Today, LaunchX is led by Forest Richter, President of LaunchX, who brings a focus on startup founders, emerging investors, ecosystem development, and greater access to capital to the organization's leadership. His work aligns with LaunchX's broader objective of creating opportunities for young entrepreneurs to develop the skills, confidence, and networks needed to take ideas into action. For its contribution to developing entrepreneurial capability among young people, LaunchX

Founded in 2019 by Erika Guerrero in El Segundo, California, Electric Goddess is a specialized battery consulting and R&D company that works alongside organizations designing and building battery systems. Its approach combines experienced battery engineering with an in-house laboratory, allowing the company to investigate questions that conventional datasheets and published papers may not fully answer. From battery design and material selection to testing, failure analysis, a

Headquartered in Abu Dhabi and operating across 12 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the company has developed what it describes as Africa’s largest full-range distributed renewable energy platform. Its model brings together solar home systems, mini-grids, commercial and industrial solar, financing, productive-use energy solutions, and digital infrastructure within one operating platform. That integrated approach is at the heart of the company’s recognition with the Distribute

The Cancer Journey Institute was established around this broader understanding of the cancer experience. Founded in 2012 by Shariann Tom, the Pacifica, California-based organization has developed an educational and coaching model designed to help people navigate the personal dimensions of cancer while also training others to provide specialized support. Through its Cancer Journey Coach training, individual coaching, workshops, events, resources, and educational content, the I

Founded by Sheila M. FitzPatrick in 1995 and operating globally from Rocklin, United States, FitzPatrick & Associates is a strategic data privacy and protection legal compliance consulting firm serving organizations navigating regulatory obligations across international markets. Its expertise spans global data protection compliance, data sovereignty, cybersecurity regulations, cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, data breach management and records management.

Founded by Emily Lenning in 2017 and based in Alexandria, Virginia, Blossom Marketing is a full-service digital marketing agency serving businesses across multiple industries, including hospitality, restaurants, home services, construction, coworking and professional services. Its work spans organic social media, paid advertising, content creation, email marketing, website design, branding, SEO and fractional marketing leadership.

Founded by Tanya Hilts, Cloud Business Services is based in Belleville, Canada, and provides bookkeeping, financial reporting, compliance support, profit planning and business advisory services to small and growing businesses. The firm combines traditional financial expertise with cloud technology, practical education and proactive guidance. Rather than simply reporting what happened financially, its approach is centered on helping entrepreneurs understand why it happened and

Based in Tampa, United States, Liberty Manor serves honorably discharged male veterans who have experienced homelessness because of circumstances such as unemployment or sudden disability. Its model addresses a specific gap in traditional veteran services by supporting veterans who may not have substance-abuse or mental-health-related needs but nevertheless find themselves without stable housing or adequate resources. Since identifying this service gap, Liberty Manor has deve

Founded in 2023 by Daniel Iles and headquartered in Palmer, Alaska, Viral Coach is a full-stack social media marketing company providing services across organic content, paid media, funnels, automation, editing, filming, studio production and social media management. Its model challenges a conventional agency assumption that long-term client dependency is the ultimate measure of success. Instead, Viral Coach runs a six-month intensive designed to install content, paid-media a

Founded in 2025 and based in Costa Mesa, United States, Apex Financial Partners operates as a holding company bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, operators and professionals with experience spanning finance, technology, acquisitions, operations, marketing and business development. For Apex, investment is not positioned around capital alone. Its approach combines strategic capital, relationships, operational expertise and growth support to help promising businesses nav

CraveHRO, founded by Nicole Craveiro in 2021, has been named the winner of the Human Resources Excellence Award at the Great Companies Global Business Awards 2026. Based in Long Island, United States, the company is building a different kind of human resources experience for small and growing businesses—one that combines professional HR expertise with practical guidance, accessibility and a distinctly human approach. CraveHRO primarily supports employers with fewer than 50 em