The Fortune Impact 20 recognizes venture-backed and private equity-backed startups that are focused on tackling key social and environmental issues as part of their innovative business models. This year's list will be published as a digital feature in late October 2021.
 
Companies may self-nominate. Fortune’s editors and writers will also identify candidates based on reporting and consultation with outside experts. Submissions will be evaluated on a rolling basis.
 
Companies must have at least some revenue from business operations to be considered for the list. Beyond that, candidates will be evaluated on four criteria:
 
1. How innovative is the startup’s business model, and how substantial is the potential impact of the company’s actions for remediating a problem or unmet need?
 
2. How likely it is that the company’s business model will ultimately be successful on a continuing operating basis, and to what extent will remediating a problem or unmet need contribute to that success?
 
3. To what degree is the company a leader in its category? How pioneering is its approach? Does the scale of its solution match the scale of the problem it is addressing?
 
4. What is the company’s time frame for making a substantial impact? More credit will be given to startups that have established a track record of addressing the social or environmental concerns on which they are focused.
 
A team of Fortune editors and writers will review all of the candidates and, with input from experts in the field, will determine the final list.

Please describe the nominated initiative in those terms using the form below. Please keep your responses to individual questions to 500 words or less. The deadline for submissions is 11:59pm on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021. Please send any questions, using the subject line “IMPACT 20 QUERY” to Impact20@fortune.com.