Birdie named as an Honourable Mention in Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas awards

‍

‍

We’re really excited to announce that today, Birdie has been selected as an Honourable Mention in the Health category as part of Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards.

‍

From a cleaner freight train to an automated beehive, a way to recycle fabric, and other bold, new technologies, the 5th annual awards honour the products, concepts, companies, policies, and designs that are pursuing innovation for the good of society and the planet.

‍

New York, May 4, 2021— The winners of Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards were announced today, honouring the businesses, policies, projects, and concepts that are actively engaged and deeply committed to pursuing innovation when it comes to solving health and climate crises, social injustice, or economic inequality.

‍

‍

Birdie is on a mission to reinvent care so that older generations can live longer, healthier and happier lives in their own homes, surrounded by their families and their communities. 

Birdie started in July 2017 with a few of us determined to radically transform the way society deals with ageing. We were appalled by how society struggled to deal with ageing and decided not to accept the status quo. For some of us, it’s a very personal experience, having seen our own loved ones suffer. Birdie team members are social entrepreneurs, adhering to the company mission to radically improve the life of 1 million older adults by 2023.

In the age of AI and driverless cars, we can absolutely improve the experience and change the concluding chapters of a typical older person’s life using simple technology. No longer will older people who might have falls at home during a bathroom visit be left to languish on the floor unnoticed for up to 48 hours before anyone notices and raises a concern. Technology exists now to prevent this from ever happening again.

Max Parmentier, CEO and Founder, Birdie

‍

‍

Now in its fifth year, the World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 33 winners, more than 400 finalists, and more than 800 honourable mentions—with Health and Wellness, AI Data among the most popular categories.

‍

A panel of eminent Fast Company Editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 4,000 entries across transportation, education, food, politics, technology, and more. Plus, several new categories were added, including Pandemic Response, Urban Design, and Architecture.

The 2021 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Brazil to Denmark to Vietnam. Showcasing some of the world’s most inventive entrepreneurs and companies tackling exigent global challenges, Fast Company’s Summer 2021 issue (on newsstands May 10) highlights, among others, a lifesaving bassinet; the world’s largest carbon sink, thanks to carbon-eating concrete; 3D-printed schools; an at-home COVID-19 testing kit; a mobile voting app; and the world’s cleanest milk.

‍

‍

We're really proud to have received an Honourable Mention in the Health category of the World Changing Ideas Awards. We're on a mission to radically improve the lives of 1 million older adults and this award recognises the great steps we're taking in innovating and tackling the ageing crisis.

Max Parmentier, CEO and Founder, Birdie

‍

‍

“There is no question our society and planet are facing deeply troubling times. So, it's important to recognise organisations that are using their ingenuity, impact, design, scalability, and passion to solve these problems,” says Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “Our journalists, under the leadership of senior editor Morgan Clendaniel, have discovered some of the most groundbreaking projects that have launched since the start of 2020.”

‍

About the World Changing Ideas Awards:

‍

World Changing Ideas is one of FastCompany’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honourable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, FastCompany draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all.

‍