Every year, B Lab recognizes the best impact start-ups that have achieved the highest verified scores in the five impact areas evaluated on the B Impact Assessment: community, customers, environment, governance and workers.
The organizations are amongst the global top 5% in their corresponding size group. They are named “Best for the World”.
To achieve certification, a company must demonstrate high social and environmental performance by achieving a B Impact Assessment score of 80 or above. It must also make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, and achieve benefit corporation status if available in their jurisdiction. Finally, the company must exhibit transparency by allowing information about their performance measured against B Lab’s standards to be publicly available on their B Corp profile on B Lab’s website.
In 2022, three start-ups based in the canton of Vaud have earned a spot in the Best for the World list in the Environment category.
Innovative technologies at the service of the environment
Lausanne-based SmartHelio is a deep data analytic company for energy providing software for energy companies to maximize the performance of solar plants, including fewer downtime disruptions and increased annual revenue by up to USD 10,000 per MW from their plants.
Gland-based Vivent applies expertise in communication networks and information theory to biological systems. Its state-of-the-art sensors are embodied in plant monitoring hardware to deliver real-time data on plants. Thanks to its accuracy, the start-up’s sensors allow farmers to understand their plants’ needs in different environments. Using artificial intelligence, the technology allows for diagnosing a wide range of crop stressors, including soil-borne pathogens.
Last but not least, Molondin-based CleanGreens Solutions provides growers, processors, and distributors with mobile aeroponic solutions that integrate all food value chain stages, enabling them to grow environmentally friendly, nutrient-rich vegetables.
The cleantech sector of Western Switzerland has been growing significantly in recent years. Thanks to support initiatives such as CleantechAlps, start-ups have been making vital contributions to the environment with their technologies, a number of which have already received certifications and awards for their solutions.
