Cartier Women’s Initiative Science & Technology Pioneer Award 2026

Deadline: June 24, 2025

Applications are open for the Cartier Women’s Initiative Science & Technology Pioneer Award 2026. The Cartier Women’s Initiative is an annual international entrepreneurship program that aims to drive change by empowering women impact entrepreneurs. The Science & Technology Pioneer awards recognize and fund talented impact entrepreneurs from around the world who are leveraging business as a force for good.

Open to women entrepreneurs from any country and sector, the Science & Technology Pioneer Award highlights disruptive solutions built around unique, protected, or hard-to-reproduce technological or scientific advances that require heavy R&D, a long commercialization cycle, high capital intensity, technology risk, and complexity.

Benefits

1. Financial Capital Support:

• US$ 100,000 grant for each first-place awardee
• US$ 60,000 grant for each second-place awardee
• US$ 30,000 grant for each third-place awardee

2. Human Capital Support (FELLOWSHIP):

The fellowship program focuses on several key areas of human capital support for women impact entrepreneurs and oers a combination of 1:1 training and collective workshops.

• Leadership communications and media training work -shops
• In-person INSEAD Women Impact Entrepreneurship Program
• 1:1 training in specific business areas
• 1:1 executive leadership coaching by The Women’ Impact Alliance

3. Social Capital Support:

Throughout the program, they strive to highlight the social and environmental impact created by our fellows and bridge connections between impact entrepreneurs and their supporters.

• International exposure and media visibility
• Support and mentorship by jury members during the fellowship
• Access to a lifelong community of 500+ active community members
• Ongoing support for the development of the fellows’ impact businesses

Eligibility

• The business should be based on the development of a new technology, a complex engineering process, or a scientific discovery, and not only on a disruptive business model. Development of the technology and product, from idea (TRL 1)* to commercialization (TRL 9)* should take at least 2 years.
• The business should demonstrate the potential to have a significant positive impact in its industry. It should contribute to at least one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• 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.
• The business should be in the initial phase of its development or growth. It must have at least a proof of concept, a prototype, or be in the process of producing one (minimum TRL 4) and must not have been commercializing its final product or service for more than 6 years.
• The applicant must be a woman and she musy fill one of the main leadership positions, for example as CEO, COO, CTO, General Manager, or Managing Director of the business.
• The business must be majority owned by its founders and team members at the time of application. 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 her co-founder(s), or (3) if not part of the founding team, the applicant owns a share greater or equal to that of the business (co-)founder(s). Sole proprietorships are ineligible for the Science & Technology Pioneer Award.
• A good command of the English language is required. We require the Common European Framework of Reference Level B2 or above.
• The applicant must commit to participating in the fellowship program from January 2026 to December 2026.

Selection Criteria

• Embedded positive impact
• Market analysis and fit
• Sustainable business and financial model
• Strategy and execution
• Team
• Leadership character of applicant

Application

All applications must be submitted in English.

Deadline: June 24, 2025, 2p.m. Central European Summer Time (CEST)

Click here to apply.

For more information, visit Cartier Women’s Initiative.