Stories of Innovation
INNOVATE™ South Africa
CAPITEC
LET’S BUILD A BANK
Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come, suggested Victor Hugo, French literary genius, in 1852. Capitec was – and is still – such an idea, but you might not have thought so at the time. At the beginning of the 21st century, the general consensus was...
INNOVATE® Maryland
Grove
Redefining How the Internet Connects Itself
When Arthur Sabintsev describes Grove, he leans into vivid analogies. “Imagine an open-air bazaar,” says the CEO and co-founder. “Vendors are hawking their blueberries or camels or rugs, and you need chocolate from Bolivia. You go to a local guide, and that guide takes you to the best Bolivian chocolate...
INNOVATION Quebec
SHERBROOKE INNOPOLE
Un organisme SI innovant
Sherbrooke Innopole est l’organisme paramunicipal de développement économique des secteurs industriel et tertiaire-moteur mandaté et financé par la Ville de Sherbrooke. Nous avons pour but de dynamiser l’environnement d’affaires, assurer le rayonnement de Sherbrooke et de ses entreprises sur les scènes locale, nationale et internationale, et de développer les entreprises...
INNOVATION Manitoba
Sheepdog Brew Co.
INNOVATION ISN’T ALWAYS LOUD. SOMETIMES IT COMES IN A BLACK CAN.
Innovation often comes from adding more. Sheepdog Brew Co. built its business by asking what could be stripped away instead. Founded in Manitoba by former Winnipeg Police Service officer and Army Reservist Shawn Black, Sheepdog Brew Co. set out to challenge a coffee industry increasingly driven by flavours, trends and...
INNOVATE® Nashville
KCI
BRIDGING THE BUILT AND NATURAL WORLDS: KCI’S NASHVILLE LEGACY
From transportation networks to environmental stewardship, KCI’s multidisciplinary team is redefining what it means to engineer progress. The architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry is constantly evolving at a rapid pace, driven by advancements in technology, sustainability, and design thinking. As cities grow and infrastructure needs intensify, firms are embracing...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
HAVE YOU HEARD
WE ARE A MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY, HOWEVER, OUR DNA, HOW WE STARTED AND OUR REASON FOR BEING HAS ALWAYS MADE US DIFFERENT
We were never just advertising people wanting to do big TV ads, we were entrepreneurs wanting to build brands and businesses. We were also very inexperienced and naïve and while that made things much more challenging in the early years, it has made us more effective the more time has...
INNOVATE® Kansas City
KC Global Design
DESIGNING THE WORLD FROM KANSAS CITY
Across skylines, stadiums and critical infrastructure, Kansas City’s imprint on the built environment is worldwide. Today, thousands of architecture, engineering and construction (A/E/C) firms call the KC region home — employing more than 90,000 workers and forming one of the most concentrated hubs of design expertise across the globe. From...
INNOVATE® Maryland
Upling
Delivering Equity, One Order at a Time.
In a world that often overlooks the most vulnerable, Upling is doing more than just delivering cannabis — it’s delivering purpose, access, and social equity. This Maryland-based, AI-powered cannabis delivery platform is rewriting the rules of healthcare access and digital entrepreneurship, all while confronting long-standing injustices in the cannabis industry....
Global Innovation Spotlight
Payment Innovation in iGaming
E-wallets, open banking and crypto are reshaping how players move money — and why “instant” rarely means instant.
Casino payments have changed dramatically over the past decade. What once meant entering card details, waiting several business days for a withdrawal, and dealing with unclear transaction labels has become a much broader financial technology conversation. Players nowadays can fund an account through e-wallets, bank transfers initiated through open banking,...
INNOVATE® Philadelphia: 250 Years of Innovation
GIRL CONCRETE
BUILDING THE NEXT 250 YEARS
Philadelphia is the birthplace of American independence – a city where ideas of democracy, access, and public responsibility were first debated, documented, and declared. Two and a half centuries later, those ideals are sustained not only by words, but by infrastructure. Streets, sidewalks, schools, hospitals, transit hubs, and public spaces...
