicks-away another is hoping to fund a movie. Entrepreneurs can easily get lost amidst a sea of others all clamoring for the same thing – money.

The inability to stand out from the masses can be especially harmful for women-owned businesses. According to Forbes magazine, women-owned businesses represent nearly 50% of privately held companies in the U.S., however, three quarters of these businesses are not able to grow their businesses past $50,000 in annual gross revenue.

Biz2Credit, an online matchmaker for entrepreneurs and lenders, found that women-owned companies were 15 percent to 20 percent less likely to be approved for small business loans during the last six months of 2012.

Bellevate.com is a platform that offers women a solution. Bellevate is dedicated to helping women owned start-up companies, new projects, and existing businesses find funding.

Bellevate.com expects to become a location where female entrepreneurs can find encouragement, guidance, and funding.

"Our unique approach to Crowdfunding allows each entrepreneur to be in the spotlight," said Becca Sanders, spokeswoman for Bellevate.

Sanders continued, "Bellevate is a new word and we want it to represent a concept that everyone understands. Bellevate is a verb. It's an action.  We want women to have their businesses Bellevated."

The Bellevate site celebrates the courage it takes to say, "I am ready to launch my idea."

SOURCE Bellevate.com