Impact 20

For seven years, Fortune’s Change the World list has spotlighted companies that use the profit motive to tackle the world’s thorniest problems. Most of the companies on that annual list are relatively large, with the scale to enable their enlightened ideas to do a lot of good for a lot of people. To apply for the 2023 Impact 20 list, click here.   The Impact 20, in contrast, is dedicated to the belief that you don’t have to be a business behemoth to succeed with a world-changing innovation. This list, now in its second year and powered by TPG’s The Rise Fund, showcases venture- and private-equity-backed startups. These companies may be earlier in their life cycles, but they’re already deploying the creative tools of capitalism with an outsize positive impact—making people’s lives better even as they iron out the kinks in new ideas.   In compiling the Impact 20, we focus on companies that have matured to the point where they have customers and revenue. (For more about how we choose the list, read our methodology; to see last year’s list, click the “2020” button below. TPG is not involved in the selection process.) Some are “unicorns” with multibillion-dollar valuations and hundreds of employees (like “green” EV battery-maker Northvolt); others are smaller outfits whose business models have a local focus, but whose ideas have global potential (like vertical farmer Fifth Season, or e-commerce platform Nearby). And many are mobilizing to combat the challenges and inequities that have been exposed and aggravated by COVID-19.   What they all share is a commitment to doing good while doing well. Regardless of whether any ever grow to Fortune  500 size, they’re role models for the fusion of profit and purpose in business.