Stories of Innovation

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

GW - George Washington University

Technology Commercialization Office and Office of Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Technology Commercialization Office and Office of Innovation & Entrepreneurship Inspire, Innovate, Impact The George Washington University (GW) GW is a vibrant hub of innovation and entrepreneurship. At the core of this dynamic institution are two offices founded in 2010: The Technology Commercialization Office (TCO), a powerhouse dedicated to transforming groundbreaking...

INNOVATE® South Carolina

First Class Recruiting

Elevating Talent, Powering Industry

In the heart of South Carolina’s booming Upstate region, where aerospace, manufacturing, and technology sectors thrive, First Class Recruiting is building more than just careers – it’s building futures. Helmed by U.S. Air Force veteran and industry trailblazer Lindsay Hansel, this boutique executive search firm has become synonymous with precision...

INNOVATE® Nashville

NASHVILLE ENTREPRENEUR CENTER

NASHVILLE ENTREPRENEUR CENTER-The Hub

The Hub, the Heart, the Front Door - Nashville Entrepreneur Center is the City’s Home to Entrepreneurship

At the heart of innovation lies a problem and entrepreneurs are the needed visionaries that see a better way to live, work, or play. At the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, commonly known as “the EC,” we help entrepreneurs develop and build upon their business with an organizational vision to make our...

Global Innovation Spotlight

Latoria Williams — Chief Executive Officer, 1F Cash Advance

1F Cash Advance is a fintech company that provides short-term financial support for people who have trouble qualifying for traditional bank loans. The company was founded and is led by CEO Latoria Williams. Her business journey began with the realization that nearly half of Americans do not have an emergency...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

HORUS SOLUTIONS

EXCELLENCE IN INFORMATION MANAGEMENT HORUS SOLUTIONS INNOVATES WITH THE FALCON SOLUTION

Horus Solutions is a national company that stands out as a specialist in information management solutions. Since its foundation in 1995, Horus has played an important role in the business scene, offering excellent services throughout the national and international territories. As an official partner of leading software companies such as...

INNOVATE® Nashville

NEW ORCHARD

NEW ORCHARD-Leaders are getting catfished by the promise of data. New Orchard helps lessen those odds

Leaders are getting catfished by the promise of data. New Orchard helps lessen those odds

If 2020 proved anything, it’s that change is inevitable, whether that is decided on internally or not. “The ability to be resilient lies within confidently understanding where your organization is today, where it desires to be, the team that makes it up, and the processes that support it, fast,” says...

INNOVATE® Nashville

Snapshot

We bring clarity to complexity, and creativity to business goals.

In a small office tucked away in East Nashville’s Five Points neighborhood, Snapshot’s modest beginnings started as a video production company. At the time, Nashville had plenty of production houses producing great video, and a handful of large agencies infusing strategy into high-budget campaigns. But our founders saw a gap...

INNOVATION Quebec

OPTECH

CCTT EN OPTIQUE-PHOTONIQUE

Le centre collégial de transfert technologique (CCTT) Optech est un organisme à but non lucratif (OBNL) qui a été fondé en 2002 avec la mission de faire connaître les technologies reliées à l’optique – photonique et de contribuer à leur implantation afin de soutenir les efforts d’amélioration de productivité et...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

TECHNICAL.LY

THE DMV REGION: A GROWING HUB FOR STARTUP AND TECH INNOVATION

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,...

INNOVATE™ Atlantic Canada

IGNITE

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A ONE-STOP DESTINATION TO TURN BOLD IDEAS INTO GAME-CHANGING TECHNOLOGIES, LAUNCH THRIVING BUSINESSES, OR EXPAND ESTABLISHED COMPANIES GLOBALLY, LOOK NO FURTHER.

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A ONE-STOP DESTINATION TO TURN BOLD IDEAS INTO GAME-CHANGING TECHNOLOGIES, LAUNCH THRIVING BUSINESSES, OR EXPAND ESTABLISHED COMPANIES GLOBALLY, LOOK NO FURTHER. Ignite equips entrepreneurs and businesses with the tools to succeed in an evolving marketplace. Together with our partners at Planet Hatch, we are committed to...

INNOVATE® Nashville

BOON LEGAL

BOON LEGAL-MAKE MORE MISTAKES AND FAIL EARLY AND OFTEN IN SERVICE OF DISCOVERY

MAKE MORE MISTAKES AND FAIL EARLY AND OFTEN IN SERVICE OF DISCOVERY

It’s all too easy to get swept up in the fervor of “innovation.” In the polished, produced world of prime-time, venture capitalists drop seven figures into start-ups while founders celebrate exits. Like most things that reach a level of celebrity status in our world of “reality” entertainment, the true story...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

MAGGIE O’NEILL

WHAT IF COLOR IS THE ANSWER?

Maggie O’Neill is a Washington, D.C.-based artist, designer, entrepreneur, and activist with 20+ years of experience supporting the city’s creative community through her multifaceted work. Her integral role as one of the District’s cultural leaders at the intersection of arts and hospitality is a culmination of her creative design firm...

