Working with purpose driven companies is admittedly an enjoyable part of my job. Benefit corporations (or B-Corps) are for-profit-entities which specifically carve out a social impact. By doing so, officers of the company are protected from claims by shareholders, and agree to hold themselves accountable for considering their benefit purpose in every decision they make. 

As traditional unicorns have largely been a disappointment this year, B-Corps continue to gain traction with traditional investors. 

“We’re seeing more and more of a trend towards a broader stakeholder approach as opposed to just pure profit-minded approach,” said Peter Adams, executive director of the Rockies Venture Club, one of the largest angel investor groups in the region. “That goes all the way up to the public spectrum and then down to the early stage startups that we work with. Hopefully someday, B Corp certification won’t even be something that we need to do because it’s accepted that that’s the way companies should behave.”