Deadline: 24 June 2025
Entries are now open for the Cartier Women’s Initiative, an annual international entrepreneurship program that aims to drive change by empowering women impact entrepreneurs.
Award Categories
- 2026 Regional Awards
- For the Regional Awards, they are looking for early-stage impact businesses that have gained some traction by validating product/market fit in targeted segment, validating their business and financial model and that are generating revenue. These businesses tend to be innovating on business model and distribution of product and services.
- 2026 Science & Technology Pioneer Award
- If your company is deep tech, based on the development of a pioneering new technology, a complex engineering process, or a scientific discovery (and not only on a disruptive business model), they would recommend applying to the Science & Technology Pioneer Award. If your company is leveraging an existing technology, process or model but applying it in a novel way, they would recommend applying to the Regional Awards.
Funding Information
- Financial capital support:
- US$ 100,000 grant for each first-place Awardee per Category
- US$ 60,000 grant for each second-place Awardee per Category
- US$ 30,000 grant for each third-place Awardee per Category
Eligibility Criteria
- The company needs to be “for-profit” meaning that it should be structured in such a way as to be self-sustainable by generating sufficient revenue to sustain and grow its activity in the long run. They do not accept applications from non-profits. That being said, they do accept applications from for-profit companies that give back a portion of their revenues to charities – as long as the company’s primary goal is to generate revenue.
- Furthermore, they also accept applications from business structures such as B corps and Community Interest Companies (CIC) so long as they are not dominantly reliant on donations/grants. It should be further noted that if more than 30% of your financing comes from donation /grants and/or that you have a perpetual need for donations/grants, then your chances of making it past the preliminary screening are very slim.
For more information, visit Cartier Women’s Initiative.
