Top Illinois Social Impact Startups (68)

Over the last 15 years, we’ve grown from a startup to a market-leading organization with over 150 team members, and we’ve created an award-winning culture that makes this company an amazing place to work. We've been ranked on multiple best places to work lists including the 2026 BuiltIn Chicago rankings.

Pangea is a digital money transfer platform that makes sending money abroad simple, reliable, and cost-effective. Founded in 2012 and based in Chicago, we’ve helped millions of people send money securely and efficiently, empowering financial freedom across borders. We serve a global customer base with a mobile-first platform that offers low fees, competitive exchange rates, and fast*, secure delivery. Our work...

Double Good is a company built on creating joy and helping others. By reimagining product-based virtual fundraising, we help expand organizations' missions by giving back 50% of every dollar sold. We make ultra-premium popcorn sold through our simple-to-use software. We've helped raise over $200 million to support organizations nationwide that tilt the playing field for all kids. Double Good is not...

Not every candidate is a top performer—and neither is every hiring assessment provider. Wonderlic’s mission is to help HR professionals identify top applicants and predict on-the-job performance by providing them with the most trusted, scientifically validated assessments on the market. Since the company was founded in 1937, more than 200 million Wonderlic assessments have been administered to job candidates. Our...

Operated by elected Supervisor, Danielle Chynoweth, Cunningham Township Supervisor’s Office (CTSO) is a government office providing a local safety net for low-income households since 1928. We provide General Assistance, Rental Assistance, Utility Assistance, Food Support, and referrals to services funded by Urbana residents serving Urbana residents. We provide Homeless Services to Champaign County residents funded through grants coordinated through our county’s Continuum...

STEAMe's digital and data platform powers workforce development pathways to employment, connects system partners, simplifies workflows, and helps get the right person, to the right training, and the right job, so people and communities can flourish.

Rang is building the rewards platform for schools. Our mission is simple: improve student outcomes. Rang helps schools reinforce positive academic behaviors by connecting students and families to digital rewards funded by corporate sponsors. Schools get a powerful tool to improve attendance and engagement. Sponsors get measurable social impact tied directly to student outcomes.

Vidmob is the creative data company. Its AI-based software improves creative and media performance by helping brands and agencies derive their own custom creative best practices, and ensure that those learnings are applied across all flighted media. Vidmob’s approach to using creative data drives brand consistency, reduces creative and media waste, and increases overall business performance across the funnel. As...

Amp Americas owns and operates one of the largest carbon negative fuels producing portfolios in the U.S. Amp makes ultra-low carbon intensity renewable natural gas (RNG) from dairy waste at 7 facilities in 3 states processing manure from over 100,000 cows. Amp operates three business units: Amp Americas Development, Amp Americas Services, and Amp Americas RNG Marketing. Amp’s dairy RNG...

BallotReady is an award-winning startup working to help every voter in America cast an informed vote on every race, every election. We create digital nonpartisan voter guides and build tools to help advocacy groups and campaigns inform and mobilize voters, powered by the most comprehensive database on every level of government. We’ve worked with organizations such as Snapchat, Tiktok, Spotify, and...

Highland is a digital product consultancy in Chicago. We specialize in customer research, digital product design, custom web applications, and mobile app development. We believe that what we create should make it a little bit better to be alive: for us, our clients, and their customers.

Global warming is perhaps the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced, yet few Americans are giving the issue the attention it deserves. Part of the problem is that humans are poor at reacting to "slow-burn" future problems and part is that scientists & activists for the past 30 years have been using ineffective language and communications messaging

Impact Engine is a venture capital and private equity firm investing in companies driving positive impact in economic empowerment, education, environmental sustainability, and health.

Elevate K-12 is passionate about creating high-quality teaching and learning opportunities for teachers and students. We are on a mission to make high-quality instruction available to all students, irrespective of where they live, bringing equality to education. We take pride in creating value and opportunities for children and women.

Bridge is the mobile money app built to make you more money easily, every single day, stress-free. But how? We help our members monetize their data through our app and card products, enabling you to share your anonymized data with third party businesses and make money. All of this is done on a strictly opt-in basis. When users connect their favorite debit...

enterN is transforming the early-career hiring process by eliminating the biases embedded in traditional resume-based recruiting. By shifting the focus to verified skills and cultural fit, enterN provides a more equitable and effective way for employers to identify top talent among college students, recent graduates, and entry-level job seekers. Resumes introduce significant opportunities for implicit bias before the hiring process even...

Bluecrew is an on-demand staffing platform for temporary work. We are driving to change the future of work by adding transparency and automation to the staffing of blue collar positions. We are the best platform to quickly fill temporary positions with high-quality candidates.

WeSolv connects companies to the largest network of diverse MBAs and identifies the best candidates through data and actual performance in real projects. Our research and data-science backed technology leverages the only data proven predictive of future performance and machine learning to reduce bias and help companies make the best hires at scale

BLUE1647 is an award-winning network of education & technology innovation platforms that foster economic development in technology and 21st Century skills through people development (classes, workshops, and events around technology), & workforce development (through youth and adult technology programs to prepare individuals for high-demand jobs)

Youth sports and extracurricular activities are becoming more expensive, and every day it’s pricing out more and more families from the critical benefits of participation. The technology we’re building solves this problem in an industry that has yet to be disrupted.