Today, Norrsken Foundation has released its annual Impact/100 ranking, which shines a spotlight on the top 100 companies changing the world for the better, as selected by a hand-picked roster of world-leading VC firms, including Lionheart Ventures, Molten VC, A16Z, BMW Foundation, and Katapult.
The companies are tackling global problems like climate change, pollution, poverty and mental health disorders.
The Impact/100 highlights founders building companies with the potential to become impact unicorns — companies whose work has positively impacted 1 billion people worldwide. It is compiled each year through nominations from hand-picked investors and non-profits.
Norrsken received over 1200 applications.
49 of the successful startups are from Europe, including 13 from the UK, 11 from Germany, 7 from Sweden, five from France, four from Spain, three from Switzerland, two from Denmark, and one from each of Norway, Belgium, Portugal and the Netherlands.
Companies represented include Traceless, Smartex, PILI, NitroVolt, and Cylib.
Nominators were asked to share new and exciting early-stage startups, ultimately spotlighting innovative and impactful founders who may not yet receive the attention of later-stage companies.
“We have created a comprehensive list which we anticipate will contain the impact unicorns of tomorrow, as identified by the world’s leading VC firms,” said Niklas Adalberth, Founder at Norrsken Foundation.
“As part of the process, we found that every single VC firm we partnered with is looking to invest more in impact over the coming years, with almost half saying they want to allocate ‘significantly more’ capital to impact companies - this is good news for Planet Earth.”
“Our goal is to show that making a positive difference isn’t just good for the world - it’s good for business too. The planet is facing enormous challenges.
To help address them, we need many more entrepreneurs with ambition, vision and drive to make a positive difference - and for others to be inspired by them. The Impact/100 celebrates these bold founders and highlights their achievements."
Impact/100 companies are:
- For-profit companies aspiring to drive measurable, positive and significant progress towards one or several UN Sustainable Development Goals;
- Companies where impact is non-negotiable and inextricably linked to revenue growth; high-risk, high-potential ventures that aim to leverage innovation and/or technology to scale;
- Able to prove they have delivered at least an MVP product to market and/or raised at least seed/series A-funding; privately owned/funded.
"Building a clean energy future requires not just breakthrough technologies but the right types of partnership to help startups develop and deploy these solutions for impact.
We're delighted that companies across the Breakthrough Energy platform are featured on this year's Norrsken Impact/100 list - it's a great endorsement of their technological progress. It's clear that when we support technologies and innovators from the earliest stages, they can develop solutions to some of the world's toughest challenges. The world should take note: the future is being built today," said Eric Toone, Chief Technology Officer, Breakthrough Energy.
“By putting these companies on the radar today,” continues Adalberth, “we can offer VCs either already working in the impact space, or looking to enter it, a list of the leading early stage impact companies which are likely looking for funding in the near future.”
The Impact/100 companies will be invited into the Norrsken ecosystem, with global membership to the Norrsken Houses in Barcelona, Stockholm and Kigali, and showcased during Impact/Week 2024, happening at Norrsken House Barcelona on Nov 6-7, 2024.
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