Global Innovation Spotlight
5 Ways a State Can Support Its Tech Startup Ecosystem
A thriving startup ecosystem rarely appears by accident or grows without meaningful support. Behind every successful innovation hub stands a combination of smart policies, talented people, and long-term planning. According to Tech Monitor, startup failures in the US surged by almost 60% in 2024 due to high inflation and low...
INNOVATE™ Adelaide
BASTIEN LLAMAS
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND READER INHUMAN GENETICS, AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR ANCIENT DNA AT THE UNIVERSITY
Who are we? Where do we come from? The history of humanity is a complex affair full of twists and turns that shaped our genetic diversity and cultural identity. To unveil or rewrite some of that history, I use ancient DNA extracted from the skeletons of long-dead ancestors as a...
INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2
EFF AUSTIN
Is a Texas-based, independent nonprofit civil liberties organization concerned with emerging frontiers where technology meets society
We are a group of visionary technologists, legal professionals, academics, political activists, artists, and concerned citizens who work to protect digital rights and educate the public about emerging technologies and their implications. Per our mission statement, we advocate establishment and protection of digital rights and defense of the wealth of...
INNOVATION Quebec
Innofibre
Créé en 1989, Innofibre – Centre d’innovation des produits cellulosiques, est un centre collégial de transfert de technologie qui collabore avec les entreprises, les organismes publics et les institutions de recherche publiques et privées pour le développement et la mise à l’échelle de produits biosourcés et de bioprocédés
Innofibre a pour vision de contribuer au développement de l’économie biosourcée au Québec en accompagnant les PME et les grandes entreprises dans l’innovation. L’équipe d’Innofibre a les habiletés et les aptitudes pour réaliser des projets multidisciplinaires et interordres et réalise chaque année un grand nombre de projets avec plusieurs institutions...
Global Innovation Spotlight
How Cybersecurity is Driving the Next Wave of Global Innovation
Cybersecurity has moved from the back-office control domain to a main driver in digital innovation. When there is confidence in system resilience, organizations can securely implement and scale AI, cloud, and IoT. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2025 outlook, growth will be tied to cyber resilience because threats and...
INNOVATION Quebec
L’I2E3
50 ans d’innovations biosourcées
L’Institut d’Innovations en Écomatériaux, Écoproduits et Écoénergies (I2E3) se veut une entité pluridisciplinaire participant à l’avancement de l’économie biosourcée dans une perspective d’économie verte, circulaire et régionale. L’I2E3 est l’évolution stratégique d’un centre de recherche en pâtes et papiers ayant démarré ses activités à l’Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières en...
Global Innovation Spotlight
PINKTUM
El Desarrollo De Personas En España Se Digitaliza
Una nueva forma de desarrollo de recursos humanos es necesaria para dominar con éxito los desafíos globales. Como uno de los proveedores líderes de e-learning y capacitaciones basadas en la web para el desarrollo efectivo y sostenible del personal en las empresas, PINKTUM se hace sitio en la escena de...
INNOVATE™ Adelaide
CareApp
THIS INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNISED, AWARD-WINNING PLATFORM CONNECTS AGED CARE RESIDENTS
When the time came for her granddad to move to a nursing home, Allison Nikula was worried. She was an occupational therapist in charge of 440 care workers in Adelaide, but the thought of putting her own kin in an institution more than 800 kilometres away in Geelong made her...
INNOVATE® New Jersey Vol.2
VERASONI
CEOs and CMOs are demanding more clarity, efficiency, performance and efficacy from their marketing enterprises. As marketing gets noisier, brands turn to Verasoni as a guiding light of calm and for measured strategies, and they have since 2005. Recognized for innovation and strategic guidance to clients ranging from Fortune 500...
INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports
QUICKSCOPE
MAKE YOUR PASSION YOUR CAREER
Quickscope is a new social networking platform for video game developers. Development and creation talents to can connect with like-minded individuals, create professional industry-specific portfolios, and speak with recruiters regarding employment opportunities. We offer our users innovative industry-specific features such as advanced search filters and networking tools to ease the...
INNOVATION Quebec
Alliance Polymères Québec
UNE INDUSTRIE, TROIS FILIÈRES
Matériaux plastiquesLes matériaux plastiques sont des polymères qui peuvent être mis en forme (moulés), par divers procédés, à l’aide d’une contrainte mécanique combinée à l’effet de la chaleur qui permet de les ramollir temporairement. Matériaux compositesLes matériaux composites sont des polymères qui sont formés par la polymérisation de résines habituellement...
INNOVATE® Northern Virginia
Buzzy Rocket
Strategic marketing for startups shaping the future
Buzzy Rocket is a boutique startup marketing firm dedicated to helping early-stage and high-growth companies build awareness, engagement, and momentum through clear, credible storytelling and strategic execution. Founded in 2011, the firm partners with founders who are developing innovative solutions to real-world problems, positioning those companies so the audiences who...
INNOVATE® Nashville
TREVECCA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY
Was the first university in Nashville to offer weekend and evening formats for adults who are balancing school, work and family life
Located in the heart of Nashville, Trevecca offers students an exciting, fulfilling college experience as they pursue a personal calling in a thriving city. A Christian liberal arts university, Trevecca’s diverse, supportive community is a safe haven for spiritual and personal growth, vocational discernment and opportunities for service. Growth...
INNOVATE® Miami
PADL
Makes getting out on the water easy by combining technology and paddleboards into its paddle share system
PADL makes getting out on the water easy by combining technology and paddleboards into its paddle share system. Users can quickly unlock a smart board from one of PADL’s docking stations through the mobile app and enjoy their ride. PADL is on a mission to get more people out on...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
CAPITEC
LET’S BUILD A BANK
Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come, suggested Victor Hugo, French literary genius, in 1852. Capitec was – and is still – such an idea, but you might not have thought so at the time. At the beginning of the 21st century, the general consensus was...
INNOVATE® Maryland
Grove
Redefining How the Internet Connects Itself
When Arthur Sabintsev describes Grove, he leans into vivid analogies. “Imagine an open-air bazaar,” says the CEO and co-founder. “Vendors are hawking their blueberries or camels or rugs, and you need chocolate from Bolivia. You go to a local guide, and that guide takes you to the best Bolivian chocolate...
INNOVATION Quebec
SHERBROOKE INNOPOLE
Un organisme SI innovant
Sherbrooke Innopole est l’organisme paramunicipal de développement économique des secteurs industriel et tertiaire-moteur mandaté et financé par la Ville de Sherbrooke. Nous avons pour but de dynamiser l’environnement d’affaires, assurer le rayonnement de Sherbrooke et de ses entreprises sur les scènes locale, nationale et internationale, et de développer les entreprises...
INNOVATION Manitoba
Sheepdog Brew Co.
INNOVATION ISN’T ALWAYS LOUD. SOMETIMES IT COMES IN A BLACK CAN.
Innovation often comes from adding more. Sheepdog Brew Co. built its business by asking what could be stripped away instead. Founded in Manitoba by former Winnipeg Police Service officer and Army Reservist Shawn Black, Sheepdog Brew Co. set out to challenge a coffee industry increasingly driven by flavours, trends and...
