Stories of Innovation

When the future of work spilled out of traditional offices and into vibrant spaces where community mattered as much as connectivity, Spark Coworking emerged as a beacon for entrepreneurs, creatives, and innovators. Launched in 2016 by The Cordish Companies, Spark has grown into a national network of collaborative workspaces –...

Businesses rarely face challenges in isolation. Market shifts, new technologies, changing customer expectations, supply disruptions, and regulatory changes can quickly test how well an organization can respond. Only 8% of businesses surveyed by WTW believe they have full control over their supply chain risks. In contrast, 63% report huge losses...

Co-founded by a young entrepreneur just in her twenties, Eliise Lehtsaar, the company produces biodegradable air filters from waste wool, offering a solution to the staggering figure of nine billion plastic ventilation system filters discarded worldwide each year. For Voon, the goal is straightforward yet compelling: why continue to landfill...

Guided by a vision of a world powered by ambitious entrepreneurs, the DMZ is a world-leading incubator on a mission to change the lives of founders both in Canada and around the globe. By equipping the next generation of leading tech entrepreneurs with the tools needed to build, launch, and...

Across Canada, Indigenous entrepreneurs are launching businesses at one of the fastest rates in the country, yet finding funding, business resources, and meaningful connections often means searching across dozens of disconnected websites and organizations. IndigiHub was created to change that. Founded by Zachary Flett, a member of Sagkeeng First Nation,...

As career goals evolve and remote work becomes the norm, professionals across the country are rethinking where they genuinely want to live and work. For many, that reflection is leading them home—to Kansas City. Once drawn away by the pull of coastal opportunity, they’re now inspired by KC’s rise as...

INSTASHIELD FILLS PPE SHORTAGE, DONATES 1 MILLION SHIELDS TO PEOPLE IN NEED InstaShield™ is a new kind of face shield that ships flat and is folded to fit over a cap or visor. The company was founded in March 2020 by Dan Brown Jr. to help fill the nation’s PPE...

Innovation is about harnessing change, testing boundaries, and deciding to lead instead of follow. True, the process is rarely simple (let alone straightforward), but those who take the risk get a chance to write their futures. There’s no “right” path to innovation. As our experiences at KPMG’s Ignition Center reveal...

At Muse®, we live at the heart of personal transformation through human-centered technology. We are a team of engineers, scientists, artists, marketers, and developers with a mission to help people live happier, healthier, and more connected lives through leading brainwave technologies and experiences. Muse has worked with top-tier goods, transportation,...

When the Maryland Stadium Authority and Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (now the Maryland Department of Commerce) partnered in 2008 to create the Office of Sports Marketing, their goal was bold and unmistakable: position Maryland as an elite destination for sports and a national leader in sports tourism....

Innovation as a future-skill The International Standards Office, in Geneva, has recently released an innovation standard, reflecting the growing interest from organisations in developing sustainable innovation approaches. The demand for innovation skills is also on the rise – organisations want their people to develop ideas and turn them into value...

Phigitals [Physical + Digital] is a web3 enabled B2B Saas solution for sustainable fashion resale, allowing e-commerce retail platforms to recapture margin in the circular economy, boosting profits while reducing their carbon footprint by up to 86% per transaction (source: Financial Times). The company tethers individual fashion items to NFTs...

Creating added value for and enhancing the competitiveness of all Flemish companies with logistics operations is VIL’s main focus. And it has been for over twenty years. From a small non-profit organization, VIL has grown to be a hands-on, company-driven organization, with a staff of 35 employees. Since 2017, VIL...

We are a proudly Pan-African financial and diversified investment management company, active in nine African countries. We are fully committed to our promise of nurturing an integrated range of innovative products and services, in order to deliver positive, consistent return for our clients. This is premised on our value proposition...

South Australian-owned FCT is a global engineering group with three specialist divisions: Combustion, Flames, and ACTech. Incorporated in 1984, the Group’s Head Office is based in Thebarton, while additional key offices are located in Austria, Brazil, China, and the USA. While FCT Flames has in the past enjoyed prominent publicity...

The Chicago Connectory is a co-creation space and IoT incubator located in Chicago’s historic Merchandise Mart. Our co-working space builds business, collaboration, and network opportunities to our community. The Chicago Connectory opened its doors in May 2017. The idea for the Chicago Connectory sparked with Bosch, a multinational engineering and...

The Bristol Technology Showcase (BTS) is the first event of its kind to be held at the world-famous Aerospace Museum, home to the iconic Concorde, built in Filton, Bristol. BTS focuses on emerging technologies and those themes encompassed in the 4th industrial revolution with a focus on how they will...

Since opening in 1992 under founder Dr. Emma C. Chappell, United Bank of Philadelphia (“the Bank”) has upheld its mission: driving economic inclusion and opportunity in urban communities. Philadelphia has always been a city of visionaries and entrepreneurs, but vision does not turn into a successful business without capital. As...

Le Tech3Lab de HEC Montréal est un laboratoire spécialisé dans l’évaluation de l’expérience utilisateur en contexte de technologies d’affaires. Les recherches menées au Tech3Lab se caractérisent par l’utilisation d’outils issus des neurosciences afin de développer une compréhension riche de l’expérience réellement vécue par des utilisateurs, que ce soit des consommateurs,...

Guru the friendly lender is a mobile payday lending application, helping people get out of these financial troubles by providing them with small affordable loans and educational resources to help improve their financial situation. Problem People need access to credit in order to help pay their bills and take care...

The Sexual and Reproductive Health Agency INTRODUCTION UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, established its presence in Lesotho in the 1970s, focusing on improving the quality of life for all Basotho through various programs and initiatives. The Fund has been working closely with the Government and other stakeholders to address...

With innovation at the core of founders Phil Scardigno and Corey White’s approach, they saw the volume of plastic waste in each of their respective manufacturing and importing businesses and knew something needed to change. More plastic = more wasteRight now, volumes of plastics continue to grow in our global...

In the southern outskirts of Stockholm, in a repurposed industrial facility once devoted to generating heat, something entirely different is now being produced—culture, community, and creative opportunity. Värmeverket, founded as a response to the increasingly precarious conditions for artists and cultural workers, has quickly established itself as one of Sweden’s...

JumpStart NJ Angel Network invests in early-stage growth companies with high potential and innovative technology that disrupts traditional businesses. The group of angel investors screens more than 100 companies each year and invests an average $1.5 million annually in leading-edge startups. Based in the Garden State, JumpStart NJ invests in...