Stories of Innovation

OMERS Ventures has been backing early-stage technology companies for more than a decade.   Currently managing CAD$2 billion, with close to 60 investments in disruptive technology companies across North America and Europe, we are proud to support some of the world’s biggest thinkers and builders.   Spanning three countries, OMERS...

On October 31st 2008, a white paper was published by an obscure character named Satoshi Nakamoto. Curiously, this paper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” came to dominate media headlines and popular consciousness a decade later. The excitement surrounding Bitcoin, and its underlying technology Blockchain, became eerily similar to...

“I developed OxiWear for myself to demonstrate that I could live a normal life without letting the disease define me.” In 2019, Shavini Fernando, a visionary innovator and determined entrepreneur, founded OxiWear – a groundbreaking company dedicated to transforming how we monitor and respond to critical health metrics. Diagnosed with...

Brazil Society is the mastermind behind Brazil Fashion Forum and Sounds of Brazil, two of Miami’s most-anticipated events that bring high-level Brazilian culture and lifestyle into the heart of the city. Brazil Society curates not just special moments but also provides important, real sales and marketing results to its clients,...

THE DMV REGION: A GROWING HUB FOR STARTUP AND TECH INNOVATION Authors: Sameer Rao & Kaela Roeder, Technical.ly The DMV region is a bustling hub of innovation, startups, and technology. It is home to over 6 million people and extends across three jurisdictions: the District of Columbia, the Maryland suburbs,...

Founded in 2006, CIRADD has been a CCTT in innovative social practices since 2010, specializing in sustainable territorial development. The centre is located in Gaspésie and is a member of the Synchronex CCTT Network. Our mission is to help organizations, businesses and communities sustainably develop their environment through applied research...

Inauguré en janvier 2020, l’Institut intelligence et données (IID) de l’Université Laval réunit les forces vives de la recherche et de l’innovation en intelligence artificielle (IA) et en valorisation des données de la grande région de Québec. De la recherche appliquée ou fondamentale, en passant par les grands enjeux éthiques,...

Our after-school league coalesces in-game coaching with STEAM instruction into a dynamic, engaging program for organizations, schools and school districts. We’re in the business of building vibrant esports communities with the goal of being the highlight of our students’ days. We believe in recognizing abilities that have (for far too...

The New MVP Tech Stack: What Forward-Thinking Founders Are Betting On in 2026 Somewhere right now, a founder is about to spend $120,000 building an MVP that could have been shipped for $25,000. Not because the cheaper version would be worse. Because the founder picked the wrong tech stack for...

“Relationship-centered real estate, valuing people over profit, and inspiring others to do the same” – this was the vision of Founder and CEO Charlie Peterson when launching Tyler York Real Estate Brokers at the beginning of 2018. After a meteoric rise in Nashville real estate beginning in 2013, Charlie quickly...

What if playgrounds could grow with the forest instead of replacing it? At 3park, the team designs and builds adventure parks that blend safety, creativity, and sustainability. Born in Estonia, 3park believes play should bring people together and strengthen communities. Their parks are more than climbing frames: they are safe...

Catalysts for Community Change For over four decades, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) has been a transformative force in the Washington, D.C., area, empowering underinvested communities and fostering innovative solutions to complex urban challenges. As Executive Director Ramon Jacobson eloquently puts it: “Our mission is to help people uncover...

NTT DATA is a global leader in AI, digital business and technology services and a catalyst for transformation. With a presence in more than 70 countries and a legacy of innovation spanning decades, NTT DATA brings together deep industry expertise, cutting-edge technology and a human-centered approach to help clients solve...

The Chicago Help Initiative was founded in 1999 by Jacqueline C. Hayes to be a compassionate response to the homeless displaced by efforts of the City of Chicago. It has evolved into a hyperlocal model of how individuals can link together to address a difficult problem using a mix of...

Picture this:You’re standing in the lobby of an office building waiting for the elevator. The only thing in view is an evacuation map posted on the wall so you take it in. Several minutes later, you’re sitting comfortably in a waiting room when the fire alarm goes off. Can you...

Mom Juice is our very own unconventional love story. A blind business lunch date turned into a dynamic friendship, and years later, a lucrative business opportunity that helps us bring women and mothers together over a glass of wine. Because if people are getting together, trust and believe wine will...

SHIFT Capital’s Blueprint for Just Communities A Philadelphia-born B Corporation is rewriting the rules of real estate — proving that purpose and profit can build something greater than either alone. In the neighborhoods that have long been overlooked by conventional real estate investment, SHIFT Capital has spent nearly a decade...

For decades, the internet has been framed as a global equalizer. It has quietly favored a narrow slice of the world. The world has always been multilingual. The digital infrastructure that connects it, however, was built predominantly in English. More than half of online content is still produced in English,...

Sunland Logistics Solutions is a 3PL partner leveraging leading technologies and lean principles to help shippers and manufacturers improve performance, innovate, and drive value in their supply chains. Specializing in supporting companies in the chemical, industrial, automotive, beverage, and retail industries, Sunland is positioned to become a flexible extension of...

Drug development is traditionally expensive and lengthy, often spanning over a decade and costing billions of dollars to bring a single drug to market. However, pharmaceutical companies today are adopting innovative strategies to significantly reduce these timelines and costs without compromising safety or efficacy. Leveraging technology for early discovery Technological...

Pillsbury’s Century-Long Commitment to Innovation, Trust and Impact Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is a global law firm shaped by the idea that legal counsel should not merely respond to change, but help generate it. From its origins advising emerging industries in the late 19th century to its role guiding...

Where do brands and marketers look to understand middle-class consumers go to find actionable, realistic, useful data? That was the question the team at WhyFive Insights asked almost a decade ago when they launched a unique annual survey and data set called BrandMapp. “We were working in media at the...

Pour développer les entreprises manufacturières et pour accroître la force de l’économie de la région du Bas-Saint-Laurent dans un marché mondial exigeant et en constante évolution, innover est indispensable. Innov & Export PME est un organisme de développement de portée régionale ayant des activités dans plusieurs entreprises sur le territoire...

Fondé en 1992, le CTGN est un centre de recherche et développement, à but non lucratif, spécialisé dans les technologies énergétiques. Bien que l’utilisation du gaz naturel soit à l’origine de sa raison d’être, le CTGN travaille activement, depuis 2007, à l’intégration des énergies nouvelles, notamment le gaz naturel renouvelable, l’hydrogène,...