Kendrick Lamar’s Startup Named One Of Most Innovative Companies Of 2025

Kendrick Lamar’s startup pgLang is number 15 on Fast Company’s list of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2025. The record label, production house, and creative agency was founded by Lamar and Dave Free in 2020.

The company establishes itself as a hybrid model in the creative spaces, operating across different industries and platforms such as music, film and live events. This year, they creatively directed and coproduced the Super Bowl halftime show where Lamar performed his number 1 hit “Not Like Us.”

pglang’s influence

The creative agency has worked on design collaborations and brand collaborations with companies like Chanel, Converse and Global Citizen on Move Afrika. It has produced viral campagins for Cash App. In 2022, the startup put billionaire investor Ray Dalio in a commercial to discuss the importance of investing in yourself.

In 2023, pglang partnered with tech company Light to launch the limited-release Light Phone II. The Light Phone II is an unlocked, 4G LTE mobile phone with a few essential tools aimed to be a less-distracting alternative to the modern cell phone.

The limited release consisted of 250 phones exclusively available at pglang.com and was billed as “just a phone” to interested consumers.

Latine-Led Companies on the list

Nubank, a Brazilian neobank co-founded and led by Colombia-born David Vélez, ranked third on the list. It went public as Nu Holdings on the NYSE in December 2021 and became the world’s third-largest digital bank, surpassing 100 million customers in May.

Duolingo, the world-famous language learning app co-founded in 2011 by Guatemalan-born computer scientist Luis von Ahn, ranked tenth. Since going public in July 2021, it has grown to over 116 million monthly users and 9.5 million subscribers. Duolingo closed 2024 with $748 million in revenue, up 41% from the previous year.

Image: Peter Yang