Top Illinois Social Impact Startups (67)

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 2024 BuiltInChicago 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...

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.

Alliance Chicago's Mission is to improve personal, community and public health through innovative collaboration. Its efforts are focused in three core areas: Healthcare Collaboration, Health Information Technology, Health Research & Education.

The Illinois Science & Technology Coalition (ISTC) is a member-driven non-profit​, nonpartisan organization that cultivates technology-based economic development throughout Illinois.​ Authorized by state statute in 1989 as Illinois’ technology adviser, we serve as a convener, catalyst, and champion for Illinois’ research, science, and technology communities. By providing our members and partners with a shared voice, the ISTC delivers measurable economic impact...

SPEDxchange is an online community of special education teachers, Speech-Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, School Psychologists, School District Administrators and other staff that service special education students and their families. SPEDxchange is transforming and improving the way special educators, school districts and parents connect with each other.

Motion is an independent creative agency that builds the brands of tomorrow by uncovering the cultural truths of today. With creative, content, public relations and branding at our core, Motion is filled wall-to-wall with curious thinkers, problem solvers and strategic storytellers, partnering and building relationships with brands to create what makes them truly move. For more information, visit www.agencyinmotion.com.

Flowers for Dreams is the artisan flower service. Made to order and crafted locally, all bouquets start at just $35 with free hand delivery in Chicago & to Milwaukee. Every purchase benefits an amazing local charity. Named one of Business Insider's 20 Most Inspiring Companies in America.

Nestidd buys houses, customizes them for people with disabilities, leases and maintains them - affordably. We provide superior risk-adjusted returns on invested capital by providing exceptional living spaces to premier care organizations and their clients. More than 1,000 adults with disabilities live in our homes, many of whom have never before had a place to call their own.

At The Brainchild Collective, we activate every young person’s potential to transform the world through holistic education solutions that help prepare students to live healthy and thriving lives.

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.

STIGMA is a mental health community that uses asynchronous messaging to connect you with people who share your lived experience. It is NOT a public social media site. There are no public profiles, no comment threads, no influencers... in other words, no vanity. This is a safe space to practice talking about your mental health.

HowToFund (HTF), previously known as HowDoWe, is a SaaS company that helps schools and nonprofits maximize their fundraising efforts. We build free donation pages that match the look of the organization's website, helping them to raise money for their fundraisers, track incoming donations, automatically send receipts and thank you's, and much more.

Honest Game is reimagining a world where access to college sports is fair, equitable, anchored by data and grounded in integrity. Honest Game's SaaS product builds individualized academic roadmaps to provide real-time strategic eligibility guidance so everyone has a clear pathway to college sports and beyond. Founded in Chicago in 2019, Honest Game is seeking a Principal Engineer to support...

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.

LEAP Innovations' mission is to transform learning into a holistic, tailored experience—designed to prepare, empower and inspire all learners to ignite their unlimited potential. Think of us as the R&D hub for education innovation, bringing the best learning science and technology here to pilot, research and scale.

The Invisible Institute is an innovative, non-profit journalism production company based on the South Side of Chicago. We work to enhance the capacity of citizens to hold public institutions accountable. Among the tactics we employ are investigative reporting, multimedia storytelling, human rights documentation, the curation of public information, and the orchestration of difficult public conversations. Our work coheres around a...

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...

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.

Neon One was founded with the mission of becoming the most comprehensive and authentic end-to-end technology ecosystem dedicated to empowering mission-driven organizations. We pioneer solutions for fundraising, community building, and program operations that power the future of philanthropy. The team has worked with more than 40,000 nonprofits over the last several decades—bringing an unparalleled level of industry knowledge and expertise...