Eligibility.

Who qualifies (geographic scope)

To be listed, a venture must be legally established in one of the 47 European countries within our scope. We define “European” by participation in Europe’s community of democratic values rather than by EU membership: the map covers ventures headquartered in any member state of the Council of Europe, as well as candidate countries for membership - 47 countries in total, spanning the EU, the EEA, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Western Balkans, and Europe’s eastern neighbourhood. Russia (expelled in 2022) and Belarus (never a member) are outside this scope. Operations may extend beyond Europe, but the legal entity itself must be registered within it.

Accepted legal forms

The venture must be a registered legal entity with a clearly stated impact mission. Accepted forms include:

• Limited companies and national equivalents (GmbH, Ltd, SAS, BV, S.r.l., AB, Oy)
• Non-profit companies where the model is primarily revenue-generating (gGmbH, gUG, and equivalents)
• Cooperatives (eG and European equivalents)
• Steward-ownership ventures, which normally wrap a registered company
• Mission-locked company forms such as the French société à mission and the Italian società benefit

B Corp is a certification rather than a legal form. A certified venture is eligible if its underlying registered entity is one of the accepted forms.

What every listing needs

• A working public website for the venture.
• A public contact email or contact form on that website.
• A clear description of activities on the venture's website (the website itself may be in any language; the submission to us must be in English).
• Country of legal registration inside the geographic scope below.
• An assignment to one of the 15 impact categories, with up to five official subcategories.
• Between one and four UN Sustainable Development Goals the venture primarily contributes to.
• A founder or shareholder attestation on submission - only founding team members or shareholders may submit.
• A registry number or public register reference the reviewer can verify.
• For submissions from an email address whose domain does not match the venture's website, DNS TXT verification is available as a fallback so a reviewer can still confirm the venture controls the domain.

For details on how listings are reviewed and tagged, see our methodology.

Business model & stage

Business model

EIM lists ventures with a market-oriented business model. The impact mission is carried primarily by earned revenue from commercial activity rather than by donations, grants or membership fees. Earned revenue means product or service sales, licensing, consulting or training fees.

This is a test of the business model, not of current turnover. Early-stage ventures are welcome. A pre-revenue venture qualifies where the intended revenue model is commercial and the product or service is real. Investor funding, accelerator support and innovation grants are not donation income.

Mixed models qualify where earned revenue is the primary engine and grant or donation income is supplementary.

Stage and operations

Ventures must be operational rather than a concept. That means a live product, service or programme, not a placeholder page.

Primary operations and impact must be in a qualifying country. Registration in Europe alone is not sufficient.