Call for Applications: UN Women Care and Climate Entrepreneurship Accelerator (grant funding of up to US$ 100,000)
Closing Date: 7 September 2025
Call for Applications: UN Women Care and Climate Entrepreneurship Accelerator (grant funding of up to US$ 100,000)
Are you an enterprise providing Care or Climate Solutions in Asia-Pacific? Then the UN Women Care & Climate Accelerator is for you!
Programme Benefits
Enterprises will receive support across six areas:
- STRATEGY: Targeted support to refine business model, increase revenue, expand customer base, and develop go-to market strategies for new segments or geographies
- OPERATIONS: Tailored support to refine business offering, optimize costs, and improve business processes
- INCLUSIVE BUSINESS MODELS: Bespoke support towards gender-responsive and inclusive business development to enable improved access to markets and capital
- NETWORKING: Access to care and climate industry leaders, funders, potential partners and networks such as the ‘Network of Inclusive Care Entrepreneurs (NICE)’ among others. Enterprises will be offered an opportunity to participate in two in-person learning/networking events
- GENDER RESPONSIVENESS: Opportunity to understand how gender impacts various aspects of the business, from the workforce and supply chain to products and services, and take steps to mitigate potential inequalities
- FINANCIAL READINESS: Support to identify capital needs, relevant types & sources of capital & pot-ential investors/ lenders, develop collaterals (pitch deck, financial model, etc.), set fundraising milestones, understand term sheets, & pitch to a curated group of regional & global investors
Grants ranging from US$ 5,000 – USD$ 100,000 available for SELECT Enterprises. The following infographic provides an overview of the selection process & program benefits for the selected early and growth stage enterprises.
Pool 1: Early-stage enterprises selected for the programme will receive acceleration support across the areas mentioned in the ‘Benefits’ section, & bespoke 1-1 mentorship to help them refine their business models. Additionally, a limited number of these enterprises may receive grant funding of up to US$ 5,000.
Pool 2: Selected growth-stage enterprises will receive customized support based on their needs to refine and/or scale their operations and impact. In addition, select enterprises in this category may be eligible for grant funding of up to US$ 100,000.
Who Can Apply?
- An enterprise that is woman-owned/led or has a gender-diverse founding team.
- A for-profit registered entity with operations in South Asia or Southeast Asia
- Operational for atleast two years with established product market fit & revenue generating.
Timelines
About the UN Women Care and Climate Entrepreneurship Accelerator
Supported by Visa Foundation, the UN Women Care and Climate Entrepreneurship Accelerator will support women-owned and women-benefitting enterprises operating in the care economy, the green economy, and their intersection, in the Asia-Pacific region. The accelerator will provide tailored support to the selected enterprises across six areas: strategy, operations, inclusive business models, financial readiness, networking and gender responsiveness. You can learn more about the programme here.
Please note that selected participants must commit to the following:
- Commitment to spend at least 2 hours per week during the 6 month high touch support phase of the accelerator starting in September and 1 hour per week in the subsequent phase.
- The selected enterprises will need to sign the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) and make an in-principle commitment to mainstream gender in their businesses.
Application Instructions
- Review all questions and prepare your responses in advance, before you start filling up the form. You can download a copy of the application form here.
- Please refer to the eligibility criteria before submitting the application. You can review it here.
- Applicants can save their progress on the application form by clicking on “Save” icon at the end and keeping a record of the generated link. Please note that the application must be submitted before the deadline.
- All questions marked with * are mandatory, please ensure you fill them before submitting the application.
- Each descriptive question has a word limit, please refer to it while responding.
- Please note that no edits can be made once the application has been submitted.
Click Here To Apply
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