TIME100 Companies Entry: A PR Strategy Guide for 2027

TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2027 entries are open now, focusing on five judging pillars: impact, innovation, ambition, success, and timeliness. Companies must submit by October 23, 2026, for the lowest $625-per-category fee, with standard and final deadlines through January 15, 2027. Winning a spot depends on how precisely a submission maps to these five pillars, using named metrics and dated proof, not company size.

What is the TIME100 Most Influential Companies Program?

The TIME100 Most Influential Companies program is an annual TIME publication that has recognized organizations across industries, societal impact, and workplace practices since 2021. The 2027 season runs on four separate lists, and a single entry can qualify a company for more than one at once.

The eligibility window covers milestones a company achieved, or expects to achieve, between May 2026 and May 2027. A planned product launch or partnership can be entered with a note on timing.

What are TIME's Five Judging Pillars for a TIME100 Companies Entry?

TIME editors score every TIME100 Companies entry against five named pillars: impact, innovation, ambition, success, and timeliness. No single financial metric or data point decides selection on its own, according to TIME's own entry FAQ. Each pillar asks a distinct question that a submission must answer with evidence, not adjectives.

• Impact: States how many lives or businesses the company's work reaches, as a number.
• Innovation: Explains what sets the approach apart from named competitors in the same sector.
• Ambition: Defines the scale of the goal, stated with a timeline or target.
• Success: Shows traction already proven, such as revenue, adoption, or a named partnership.
• Timeliness: Explains why the story matters against a dated, current business trend.

A submission that states "we are transforming the industry" fails all pillars, as it names no metric, no competitor, and no date. A submission that defines a user count, reached in a named quarter, passes impact and success in one line. Naming a competitor's approach in the same sentence adds innovation. TIME editor in chief Sam Jacobs noted that a company's ability to state a clear vision was crucial for the 2026 list, crediting winners with consistent vision communication that audiences understood.

How Should PR Teams Choose Categories for a TIME100 Companies Entry?

Category selection determines which of the four TIME100 Companies lists an entry becomes eligible for, beyond the flagship 100. Industry Leaders categories need no additional entry-form fields beyond the standard submission. This makes the Industry Leaders track the lowest-lift option for companies with a clear sector story.

Impact Awards and Exceptional Workplaces both carry a second evidence requirement. TIME's own FAQ states that Impact Awards entrants must show a specific initiative and evidence of how many lives it changed. A plan for the initiative's lasting impact must accompany the entry. Exceptional Workplaces entrants must show the same structure applied to employee satisfaction or business outcomes instead. Companies can enter multiple categories, and each carries its own fee. PR teams should map categories to whichever initiatives already have the strongest named data before submitting.

What Does a Winning TIME100 Companies Entry Look Like?

TIME's 2026 TIME100 Companies Impact Award recipients each won by tying one initiative to a named, measurable population, rather than a mission statement. Waystar took Impact in AI, Xenco Medical took Impact in Health, and Sun King took Impact in Sustainability. CareMessage took Impact in Equality and Depop took Impact in Culture, all announced in TIME's April 2026 reveal alongside the 100-company flagship list.

SharkNinja's 2025 flagship-list selection illustrates how a company converts recognition into earned coverage after the fact. The company's CEO, Mark Barrocas, described the honor as an incredible honor and a powerful recognition of the mindset that drives the company's product teams. He made this statement in a release that named the specific list and year. That release also restated TIME's own selection criteria of impact, innovation, ambition, and success, using the company's own words. PR teams should copy this pattern: confirm the honor, then translate the judging language into the brand's language, instead of inventing new claims.

What Should a PR Team Do Before the Next TIME100 Companies Deadline?

Every TIME100 Companies deadline sets both a review date and a price, so filing earlier speeds up review and lowers cost per category.

Entries can still be edited after payment, up until the specific deadline a company files under. A PR team can file early to lock in the lower fee, then keep refining metrics and language until that deadline closes. Honorees are notified on a rolling basis starting April 2027, ahead of publication.

Any employee handling marketing or public relations for a company is eligible to submit its entry directly. Agencies managing multiple client submissions in parallel can find vetted partners through EPR's PR agency profiles directory if additional entry-writing support is needed.

What is the Bottom Line for TIME100 Companies Entries?

Every part of a TIME100 Companies submission traces back to the same five pillars TIME states publicly: impact, innovation, ambition, success, and timeliness. Selected entries name a number, a competitor, and a date for each pillar, instead of describing general strengths. They also file early enough to keep revising against those pillars before their chosen deadline closes.