(MONEY Magazine) – LESLIE DANZIGER OF LIGHT Path Technologies in Tucson can't actually prove that being a woman hindered her efforts to raise money for her company, which makes powerful optical glass for cameras, binoculars, night vision systems and the lasers in CD players. But Danziger, 41, can cite some telltale signs -- like the time she described Light Path's patented new technology to a group of venture capitalists. One guy's response: Danziger must have an "ego problem," because she had such long hair and fingernails. "I thought it was a very strange comment," she says. Then there's the fact that ever since she hired a man, Les Gunderson, 58, as CEO and president last March (she remains chairman), inquiries from venture capitalists have started flowing at the speed of, well, light. True, he has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, while Danziger is a college dropout. But she worked as an executive vice president at two companies before founding Light Path in 1985. Moreover, as she notes, "For 30 years major companies tried to figure out this technology and make it work commercially; I led the effort that succeeded." After struggling to raise $15 million from individual investors over nine years, Danziger has finally begun negotiations with venture-capital firms for an undisclosed amount of money to make Light Path financially self-sustaining. And in March the company started shipping lenses to its first major customer, Lenses for Laser Applications, a catalogue company that sells equipment to 50,000 labs worldwide. While the contract probably won't generate more than $500,000 in annual sales, Danziger expects the deal to attract more business from medical and scientific customers. Her goal is $22 million in annual sales by 1997. As Danziger's experience suggests, raising money can be especially difficult for women entrepreneurs. In 1992, two-thirds of 1,071 females surveyed for the National Foundation for Women Business Owners (NFWBO) reported problems in obtaining money from banks. Among the bankers' most common explanations: The women lacked business experience or collateral, because they often owned service businesses short on buildings, land and inventory. There's a third factor as well: plain old-fashioned sexual bias. The financial community, however, is finally awakening to the growing presence of women entrepreneurs. According to the NFWBO, there are roughly 6.5 million women-owned businesses, and they employ more than 11 million people. With women starting businesses at four times the national average, women are expected to run 40% of the country's small companies by the year 2000. Yet, says Betsy Myers, head of the Small Business Administration's Office of Women's Business Ownership, only 8% to 10% of SBA-guaranteed business loans go to women. Reason: lack of loan applications from female-owned businesses. How can women get a bigger slice of the commercial loan pie? Lending experts recommend that you first become more sophisticated about capital markets. That means enrolling in financial seminars -- offered by banks, colleges and women's business development centers -- that will teach you where to find capital and how to obtain it. Moreover, before applying for a loan, have your accountant or some other qualified adviser make sure your financial statements and cash-flow projections are in good order. Also, be prepared to document how much you will need, over both the next three months or so and the next three years. If you still don't feel comfortable approaching a bank, Hedy Ratner, director of Chicago's Women's Business Development Center (312-853-3477), suggests that you take your accountant with you. (Ratner's group provides counseling, loans, management assistance and other help to female entrepreneurs.) In addition, an SBA pilot program enables women to apply for loans of as much as $250,000 through SBA-approved intermediaries, such as Ratner's group. The intermediaries obtain and verify the applicant's credit information, analyze her business plan's financial statements and submit an application to the SBA. If the SBA okays it, the business owner gets a letter saying the SBA will guarantee 85% to 90% of the loan, depending on its size. That leaves the bank with little excuse to say no. The first woman to benefit from the program, Diana Conley, borrowed $250,000 from Harris Bank & Trust in Chicago last June to restructure and consolidate her Downers Grove, Ill. ComputerLand franchise's business debts. "The biggest benefit of the pre-guaranteed loan is that you can approach a bank with confidence," she says. "I had three banks that wanted my business." Women are also finding ways to overcome lack of collateral. Your best approach may be to tap into a collateral pool -- a fund that provides capital to back business loans to companies low on assets -- offered by a growing number of women's business groups around the country. To find one near you, call the SBA's Office of Women's Business Ownership (202-205-6673). One promising new pool of funds, Women's Collateral Funding (215-772-1900), now operates only in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. but plans to add offices in other cities soon. In backing companies, the firm uses a new equity financing concept that co-founder Nina Brown calls "venture collateral." Essentially, Brown and her partner, Nicholas B. Jones, buy bank certificates of deposit as collateral for loans to women who have good credit histories, solid business plans and, ideally, two or more years of experience in their fields. In return, Brown and Jones take a 20% to 35% equity position in the companies, depending on the venture's riskiness. A typical client is Debra Bullock, 34, the divorced mother of three children. Only four years ago, she was supplementing her welfare check by working as a $9-a-day school crossing guard in Florence, S.C. Then, encouraged by what she read in a book, Inside the Janitorial Business, she started a commercial and residential cleaning business. A year later, she sold it and moved to Philadelphia, where she founded Expertise Cleaning Co. When she couldn't raise capital through conventional means, she sought help from Women's Collateral Funding. Brown provided advice, business contacts and collateral for a $25,000 loan that Bullock used to buy disability and workers' compensation insurance, uniforms, equipment and a van to transport her 15 employees to and from jobs. Today, Bullock's company earns $8,000 annually from cleaning residences and $30,000 from commercial contracts. Last March she won a contract, worth an estimated $6,000 to $12,000 a year, to clean a building being erected for the Philadelphia Company Store, a school that teaches entrepreneurs about business. Recently she bid on a $500,000-a-year contract to clean city hall but lost out to a more experienced competitor. The setback left Bullock unfazed, in part because of Brown's emotional backing. "You hear so much negativity from women in business, but whenever you call Nina, everything is going to be okay," says Bullock. "Nina helped to fix my future for me." -- N.J.P.