SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY PIONEER AWARD

In this section, you will find everything you need to know about the application and the selection process for the Science & Technology Pioneer Award, a thematic award that we launched in 2021.

More than ever, we need to fuel innovation by women. This award is especially dedicated to recognizing women impact entrepreneurs at the forefront of scientific and technological innovation. Open to women entrepreneurs from any country and sector, this 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. 

Applications for the 2027 edition will be open from April 16 to June 16, 2026.

FINANCIAL CAPITAL SUPPORT

• $ 100,000 USD grant for each first-place awardee

• $ 60,000 USD grant for each second-place awardee

• $ 30,000 USD grant for each third-place awardee

HUMAN CAPITAL SUPPORT

Human capital support is structured into a fellowship program which includes a combination of 1:1 training and collective workshops.

• Leadership communications and media training workshops

• In-person INSEAD Women's Impact Entrepreneurship Program

• 1:1 training in specific business areas

• 1:1 executive leadership coaching by The Women’s Impact Alliance

SOCIAL CAPITAL SUPPORT

Throughout the program, we strive to highlight the social and environmental impact created by our fellows and bridge connections between women 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

The Science & Technology Pioneer Award of the Cartier Women’s Initiative is looking for women-led impact-driven deep tech startups. 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:

Technological & scientific innovation: 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 or a solution building on existing technological blocks. 

Development of the technology and product, from idea (TRL 1)* to commercialization (TRL 9)* should take at least 2 years. 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. The detailed framework can be found here (page 50).

Positive impact: 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 SDGs encompass 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. 

Stage: The business should be in the initial phase of its development and commercialization, with at least laboratory validation of the prototype (minimum TRL 4) and must not have been commercializing its final product/service for more than 5 years.

Fundraising: The business must not have raised Series A round. Businesses that have not raised any external funding are also encouraged to apply.

Leadership: The applicant must be a woman and fill one of the main leadership positions, for example as CEO, COO, CTO, General Manager, or Managing Director of the business. 

Independent entity: The business entity and its finances must be independent from the founder(s). Moreover, it must be an original creation, wholly conceived of by the team; a completely new concept, meaning it cannot be a spin-off or franchise of an existing concept. University spin-offs are eligible to apply.

Ownership: The business must be incorporated and majority owned by its founders and team members at the time of application. The applicant must be part of the founding team and own a share greater or equal to that of her co-founder(s). 

Legal entry age: The applicant must be at least 18 years of age on the day of the application deadline (June 16, 2026).

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 2027 to December 2027.

Phase 1. Communication and Stance (January to May):

• • 2 days of on-site filming featuring the fellow and their business
• • Approximately 20 hours of group workshops

Phase 2. Celebrate and Connect (May / June):

• • A 2.5-day of in-person Women's Impact Entrepreneurship program with INSEAD
• • Followed by 4.5 days of CWI Awards Week

Phase 3. Skills and Leadership (June to December):

• • Approximately 28 hours of individual business and leadership coaching

In addition, fellows are required to report on their impact for three years following the completion of their fellowship.

Application: The applicant should be the owner of the application. We accept only one application per business. To determine the category where your business fits the best: refer to the FAQ. 

To apply, you need to complete the online application form and provide the supporting documentation listed below.

Compulsory

• • A one-minute video of yourself in which you answer the following questions: What is your motivation behind solving the problem that you have identified? What is the impact you wish to create through your solution? What do you wish to gain from, and contribute to, the Cartier Women’s Initiative community?
• • Your resume
• • Your company registration document
• • Your company capitalization table
• • Professionally prepared or audited financial statements from your most recent two fiscal years
• • Your pitch deck: we are not looking for a specific format, just submit an existing pitch deck that accurately describes the impact of your company. This can be an investor presentation or a product presentation (around 15 pages).

Optional

• • Your company’s competitive landscape
• • Three additional attachments of your choice: theory of change/impact framework, impact report, image of product, brochure, press, article, research, etc.

These documents must be submitted with the online application and cannot be sent separately.

The selection process includes shortlisting, in-depth due diligence on the top five applicants, and presentation before the jury. The jury selects and ranks the top three applicants who become our fellows. Applications are evaluated based on the following criteria:

Technological innovation

We are looking for new and realistic deep tech solutions. We consider:

• • Disruption: is the solution built around unique, patented or hard to reproduce technological or scientific advances?
• • Uniqueness: is the solution fully based on the development of a new technology, complex engineering process or scientific discovery, and not only a disruptive business model or an accumulation of existing technologies?
• • Sophistication: does the business leverage a solid research base that requires a mix of advanced skills, knowledge, and infrastructure?
• • Industry impact: does the solution effectively address key challenges within the target industry and/or create new markets to solve major social and environmental issues?

Embedded positive impact

We are looking for impact businesses that will create more impact as they scale. We consider:

• • Intentionality: was the business created to solve a social or environmental problem?
• • Embeddedness: is positive impact locked into the business model?
• • Magnitude: is there significant breadth (number of people: local to global) and/or depth (degree of change: marginal to transformational) of impact?
• • Measurement: is the business tracking and managing to optimize impact?
• • Impact potential: Is the impact potential and/or already realized?

Market and access strategy

We are looking for businesses with a clear competitive advantage and a defined market access strategy. We consider:

• • Unmet need: has the business identified a large, unmet need in a growing industry (requiring a reasonable level of behavior change)?
• • Competitive advantage: does the business have a clear, long-term, defensible competitive advantage?
• • Market share: could the business secure a big share in the market (#1 or #2)?
• • Validation and product-market fit: does the business have evidence of (potential) customer validation and (potential) product-market fit?

Business model sustainability and development plan

We are looking for businesses that have the potential to be profitable. We consider:

• • Financial sustainability: does the business have sufficient financial return potential to allow for strategic growth?
• • Well thought-out model: are expectations (sales cycles, price setting, etc) and models well thought out and defensible?
• • Growth strategy: does the business have an expansion plan with clear business and impact goals and resource requirements (people, capital, etc)?
• • Risk assessment: has the business thoroughly evaluated risks and designed mitigation measures?
• • Monitoring systems: is the business working to set up dynamic mechanisms to monitor execution?

Team

We are looking for a capable team to build the business. We consider:

• • Complementarity: is the team diverse, with 2-4 members who complement each other?
• • Technical skill: does the team have relevant technical/leadership skills and experience?
• • Track record: does the team have track record of execution and/or significant achievement?
• • Network: does the team have relevant networks and advisors?

Leadership character of applicant

We are looking for bold impact leaders, who can attract talent and foster purpose-driven team culture. We consider:

• • Entrepreneurial spirit: does the applicant display integrity, motivation and high energy, entrepreneurial approach?
• • Cartier values: does the applicant display the following character traits: Curiosity, Open-Mindedness, Generosity, Sharing, Respect, Rigor, Independence?
• • Commitment to our vision: is the applicant committed to the Cartier Women's Initiative vision?