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2021 Most Innovative Companies

The following organizations have proven they can “ Innovate for Impact “ – in their market, other markets, and in creating new markets.

Since these and other emerging companies are changing the landscape, will your organization  be –

A.   Future ready should they come into your market ?

B.   Also able to “ Innovate for Impact “ to address new challenges and opportunities ?

C.   Has an “ Innovation Mindset “ and a culture that values entrepreneurship to “ Find the New “ ?

D.   Able to meaningfully improve outcomes from innovation ?

For those on the following list, their achievements are impressive.

For those not on the list, all the best in making innovation more rewarding.

1.  ModernaFor making a COVID-19 vaccine quickly that is easily distributed

2.  Pfizer-BioNTechFor being first to market with an effective COVID-19 vaccine

3.  ShopifyFor enabling small retailers to quickly do business in an online world

4.  SpaceX For innovation and leadership in commercializing space travel

5.  SpringHill Company –  For marrying entertainment with social justice through Hollywood content

6. Epic Games –  For challenging Big Tech hegemony—and possessing a vision to build something better

7.  Netflix –  For it’s forward thinking of entertainment content creation, distribution and consumption with video streaming

8.  Tock – For restoring the advantage to restaurants and small businesses battered by the pandemic

9.  Microsoft –  For firing on all cylinders and being an agile enterprise

10.  Graphika –  For tracking disinformation campaigns around the world through the elections,  etc.

11.  Ping An Good Doctor –  For demonstrating how large-scale telehealth services can work

12.  Outschool –  For making remote learning fun

13.  National Basketball Association –  For blowing the best bubble

14.  Snap –  For bridging reality with mini apps

15.  Asana –  For helping teams meet their goals

16.  Biobot Analytics –  For using sewage to detect the next surge

17.  Nike –  For ongoing innovations to reclaim relationships with customers

18.  Ben & Jerry’s –  For pioneering corporate activism

19.  Sony Interactive Entertainment –  For leveling up yet again

20.  Seegene –  For producing a COVID-19 diagnostic test and taking it global, sending more than 55 million test kits to 67 countries

21.  goTRG –  For refurbishing and recycling returned merchandise, and saving money (and the planet) in the process

22.  Zoom –  For quick, easy virtual meetings

23.  Farfetch –  For digitizing the high-street boutique and putting it on China’s Tmall

24.  Marqeta –  For creating the toolbox for virtual credit cards for Chase, Square, Uber, and more

25.  Ruangguru –  For livestreaming school for free to 10 million students during lockdown

26.  Lululemon –  For reflecting what customers want by buying Mirror, a sleek, interactive, at home fitness system

27.  Aclima –  For providing deeper understanding of pollution—one block at a time

28.  Get Shift Done –  For tackling both job loss and hunger by paying hospitality workers to fill food-bank shifts

29.  NBCUniversal – For proactively moving its traditional businesses into the future

30.  Hipcamp –  For bringing camping closer to home in a year when we all needed to get outside

31.  Panera Bread –  For finding creative solutions for getting coffee, groceries, and meals to customers during the pandemic

32.  Puris –  For amping up the alt-meat industry with a high-protein pea variety

33.  Avocados From Mexico –  For catapulting humble produce into a covetable branded product

34.  Hermès –  For creating aspirational products designed to last forever, made by an army of skilled craftspeople

35.  LeoLabs –  For spotting space junk

36.  Goodby Silverstein & Partners –  For balancing Super Bowl hits with anti-racist PSA work

37.  Credo Beauty –  For tackling the beauty industry’s packaging problem

38.  Twilio –  For facilitating face-to-face communication during an era of social distancing and global lockdown

39.  SiO2 Materials Science –  For applying an impossibly thin layer of glass to vials in order to deliver the COVID-19 vaccines

40.  Teladoc Health –  For the merger with Livongo to better treat patients with diabetes and hypertension

41.  NotCo –  For bringing plant-based milk and meat to the masses

42.  Peloton –  For motivating consumers to keep working out when fitness and sporting facilities closed during COVID

43.  Snowflake –  For letting businesses unlock the power of data, no matter what business they’re in

44.  Brandlive –  For helping the Biden campaign and others capture the live TV experience

45.  Substack –  For giving writers a profitable refuge from the shipwreck of old and new media

46.  Frubana – For digitizing farm-to-table food sourcing

47.  Getaway –  For redefining the outdoor retreat

48.  Zwift –  For racing into esports

49.  Skillshare –  For giving creatives and hobbyists a pandemic outlet

50.  Stablegold Hospitality –  For knitting together a housing safety net in struggling cities

March 2021      –        from Fast Company        –        CAIL Innovation commentary        info@cail.com