Part Three - The Future Taking Shape
While the events of 2020 left many systems vulnerable, many people began questioning what they truly wanted from work and life. As old routines fell away, new opportunities started appearing. Entrepreneurs responded quickly, communities adapted, and innovation accelerated on a global scale. This period revealed how businesses could serve human and environmental needs while remaining economically viable.
Enter, the Impact Entrepreneur…
Food systems changed as people faced disrupted supply chains and closed restaurants. Here we look at some examples that illustrate how practical solutions can scale rapidly when they address both social and business needs.
Too Good To Go created a platform that connected consumers with surplus meals from local stores and restaurants. The company grew rapidly during the pandemic, allowing businesses to recover some losses while reducing waste.
Healthcare also experienced innovation on multiple fronts. Mental health resources became critical as isolation, uncertainty, and stress increased. An app called Wysa provided AI-powered support that reached people who might otherwise have lacked access to mental healthcare. Its growth during the pandemic showed that technology could deliver essential services efficiently while maintaining human-centred principles. The platform influenced the way workplaces and communities consider mental health, making wellbeing a central part of conversations about productivity and performance.
Entrepreneurs also focused on addressing environmental challenges. Seabound developed carbon capture technology for the shipping industry, targeting a sector that produces significant greenhouse gas emissions. The company illustrates how entrepreneurial thinking can apply innovation to global problems, creating solutions that have long-term relevance. Seabound shows that companies built with an awareness of social and ecological impact can operate sustainably while addressing critical global needs.
Remote work created opportunities for people to access new markets and contribute in ways previously unavailable to them. Andela connected skilled developers from Africa and other emerging markets to international companies. Its model expanded during the pandemic as remote collaboration became more standard. Individuals gained economic and professional opportunities, while companies benefited from access to talent that had been largely overlooked.
Impact Entrepreneurship took on greater importance during this period as ventures emerged with values and missions embedded in their operations rather than added as an afterthought.
Entrepreneurs observed immediate problems in their communities and designed responses that addressed those issues directly. Local businesses, social enterprises, and startups developed solutions that combined financial sustainability with social benefit. These businesses exemplify the potential for entrepreneurship to create systemic change while fostering innovation.
The lessons of the pandemic also shaped how leaders approached growth and strategy. Flexibility became a critical component of business planning. Companies that could adapt quickly to new challenges maintained operations and discovered new pathways for success.
The ability to respond to change effectively became more valuable than pursuing optimisation in stable conditions, and entrepreneurs who embraced experimentation discovered opportunities for scaling and impact that might have been invisible before the crisis.
New models of collaboration and organisational design focus on human well-being and community connection alongside performance as entrepreneurs now experiment with hybrid work, digital integration, and community-based operations. They are designing ventures that thrive under uncertainty while maintaining a focus on purpose. In doing so, they demonstrate that business can fulfil multiple objectives without sacrificing either economic or social value.
The period after the crash has left a legacy of possibilities... The entrepreneurs highlighted here, including startups like Too Good To Go, Wysa, Seabound, and Andela, show how practical solutions can generate lasting change. They provide examples of how innovation can emerge from challenge, illustrating the ways that people, businesses, and communities can collaborate to address immediate needs while building sustainable systems.
The pandemic was a catalyst that created space for entrepreneurs to experiment, for communities to step forward, and for businesses to act with intentionality. The systems emerging now are being carefully designed to endure, supporting people, communities, and the environment. The story of this transformation continues to unfold, offering insights for anyone building a venture, shaping work structures, or imagining a future where impact and purpose guide action.
Entrepreneurs are demonstrating that business can address social and environmental challenges without losing sight of economic viability. The solutions that arose after the crash are proof that resilience, innovation, and responsibility can coexist in ways that create meaningful change. These examples form the blueprint for how work, business, and human progress can evolve.
Written by Claire Taylore (done with the catharsis now)