There’s a trope that good things come in small packages—and indeed the winners in the Small and Mighty category live up to their name. Each of the companies below has fewer than 50 employees, but they have all shown an agility in innovation that aims to solve some of the largest problems on the planet—from increasing equitable access to healthcare to measuring the environmental impact of planting millions of trees, and from turning your car into a seamless payment platform and being able to charge it with a more durable and safe battery.
AmplifyMD
For increasing access to healthcare beyond a single “urgent care” video visit
There’s a shortage of doctors in the U.S. that by some estimates will exceed 124,00 in the next 10 years—particularly among specialists. Coupled with an aging population and a broken insurance system, just finding an accessible, affordable healthcare provider has become harder than it needs to be, especially if you have heart or lung disease or mental health issues. AmplifyMD’s virtual care platform streamlines access to an extensive cohort of telemedicine practitioners in more than 15 different specialties. This means that hospitals, clinics, and medical facilities of any size can match patients to the right provider and take care of it all, from scheduling, to care, to billing. It’s already lowered patients’ 30-day readmission rates by over a third.
Car IQ
For turning your car into a payment platform
Pay for gas, food, and other necessities with your car? Car IQ‘s Pay technology essentially turns cars and trucks into credit cards by making the vehicle able to transact directly with merchants. It currently enables fleets to gather data through telematics and sensors to get fuel levels, odometer readings, and location, then offers a seamless way for the driver to locate the nearest gas station where it confirms and enables it to pay without a card. In July 2023, Car IQ partnered with Visa to expand its network. Right now, Car IQ Pay is accepted at Shell, Sunoco, Kum & Go, Circle K, Sinclair, and others nationwide. The company says that makes more than 25,000 fuel stations with plans to increase to 55,000 by the end of the year.
South 8 Technologies
For turning a liquefied gas electrolyte into a better charging option for EVs even in extreme temperatures
The hottest summer on record and the sheer number of natural disasters have shown how fragile our power sources are. And while EVs are helping ease some of the impacts on our climate, the technology that powers most of them—lithium-ion batteries—while cost-effective, is old and was originally developed for mobile phones and laptops. When you press it into use in vehicles, there’s a risk, particularly of failure and fire. That’s why South 8 Technologies developed its liquefied gas electrolyte solution that is capable of withstanding extremes of temperature.
Veritree
For creating an exacting way to measure the impact of nature, carbon, and biodiversity projects
When planting trees and purchasing carbon offsets have become common ways for companies to check boxes on their ESG reports, Veritree maintains its platform is connecting businesses with solutions that are making a verified impact. For example, the technology provides a way to manage a network of restorative projects, while the dashboard monitors data on tree planting to ensure they are being counted accurately. Results are then published to the blockchain for added security.
The companies behind these technologies are among the honorees in Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech awards for 2023. See a full list of all the winners across all categories and read more about the methodology behind the selection process.
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