INNOVATE® Nashville
KCI
BRIDGING THE BUILT AND NATURAL WORLDS: KCI’S NASHVILLE LEGACY
From transportation networks to environmental stewardship, KCI’s multidisciplinary team is redefining what it means to engineer progress. The architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry is constantly evolving at a rapid pace, driven by advancements in technology, sustainability, and design thinking. As cities grow and infrastructure needs intensify, firms are embracing...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
HAVE YOU HEARD
WE ARE A MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY, HOWEVER, OUR DNA, HOW WE STARTED AND OUR REASON FOR BEING HAS ALWAYS MADE US DIFFERENT
We were never just advertising people wanting to do big TV ads, we were entrepreneurs wanting to build brands and businesses. We were also very inexperienced and naïve and while that made things much more challenging in the early years, it has made us more effective the more time has...
INNOVATE® Kansas City
KC Global Design
DESIGNING THE WORLD FROM KANSAS CITY
Across skylines, stadiums and critical infrastructure, Kansas City’s imprint on the built environment is worldwide. Today, thousands of architecture, engineering and construction (A/E/C) firms call the KC region home — employing more than 90,000 workers and forming one of the most concentrated hubs of design expertise across the globe. From...
INNOVATE® Maryland
Upling
Delivering Equity, One Order at a Time.
In a world that often overlooks the most vulnerable, Upling is doing more than just delivering cannabis — it’s delivering purpose, access, and social equity. This Maryland-based, AI-powered cannabis delivery platform is rewriting the rules of healthcare access and digital entrepreneurship, all while confronting long-standing injustices in the cannabis industry....
Global Innovation Spotlight
Payment Innovation in iGaming
E-wallets, open banking and crypto are reshaping how players move money — and why “instant” rarely means instant.
Casino payments have changed dramatically over the past decade. What once meant entering card details, waiting several business days for a withdrawal, and dealing with unclear transaction labels has become a much broader financial technology conversation. Players nowadays can fund an account through e-wallets, bank transfers initiated through open banking,...
INNOVATE® Philadelphia: 250 Years of Innovation
GIRL CONCRETE
BUILDING THE NEXT 250 YEARS
Philadelphia is the birthplace of American independence – a city where ideas of democracy, access, and public responsibility were first debated, documented, and declared. Two and a half centuries later, those ideals are sustained not only by words, but by infrastructure. Streets, sidewalks, schools, hospitals, transit hubs, and public spaces...
Global Innovation Spotlight
5 Ways a State Can Support Its Tech Startup Ecosystem
A thriving startup ecosystem rarely appears by accident or grows without meaningful support. Behind every successful innovation hub stands a combination of smart policies, talented people, and long-term planning. According to Tech Monitor, startup failures in the US surged by almost 60% in 2024 due to high inflation and low...
INNOVATE™ Adelaide
BASTIEN LLAMAS
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND READER INHUMAN GENETICS, AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR ANCIENT DNA AT THE UNIVERSITY
Who are we? Where do we come from? The history of humanity is a complex affair full of twists and turns that shaped our genetic diversity and cultural identity. To unveil or rewrite some of that history, I use ancient DNA extracted from the skeletons of long-dead ancestors as a...
INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2
EFF AUSTIN
Is a Texas-based, independent nonprofit civil liberties organization concerned with emerging frontiers where technology meets society
We are a group of visionary technologists, legal professionals, academics, political activists, artists, and concerned citizens who work to protect digital rights and educate the public about emerging technologies and their implications. Per our mission statement, we advocate establishment and protection of digital rights and defense of the wealth of...
INNOVATION Quebec
Innofibre
Créé en 1989, Innofibre – Centre d’innovation des produits cellulosiques, est un centre collégial de transfert de technologie qui collabore avec les entreprises, les organismes publics et les institutions de recherche publiques et privées pour le développement et la mise à l’échelle de produits biosourcés et de bioprocédés
Innofibre a pour vision de contribuer au développement de l’économie biosourcée au Québec en accompagnant les PME et les grandes entreprises dans l’innovation. L’équipe d’Innofibre a les habiletés et les aptitudes pour réaliser des projets multidisciplinaires et interordres et réalise chaque année un grand nombre de projets avec plusieurs institutions...
