The Cartier Women’s Initiative is an annual international entrepreneurship program that aims to drive change by empowering women-impact entrepreneurs. Founded in 2006, the program is open to women-run and women-owned businesses from any country and sector that aim to have a strong and sustainable social and/or environmental impact.
Our regional and thematic awards recognize and fund talented impact entrepreneurs from around the world who are leveraging business as a force for good.
Thematic Award
The thematic award is open to women impact entrepreneurs from any country and sector. For each edition, three fellows will be selected.
The Regional Awards of the Cartier Women’s Initiative are looking for women-owned and women-led impact-driven businesses. Entrepreneurs across all sectors and geographies are encouraged to apply. Applicants with disabilities are encouraged to apply, and every effort will be made to include them appropriately.
To be considered for this award, the applicant and the applicant’s business must meet the following eligibility criteria:
Positive impact: The business should demonstrate that it has realized positive impact in its industry and that it has the potential to realize even more impact as it scales. It should contribute to at least one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are a collection of 17 global goals set by the United Nations for the year 2030 as a universal call to tackle a range of social, economic, and environmental challenges.
For-profit: The business should be designed to generate sufficient revenue to support its operations and return some level of profit to its owners. Non-profit enterprises are not eligible. That said, the business does not have to be profitable at the time of application.
Early-stage: The business should have a proven business model and be in the initial phase of its development and growth (between 1 and 6 years of licensed/registered operations as of the date of application). This means that businesses applying to the 2026 edition must have been incorporated between June 2019 and June 2024.
Revenue generation: The business should be generating revenue from the sales of its products and/or services for at least 1 year as of the date of application, recurring according to your business cycle. For businesses applying to the 2026 edition, this means that they need to have been generating revenue since June 2024.
Fundraising: The business should not have raised more than US$2 million in dilutive or potentially dilutive funding (i.e equity, quasi-equity like SAFE or Convertible Notes) as of the date of application. Dilutive funding is any kind of funding that consists of a transfer of the ownership of your company at the time of the funding or in the future under specified terms. The Regional Awards cap the funds raised at the time of the application in order to ensure that the businesses selected fall within a similar range of development. Businesses that have not raised any external funding are also encouraged to apply.
Leadership: The applicant must be a woman and she must fill one of the main leadership positions, for example as CEO, COO, CTO, General Manager, or Managing Director of the business.
Ownership: The business must be majority owned by its founders and team members at the time of application. The applicant must be part of the founding team. Moreover, one of the following conditions must be met: (1) a woman or multiple women are the largest shareholder(s) of founder equity (not total equity), or (2) the applicant owns a share greater or equal to that of each of her co-founder(s). Sole proprietorships are ineligible for the Regional Awards.
Legal entry age: The applicant must be at least 18 years of age on the day of the application deadline (June 24, 2025).
English proficiency: A good command of the English language is required. We require the Common European Framework of Reference Level B2 or above. This level requires an understanding of the main ideas of complex text, technical discussion in business and your field of specialization, and an ability to interact with fluency and spontaneity with native speakers. English proficiency is important because this is the common language for the Cartier Women’s Initiative team, its partners, the jury members and the overall community. Being proficient will allow the fellow to fully participate in the community and in the fellowship.
Time commitment: The applicant must commit to participating in the fellowship program from January 2026 to December 2026. Fellows will be expected to dedicate 1 to 3 hours per week to the program. In addition to the virtual training, fellows will be expected to attend one week of in-person events in April or May 2026. Beyond the fellowship, there are also two days of on-site filming of the fellow and their business in the first quarter of 2026. Fellows will also be required to report their impact for 3 years following the completion of their fellowship.
Application: The applicant should be the author of the application. We accept only one application per business. Furthermore, a business will only be considered for one award category, so pick the category where your business fits the best: refer to FAQ. Businesses that submit applications to multiple award categories will be disqualified.
