Stories of Innovation

Cities are stitched together by infrastructure – roads, rails, sidewalks, and transit routes. Yet for many, that final stretch between a transit stop and the destination is the hardest to bridge. Often, commuters surrender to convenience, hailing a car instead and adding congestion and emissions to already-strained streets. Estonia’s Auve...

In establishing Midtown Youth Academy in 1977, Golden Gloves champ Eugene “Thunder” Hughes began with a make-shift boxing ring and a noble goal: draw at-risk youth away from the mean and drug-infested streets of Washington, D.C., and guide them to a successful path in life. “We let them knock themselves...

Virtual reality is an essential tool for building compassion and expanding awareness about how we relate to failing and learning from those moments....

Over the last half-century, Detroit Opera—formerly Michigan Opera Theatre—has become a deeply rooted cultural force in a city of innovation and diverse perspectives, presenting programs that resonate with people of all ages and backgrounds while positively impacting the local economy. Appointed as the company’s second-ever Artistic Director in 2020, Yuval...

This non-profit biopharmaceutical research consortium supports and facilitates multi-stakeholder innovation to accelerate the transformation of cutting-edge discoveries into vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics addressing unmet medical needs, while generating significant benefits for the Canadian economy. An Innovative Funding Model The unique funding model of the NPO, founded in 2008, helps bridge...

WHAT WE DO ChangEd is an all-in-one debt management platform helping people build a better relationship with debt so they can reach their financial dreams sooner. ChangEd allows people with debt to link all their loans and spending accounts on one platform. We then analyze their debt load and develop...

V1-INNOVATION IN URBAN MOBILITY: V1, 100% DIGITAL APPLICATION FOR CAR RENTAL AND SUBSCRIPTION -VIX LOGÍSTICA STARTUP SEEKS TO TRANSFORM THE WAY PEOPLE MOVE AROUND CURITIBA. V1, recognized as one of the boldest initiatives in Brazil’s innovation ecosystem, emerged in 2018 at the Vix Labs innovation laboratory, owned by Vix Logística,...

OUR PURPOSE IS POSSIBILITY. AT MARSH, THE IDEA OF POSSIBILITY ISN’T JUST SOMETHING WE TALK ABOUT — IT’S SOMETHING WE’VE LIVED FOR OVER 150 YEARS. We help our clients and colleagues grow — and our communities thrive — by protecting and promoting Possibility. We seek better ways to manage risk...

Margot had spent most of her career in international development, with stints at the Treasury, White House, and FTC. She had never expected to write a book on raising an entrepreneur. It began when she started meeting scores of successful young entrepreneurs through her older son, Elliott, who, in 2008,...

“At the beginning of this pandemic, during my free time, I started consuming video game streams, and on one of the many channels that Facebook Gaming has, I met again with Jose Vargas, who had just started streaming #Dota2 content from Amsterdam. In the coming months, we understood how big...

Brickeye is a leader in industrial internet of things (IoT) and data analytics for risk mitigation in construction and infrastructure management. We empower customers to build and manage their projects and assets safer, smarter, and better. By integrating actionable, real-time data from IoT-enabled sensors and predictive analytics, we enable customers...

The Rise of Adaptive Manufacturing Systems The future of mobility isn’t on the horizon. It’s unfolding around us, reshaping how vehicles are designed, powered, and produced. Electric vehicles are gaining market share, autonomous technology is being deployed, supply chains are being rebuilt, and new technologies are reshaping manufacturing. In this...

POWERING THE INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM The Alan B. Levan | NSU Broward Center of Innovation (Levan Center of Innovation) is revolutionizing South Florida’s innovation landscape as a dynamic public-private partnership between Nova Southeastern University (NSU) and Broward County. Fostering entrepreneurship, technology, and economic growth, it bridges the gap between ideation and...

In the heart of KW’s tech hub, a century-old industrial site has been reimagined as one of Canada’s largest privately held coworking spaces. What used to be Dominion Tire factory is now the home base for more than 170 companies who work out of Catalyst Commons. Inside its 120,000-plus square...

GAMING APPEALS TO OUR INNATE SENSE OF HUMANITY. IT INSPIRES CREATIVITY, PLAY, CONNECTIVITY, AND COMMUNITY These also happen to be the fundamentals of today’s video games. This wasn’t designed by accident, either. Playing video games empowers people no matter their backgrounds, religion, politics, race, gender or location. Sugar Gamers exemplify...

“TechTown is foundational to the entrepreneurship community in and around Detroit and integral to Wayne State’s vision for innovation in the region,” said WSU President Dr. Kimberly Andrews Espy. “In addition to elevating entrepreneurs in our community, TechTown’s community-based programs and services create enriching, impactful opportunities beyond the classroom for...

L’industrie de la transformation métallique revêt une importance majeure dans l’économie du Québec. Avec de multiples défis à relever en matière de main-d’œuvre, de compétitivité mondiale, de productivité, d’énergie et d’empreinte environnementale, les entreprises doivent se démarquer et innover constamment. C’est en 2014, pour répondre à ses enjeux, que le...

WindMotors, a Stockholm-based startup, is pioneering an innovative approach to renewable energy by transforming roadways into sources of clean power. Their mission is to integrate compact wind turbines into road infrastructure, capturing energy from passing vehicles and natural wind currents to generate electricity. The company’s modular system combines aerodynamic turbines...

The life sciences industry is about improving people’s lives. It operates in an incredibly competitive and complex environment where being ahead of the curve is critical. And getting their life-enhancing products to physicians, specialists and other healthcare professionals requires that companies be proactive in adopting innovative technologies that help them...

When business leaders face high-stakes decisions, they don’t have the luxury of time or guesswork. BluWave was built precisely for these moments. Founded by private equity veteran Sean Mooney, BluWave is a groundbreaking market network that expertly connects business leaders with the exact specialized third-party advisory firms, technology solutions, and...

Leading the Charge in Decoding Human Behavior for Healthcare Innovation Surgo Health, a behavioral AI company based in Washington, DC, is transforming the healthcare landscape with its innovative approach. The company is driven by a mission to empower the healthcare ecosystem with the deepest understanding of human behavior, utilizing proprietary...

INTERFLEXION WAS FOUNDED TO IMPROVE WORKPLACE COMMUNICATIONS.Interflexion’s co-founders, successful fintech entrepreneur John Muldoon & tech innovator John Hack, had worked together during the dotcom era and bonded over their interest in emerging technologies and organizational performance. In 2019, we were returning from a meeting with a VR expert when we...

When a financial institution’s customers are financially healthy, everyone wins. SpringFour, an award-winning social impact fintech and a Certified B Corporation, connects financial institutions’ customers with resources that help them make their payments and get back on their feet. With a digital-based platform of more than 20,000 vetted financial resources,...

The organization was created in 2018, following a regional consultation and consensus-building process to establish the proper positioning of the organization. The complementarity of the organization’s mission along with all the partners of the development and innovation ecosystem in the region led to the creation of a new entity in...