The creator economy and social commerce dominated social media in 2021—and companies responded in kind to the rapid expansion. From features aimed at generating and managing creators’s revenue streams to merchants expanding their businesses through social channels, companies found new ways to meet the increasing demands of a growing class of entrepreneurs. And what would 2021 be on social media without diving into NFTs and the metaverse? Though still in its nascency in the mainstre
This story is part of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2022. Explore the full list of companies that are reshaping their businesses, industries, and the broader culture. At first glance, Framework’s laptop hardware looks as slick as any other $1,000 Dell or HP machine, with a crisp, bright display and smooth glass trackpad. The difference lies in how easily you can take the device apart. Framework, which started shipping it last summer and sold out almost immediately, pr
The way content is both created and consumed continues to shift rapidly, thanks to digital innovations (hello NFTs!) and media industries turned upside down by the pandemic. These companies led the way in pioneering new ways of delivering news and entertainment to people in fresh, curated ways at a time when traditional models were greatly strained. For instance, Hodinkee connected watch lovers with small, independent sellers that didn’t have the capacity to sell online; and Hybe partnere
This story is part of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2022. Explore the full list of companies that are reshaping their businesses, industries, and the broader culture. Walgreens administered 56 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine over the past year. It’s now preparing to make primary care an even bigger part of its overall healthcare strategy. In October, CEO Roz Brewer—who took the helm of parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) in March 2021 after serv
Perhaps 2021 will be seen as a tipping point, the year we suddenly noticed that the robots were everywhere. In the factory, of course, the use of industrial robots around the world is rapidly accelerating, with average global robot density in manufacturing hitting 126 robots per 10,000 employees, nearly double the number from just five years ago, according to the 2021 World Robot Report. The auto industry is the biggest employer of robots by far, accounting for 42% of all installed units in 2021
This story is part of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2022. Explore the full list of companies that are reshaping their businesses, industries, and the broader culture. “Our first priority is to solve customer problems,” says Ryan Petersen, CEO of Flexport, which has built a software platform for companies to manage every aspect of their supply chain. Amid the supply chain chaos, Flexport has risen to the challenge, bringing online everything from customersȁ
This year’s most innovative finance companies are using technology to automate operations, using capital to fight climate change, and using data to fight fraud and improve credit. Ramp, a corporate card, gives companies personalized control over when and where employees spend their budgets and also flags items like duplicate expenses, helping companies save money. Spiff, which automates sales commissions, and FloQast, which automates accounting workflows, are also designed for CFOs and th
Not surprisingly, companies from the region’s two largest economies—Brazil and Mexico—are well represented on this year’s list of Latin America’s most innovative companies. But they’re bumping up against businesses based in emerging startup hubs like Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Lima. In 2021, Latin American startups raised $14.8 billion across nearly 800 deals, according to PitchBook data, making this the fastest-growing region in the world for venture
When people sit down to be entertained, they generally like seeing more of what they already like. It’s the guiding principle behind Hollywood’s love affair with sequels, spinoffs, reboots, adaptations, and sequels to spinoffs of rebooted adaptations. Last year may not have been an exception, but it was also a creative phase in which original material came roaring back. New streaming services brought fresh perspectives. WarnerMedia and HBO Max redefined the theatrical release
Jigsaw, a unit within Google devoted to developing technology to address global threats like censorship and disinformation, just launched an open source tool for combatting harassment on Twitter. It’s intended to help female journalists, activists, and public figures, many of whom have been the victim of harassment on the social media platform. The new program, called Harassment Manager, is available on Github. The tool is an application programming interface (API), meaning it allows apps