B Lab created the first certified B Corporations in 2007.
B Lab is a nonprofit organization founded in 2006 by Jay Coen Gilbert, Bart Houlahan, and Andrew Kassoy. It developed a certification system intended to measure a company’s social and environmental performance alongside its financial performance.
The first companies received B Corporation certification in 2007. Certification uses the B Impact Assessment and requires businesses to meet standards covering areas such as governance, workers, community, and the environment.
B Corporation certification is different from being a benefit corporation. A B Corp is certified by B Lab, while a benefit corporation is a legal corporate form available under the law of certain jurisdictions. A company can sometimes be both, but the terms are not interchangeable.