FAQ

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. We do not accept applications from non-profits. That being said, we 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, we 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.

Early stage means the business should have a proven business model and be in the initial phase of its development and growth (between 1 to 6 years of licensed/registered operations). Companies must be majority owned by founders and employees at the time of application.

• An impact-driven business is a business that seeks to create strong, sustainable and measurable social and/or environmental impact. The business must align with at least one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are a collection of 17 global goals set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 for the year 2030. The SDGs are a call for action by all countries to promote prosperity while protecting the environment. They cover a series of social, economic, and environmental development issues.

• Deep Tech innovations are defined as disruptive solutions built around unique, protected or hard-to-reproduce technological or scientific advances. Deep-tech companies have a strong research base. They create value by developing new solutions, not only by disrupting business models.
  Technology readiness levels (TRLs)* are commonly used to estimate the maturity of technologies. The framework enables consistent, uniform discussions of technical maturity across different types of technology. For a detailed description of each TRL, please consult page 50 of this publication.

• We accept applications from businesses that are headed by several cofounders.

• No, unless the sub-criteria in the paragraph below is met.  Your project must be an original business creation, wholly conceived of by the team; a completely new concept, meaning it cannot be a buy-back, offshoot, subsidiary or franchise of an existing concept.

  University or research spin-off can however apply to the Science & Technology Pioneer Award. Furthermore, if your business is set up as a holding company-subsidiary structure, whereby the sole purpose of the holding company is to hold the subsidiary, and the subsidiary is the only holding of the holding company; then it is eligible if the business is a completely new concept and both holding and subsidiary fit within the years of operations requirement.

  Please read the following definitions if you are unsure:

  - Spin-offs are divisions of companies or organizations that then become independent businesses with assets, employees, intellectual property, technology, or existing products that are taken from the parent company.

  - University or research spin-off are science-based companies where the underlying research has been conducted by members of their team while they were students or researchers in a university or an independent research center prior to the company creation.

  - A subsidiary is a company that is owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company, parent, or holding company.

  - A franchise is a type of license that a party (franchisee) acquires to allow them to have access to a business's (franchisor) proprietary knowledge, processes, and trademarks in order to allow the party to sell a product or provide a service under the business's name.

• Yes, you may apply for the Cartier Women's Initiative program.

• We do not accept sole proprietorships in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business entity. We focus on businesses that are looking to grow and scale in the future, and as such, focus on more mature business formation entities.

• Businesses that have formerly participated in the Program, or any other Cartier entrepreneurship programs, are not authorized to apply to the Program a second time and will be automatically rejected. Furthermore, any prior Cartier entrepreneurship program awardees are not authorized to apply to the Program a second time and will be automatically rejected.

• If you are applying to the Regional Awards or the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award, 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. If your business has not been generating recurring revenue from sales of its products and/or services for at least 1 year, it is not eligible. If your business has started generating revenue, it is eligible but we would recommend waiting a year or two before applying to the programme. Our programme is designed for businesses and entrepreneurs that have achieved some level of traction and business model sustainability.

• Unfortunately due to the volume of applications we receive, we do not discuss applications before, during or after the application period. The Cartier Women’s Initiative ’s decision is considered definitive and irrevocable.

• The Cartier Women’s Initiative does not dictate how the grant is spent but does expect fellows to comply with our impact reporting policy.

• It may be subject to local taxation. Payment of all and any taxes in relation to the grant is the sole responsibility of the Cartier Women’s Initiative fellows.

• Cartier Women’s Initiative regions are based on geography. For example, businesses in French Polynesia will be reviewed within the Oceania region and those in Puerto Rico will be reviewed within the Latin America and the Caribbean region.