The UK Shortlisted companies are:

• Wefarm – a small scale farmer-to-farmer community
• Library of Things - the items and tools renting platform
• Recycleye - AI and automation to close the loop on waste
• BFB Labs - digital therapeutics to improve children’s mental health
• Beam - empowerment, retraining and career matching for homeless people

The first awards of their kind globally, the TTI Global Impact Awards recognise the most innovative companies delivering sustainability for net-zero emissions and equality across eight categories: agriculture and food, consumer and retail, financial services, education and media, energy and environment, healthcare and wellbeing, sustainable cities and real estate, diversity and inclusion.

The awards are now open for public voting until 4 August 2021. The award ceremony will take place in an immersive virtual environment featuring rooftops and personal avatars on 17 August 2021. It will include special guest speakers, curated networking and performances by Burning Man DJ Goldcap and electro house DJ Sander Kleinenberg. Tickets are available on a first-come-first-serve basis at here.

The public’s favourite three sustainability trendsetters in each category will go forward to the expert panel of judges, which includes Billy Zane, impact investor and Hollywood actor, Melchior de Muralt, microfinance pioneer and founder of the multibillion dollar asset manager BlueOrchard, Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist named one of Time's 100 most influential people, and Arizona Muse, model and sustainability consultant.

Alessa Berg, TTI Founder and CEO, said: “From producing energy from thin air, empowering labour, turning waste into resources, detecting wildfires and improving youth mental health, it’s been incredible to see the talented entrepreneurs working tirelessly to reset the path of our planet.

“We received hundreds of entries from 45 countries, all dedicated to building a sustainable and fair paradigm across economic sectors. Our ceremony will bring together world-leading impact investors and famous personalities with global impact start-ups for an evening of celebration. These are the companies that are going to address the most important and pressing environmental and social issues of our time.”   

The awards are supported by family offices such as Swedish Formica Capital, along with companies such as sustainable data centre developer TerraScale and Singapore property pioneer CDL.

With partners including the World Economic Forum and United Nations, Top Tier Impact is the leading global ecosystem of investors, entrepreneurs and professionals focused on solving the most critical issues of our time. With over 500 members across 40 countries, its mission is to accelerate the adoption of best practices in impact and sustainability in the running of companies.