BioLite Named to FORTUNE’s 2019 Change the World List: Companies to Watch

August 22, 2019

Brooklyn, NY, August 22, 2019– BioLite, an innovator in off-grid energy solutions, is honored to be named one of six companies on FORTUNE’s Change the World: Ones to Watch List. BioLite is being recognized for its work in emerging markets with the HomeStove and SolarHome 620, two breakthrough products designed to provide safe and affordable cooking, charging, and lighting to families living in energy poverty.

“This award means so much to the hard-working team here at BioLite,” says BioLite CEO Jonathan Cedar “over the past ten years we’ve gone from a single prototype to reaching over half a million people in 2019 – this recognition from FORTUNE is an affirmation that we’re on the right path and it motivates us to go further, faster.”

 BioLite’s technologies address the health, environmental, and economic challenges of smoky open-fire cooking and kerosene lighting. To date, BioLite has positively impacted over 515,000 people, generated nearly 382 million Watt hours of electricity, and offset over 216,000 Tonnes of CO2. The BioLite HomeStove reduces toxic smoke emissions by 90-percent, uses 50-percent less wood, and generates electricity from fire from which a mobile device or LED lights can be charged. The BioLite SolarHome 620 generates electricity from the sun, providing mobile phone charging and up to 24 hours of multi-room light, and is pay-as-you-go enabled.

Of the Ones to Watch list, FORTUNE writes, “These smaller companies don’t have enormous reach yet, but they have made technological breakthroughs that may pave the way for much bigger achievements, and greater revenue, down the road. Just as important, each is already having an outsize influence on its communities, its customers, and the planet, and each is worth keeping an eye on.”

 About BioLite

BioLite is a social enterprise that develops, manufactures, and markets advanced energy products for off-grid communities around the world. The company creates breakthrough cooking, charging, and lighting solutions for both outdoor enthusiasts as well as rural families living in energy poverty. It has been the recipient of numerous recognitions including Popular Science’s Best of What’s New, Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards, BusinessWeek’s Most Promising Social Enterprise, and the Red Dot Design Award. Headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, the company was founded in 2009 by Jonathan Cedar and Alec Drummond. BioLite is proudly a Carbon Neutral company. Discover more about BioLite at BioLiteEnergy.com

About FORTUNE

FORTUNE drives the conversation about business. With a global perspective, the guiding wisdom of history, and an unflinching eye to the future, we report and reveal the stories that matter today-and that will matter even more tomorrow. With the trusted power to convene and challenge those who are shaping industry, commerce and society around the world, FORTUNE lights the path for global leaders-and gives them the tools to make business better. www.fortune.com

FORTUNE “Change the World” list methodology

FORTUNE’s annual “Change the World” list is intended to showcase the power of capitalism to improve the human condition by identifying companies that have made an important social or environmental impact through their profit-making strategy and operations.

The selection process begins with an open call for nominations from business, academic, and nonprofit organizations around the world. By definition, only for-profit businesses are eligible, and companies with revenues > US$1 billion are given preference, and we strive to create a global and well-rounded list.  Companies are ranked on each of four criteria:

1. Measurable social impact: We consider the reach, nature, and durability of the company’s impact on one or more specific societal problems. This category receives particularly close attention.
2. Business results: We consider the benefit the socially impactful work brings to the company. Profitability and contribution to shareholder value outweigh benefits to the company’s reputation.
3. Degree of innovation: We consider how innovative the company’s effort is relative to that of others in its industry and whether other companies have followed its example.
4. Corporate Integration: We consider how integral the initiative is to a company’s overall strategy, and how well that strategy is communicated through the ranks and elsewhere.

Each year, FORTUNE looks for new companies with recent impact. The initial solicitation and assessment of nominees is conducted in partnership with the Shared Value Initiative, a global platform for organizations seeking business solutions to social challenges, and FSG, a nonprofit social-impact consulting firm. A team of journalists from FORTUNE then investigates each of the candidates independently. The final list is selected and ranked by the editors of FORTUNE based on the magazine’s own reporting and analysis.