Cartier Women's Initiative Regional Awards
Cartier Women's Initiative
$30K / $60K / $100K
Prestige global grant for women impact founders
The Cartier Women's Initiative awards cash grants of $30,000, $60,000, and $100,000 to women-led impact businesses across nine global regions. Open to any country and sector, the program targets women in CEO or equivalent roles whose businesses generate $50K–$5M in revenue and have strong social or environmental impact tied to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The 2027 cycle is currently open worldwide, including US founders.
- Funding type
- Award
- Level
- Foundation
- Amount range
- $30,000 – $100,000
- Realistic amount
- $30,000 (most fellows receive the 3rd-place regional award; 1 in 9 per region wins $100K). Additional Science & Technolo…
- Deadline
- 2027 cycle — applications close June 16, 2026 at 2:00 PM CEST
- Status
- active
- States
- Nationwide
- Payment model
- lump sum
Who qualifies
- Woman in a main leadership role (CEO, COO, CTO, General Manager, or Managing Director)
- Woman owns a share greater than or equal to that of any co-founder
- Business generating revenue for at least 1 year as of application date
- Annual revenue between $50,000 and $5,000,000 USD
- Employs between 5 and 250 team members
- Has raised no more than $2,000,000 USD in dilutive or potentially dilutive funding
- Business has been in licensed/registered operations for 1 to 6 years as of application date
- Strong and sustainable social and/or environmental impact aligned with at least one UN Sustainable Development Goal
- Applicant is at least 18 years old
- English proficiency at CEFR Level B2 or higher
- Any country and sector eligible — US founders compete in the North America region
Hard requirements
- Must be incorporated
- Demographic eligibility: women-owned
- Women ownership required
- Minimum $50,000 annual revenue
- Minimum 5 employees
What it covers
Eligible expenses
- Unrestricted — grant is awarded as a prize with no reporting requirements on fund usage
- Business expansion and operations
- Team growth and hiring
- Product or service development
- Impact measurement and scaling
Ineligible expenses
- No formal restrictions on fund use — award is a prize grant
How to apply
-
1
Verify eligibility and prepare impact narrative
Confirm your revenue, funding raised, team size, and years in operation against the hard criteria. Map your business model to at least one UN SDG with specific evidence. This groundwork typically takes the most time.
~4 hrs
-
2
Complete the online application at cwi-portal.com
The application requires detailed business information, founder background, financial data, impact metrics, and essay responses describing your social/environmental mission. Applications are only accepted through the official portal.
~12 hrs
-
3
Due diligence and jury review
Five finalists per region/category are selected for detailed due diligence before the jury makes final selections. Finalists may be contacted for additional information.
~2 hrs
-
4
Fellows announced and awards ceremony
Fellows are announced publicly. The awards ceremony for the 2026 cycle was held in Bangkok. Fellows receive not just the cash prize but also mentorship, media exposure, and access to Cartier's global network.
~0 hrs
The program awards 27 fellows across 9 regions — US founders compete in the North America region, not globally. This means you're not competing against 5,000 global applicants for one prize. The impact framing is decisive: vague 'we care about sustainability' narratives lose; specific SDG alignment with quantified outcomes (e.g., '1,400 smallholder farmers trained, $2.3M income increase documented') win.
Deadline & timing
The 2027 award cycle (confusingly labeled as the '2027 edition') accepts applications from April 16 through June 16, 2026. Fellows are announced in early 2027. The 2026 fellows (30 total) were announced March 26, 2026 at an awards ceremony in Bangkok. New cycles typically open in April each year.
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Last reviewed 2026. GrantCompass is an independent funding-discovery tool and is not affiliated with any government agency. Always confirm details on the official program page.