Global Innovation Spotlight
How Cybersecurity is Driving the Next Wave of Global Innovation
Cybersecurity has moved from the back-office control domain to a main driver in digital innovation. When there is confidence in system resilience, organizations can securely implement and scale AI, cloud, and IoT. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2025 outlook, growth will be tied to cyber resilience because threats and...
INNOVATION Quebec
L’I2E3
50 ans d’innovations biosourcées
L’Institut d’Innovations en Écomatériaux, Écoproduits et Écoénergies (I2E3) se veut une entité pluridisciplinaire participant à l’avancement de l’économie biosourcée dans une perspective d’économie verte, circulaire et régionale. L’I2E3 est l’évolution stratégique d’un centre de recherche en pâtes et papiers ayant démarré ses activités à l’Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières en...
Global Innovation Spotlight
PINKTUM
El Desarrollo De Personas En España Se Digitaliza
Una nueva forma de desarrollo de recursos humanos es necesaria para dominar con éxito los desafíos globales. Como uno de los proveedores líderes de e-learning y capacitaciones basadas en la web para el desarrollo efectivo y sostenible del personal en las empresas, PINKTUM se hace sitio en la escena de...
INNOVATE™ Adelaide
CareApp
THIS INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNISED, AWARD-WINNING PLATFORM CONNECTS AGED CARE RESIDENTS
When the time came for her granddad to move to a nursing home, Allison Nikula was worried. She was an occupational therapist in charge of 440 care workers in Adelaide, but the thought of putting her own kin in an institution more than 800 kilometres away in Geelong made her...
INNOVATE® New Jersey Vol.2
VERASONI
CEOs and CMOs are demanding more clarity, efficiency, performance and efficacy from their marketing enterprises. As marketing gets noisier, brands turn to Verasoni as a guiding light of calm and for measured strategies, and they have since 2005. Recognized for innovation and strategic guidance to clients ranging from Fortune 500...
INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports
QUICKSCOPE
MAKE YOUR PASSION YOUR CAREER
Quickscope is a new social networking platform for video game developers. Development and creation talents to can connect with like-minded individuals, create professional industry-specific portfolios, and speak with recruiters regarding employment opportunities. We offer our users innovative industry-specific features such as advanced search filters and networking tools to ease the...
INNOVATION Quebec
Alliance Polymères Québec
UNE INDUSTRIE, TROIS FILIÈRES
Matériaux plastiquesLes matériaux plastiques sont des polymères qui peuvent être mis en forme (moulés), par divers procédés, à l’aide d’une contrainte mécanique combinée à l’effet de la chaleur qui permet de les ramollir temporairement. Matériaux compositesLes matériaux composites sont des polymères qui sont formés par la polymérisation de résines habituellement...
INNOVATE® Northern Virginia
Buzzy Rocket
Strategic marketing for startups shaping the future
Buzzy Rocket is a boutique startup marketing firm dedicated to helping early-stage and high-growth companies build awareness, engagement, and momentum through clear, credible storytelling and strategic execution. Founded in 2011, the firm partners with founders who are developing innovative solutions to real-world problems, positioning those companies so the audiences who...
INNOVATE® Nashville
TREVECCA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY
Was the first university in Nashville to offer weekend and evening formats for adults who are balancing school, work and family life
Located in the heart of Nashville, Trevecca offers students an exciting, fulfilling college experience as they pursue a personal calling in a thriving city. A Christian liberal arts university, Trevecca’s diverse, supportive community is a safe haven for spiritual and personal growth, vocational discernment and opportunities for service. Growth...
INNOVATE® Miami
PADL
Makes getting out on the water easy by combining technology and paddleboards into its paddle share system
PADL makes getting out on the water easy by combining technology and paddleboards into its paddle share system. Users can quickly unlock a smart board from one of PADL’s docking stations through the mobile app and enjoy their ride. PADL is on a mission to get more people out on...