FAQ

The go-to page for answers to all questions relating to the application procedure, application form, eligibility criteria, and more.

The deadline for registration and submission of the application form is June 24, 2025, 2p.m. (CEST/GMT+2). Any forms received after this date will NOT be accepted. All applicants will be notified of the results by December 2025.

Please apply for the award that is most relevant to your business. The Cartier Women’s Initiative fellowship is part of the award.

You cannot send your application by mail. Only online applications submitted through the application platform and received in the appropriate online format are accepted.

We do not accept business plans. Only online applications submitted through the application platform and received in the appropriate online format are accepted.

Once you submit your application on the online platform, you will receive an automatic confirmation email. Please make sure to safelist notification emails from the application platform we are using.

You will need to refresh the page and possibly sign back into your account depending on your browser’s settings. We recommend you save the information entered manually by clicking on “Save Draft” at the bottom of the application form if your connection is unstable or if you are planning to take a long break while filling out the form.
We recommend using Google Chrome for an optimal experience and strongly recommend that you first write out your answers in the worksheet before copy/pasting them into the form.

You are limited to 400MB per file and 800MB per submission. Attachments sent to us by email are not accepted.
If you wish to send us a heavy file that contains multiple photos or graphs, we would recommend using Adobe Acrobat to compress the file before uploading it to your application.

We do not accept product samples during the call for applications. However, you may include photos of your product or service in your application form.

We are only able to accept applications in English. A good command of English is needed to fully benefit from the many opportunities and resources the Cartier Women’s Initiative program has to offer. We require the Common European Framework of Reference Level B2 and above. This level requires an understanding of main ideas of complex text, technical discussion in business and your field of specialization, ability to interact with fluency and spontaneity with native speakers. Applicants with disabilities are encouraged to apply, and every effort will be made to include them appropriately.

If a question does not apply to your business, write 'NA' for 'Not Applicable' and explain why.

Once you have submitted your application, you will no longer be able to make changes. However, you may request permission from the administrator to edit your form if it was submitted before the last day of the call for applications period.

Applicants may only enter one business in the program. Multiple application forms will not be accepted.

The applicant may only enter one award Category per Program edition. This means that if the applicant chooses to apply for one Regional Awards Category, the applicant may not submit an application for the Science & Technology Pioneer Award.

For the Regional Awards, we 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.
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), we 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, we would recommend applying to the Regional Awards.

If your business was not selected in any prior edition, you may apply again this year. All applicants that have been selected as fellows or into any other Cartier entrepreneurship programs are ineligible to apply for future editions.

Businesses that have formerly participated in the program are not eligible to apply to the Cartier Women's Initiative a second time and will automatically be rejected. Furthermore, any co-founder of a business that has formery participated in the program or any other Cartier entrepreneurship programs is also ineligible.

The information you provide in your application will be available to third-party organizations in charge of:
- Managing the online application platform
- Reviewing and evaluating your application
- Supporting you and your business as part of the Fellowship program.
Please note that they all sign our Non-Disclosure Agreement. However, before submitting entries, CWI urges applicants to confirm with appropriate advisors or legal counsel that any intellectual property described in their summary is protected; i.e., by appropriate intellectual property filings, notices, (patent, copyright, etc.) by the owning institution and/or individuals.

If you believe one of the jury members may have a conflict of interest (e.g. board member of a competitor company), please apply without disclosing sensitive information. If your application is shortlisted, we would ensure the jury member in question does not participate in reviewing your application or presentation, nor would they contribute to your scoring.

Applicants will be notified of their application status by December 2025. The fellows will then be announced in April 2026.

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). You will be asked to submit your business registration documents. 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 encompass 17 goals set by the United Nations for the year 2030 as a universal call to tackle a series range of social, economic, and environmental challenges.

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 co-founders, provided your share of the business is greater or equal to that of your co-founder(s).

No. It would be unfair to other applicants to let companies with longer track records to compete.

No, we accept only early-stage businesses that have been registered as independent companies and are not affliated in any way with an established corporation or a similar women's initiative program.

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.

No. We only accept applications from one of the founders. The applicant must be the author of the application and fill all the eligibility criteria. See "Who should apply?" section of the award pages of our website.

A woman must fill one of the main leadership positions (for example CEO, COO, CTO, General Manager, or Managing Director of the business). A woman must own a share of the business that is greater or equal to that of your co-founder(s).

If you have raised quasi-equity (e.g. SAFE and Convertible Notes), you will be asked to provide estimates of a fully diluted cap table.

No, we do not accept sole proprietorships in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business entity and to be eligible for our program, we need the business to be a separate legal entity from the business owner, with limited liability. In the context of our eligibility criteria, sole proprietorship is a type of business where the owner and the business are considered the same. This means that the owner is personally responsible for all the debts and losses, with unlimited liability. It is also known as individual entrepreneurship, solo trader, or proprietorship.

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.

If you are applying to the Regional Awards, your 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 and will be assessed against our selection criteria. See "How do we select?" section of the award pages of our website.