INNOVATION Quebec

MONTÉRÉGIE ÉCONOMIQUE

THE INNOVATIVE ECOSYSTEM OF THE MONTÉRÉGIE

Espace régional d’accélération et de croissance de la Montérégie was established in 2020 and is powered by Montérégie Économique, which brings together economic development organizations from the MRCs and the agglomeration of Longueuil. The NPO supports economic operators, guides businesses towards business support and acceleration services and cooperates with key...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL ROADS AGENCY SOC LTD (SANRAL)

THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL ROADS AGENCY SOC LTD (SANRAL)- IN LINE WITH GOVERNMENT’S COMMITMENT TO TRANSFORM THE PUBLIC SECTOR

IN LINE WITH GOVERNMENT’S COMMITMENT TO TRANSFORM THE PUBLIC SECTOR, THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL ROADS AGENCY SOC LTD (SANRAL) WAS ESTABLISHED IN APRIL 1998 BY AN ACT OF PARLIAMENT, AS AN INDEPENDENT STATUTORY COMPANY OPERATING ALONG COMMERCIAL LINES AND AT ARM’S LENGTH FROM GOVERNMENT

WITH A MANDATE TO FINANCE, DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN THE NATIONAL ROAD NETWORK OF OVER 22 000 KM, SANRAL LEADS THE WAY ON INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IN A POST-COVID SOUTH AFRICA.   Innovation is at the forefront of SANRAL’s agenda in the infrastructure development space. In recent years the Agency has increasingly...

INNOVATE® South Florida

NEPTUNYA - OCEAN POWER

OCTOPODZ: REVOLUTIONIZING OCEAN ENERGY WITH MIXED-MODE MARINE POWER SOLUTIONS

OCTOPODZ: REVOLUTIONIZING OCEAN ENERGY WITH MIXED-MODE MARINE POWER SOLUTIONS NEPTUNYA, an innovator in marine renewable energy, is transforming the future of ocean-based power with its OCTOPODZ energy converter—a groundbreaking device combining wind and wave power to deliver affordable and reliable offshore energy. As part of its ongoing development, NEPTUNYA will...

INNOVATE® Detroit

Driven

Ending legal debt traps with smart payments

In the U.S., over 11 million people havehad their driver’s licenses suspendeddue to unpaid fines. This isn’t just aninconvenience – it’s a direct hit to financialstability. Losing the ability to drive meanslosing access to jobs, education, andessential services. In cities like Detroit,where public transit is unreliable, asuspended license can mean...

INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2

FORUM ADVOCATEN

FORUM ADVOCATEN- WAS FOUNDED IN 2012 BY FOUR ASSOCIATES: REINER TIJS

WAS FOUNDED IN 2012 BY FOUR ASSOCIATES: REINER TIJS, FREDERIC ROSIERS, JANA KERN AND ILSE DE GEYTER. THEY DRASTICALLY CHANGED THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE WITH THEIR UNIQUE METHODOLOGY: THEY BASE THEIR WORK ON A RELATIONSHIP-ORIENTED APPROACH TO LAW

innovationsoftheworld.com

...

INNOVATE® South Carolina

Build Carolina

An agile approach: Academy, Apprenticeship, Advisors

Bridging talent, training, and opportunity across the Palmetto State The team at Build Carolina sees possibilities all around. They see massive talent and drive across South Carolina—from individuals eager to build new careers in technology to companies working to innovate and grow. They see a future shaped by meaningful, sustainable...

INNOVATE® Puerto Rico

GRUPO GUAYACÁN-Building Local Entrepreneurship From The Ground Up

Very few people were talking about entrepreneurship in Puerto Rico when Grupo Guayacan, Inc. was born in 1996. Founded by Enrique “Ricky” Adsuar as a private sector mission-driven nonprofit organization, it has served entrepreneurs with a unique model that has coupled private equity investment with a series of programs to...

INNOVATE® Detroit

Newlab

Building the Future of Sustainable Mobility at Michigan Central

Newlab is a global network of purpose-built innovation hubs that accelerates climate and deep tech time-to-market. Newlab provides startups with physical infrastructure, direct investment opportunities, and pilot partnerships to drive meaningful commercialization outcomes and economic development in energy, materials, and mobility. Newlab established its Detroit home in 2023 to enable...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

TAKASA

UNLOCK A WORLD OF SUSTAINABLE POSSIBILITIES WITH TAKASA

Takasa is a premium organic lifestyle company that is devoted to sourcing the finest materials, partnering with fair-trade and clean manufacturers, and delivering exceptional value to customers. With a passion for exceptionally high-quality materials and socially conscious manufacturing processes, Takasa is focused on combining thoughtfully designed premium products for those...

INNOVATION Quebec

LA VAGUE

L’ACCÉLÉRATEUR INSULAIRE ÎLES-DE-LA-MADELEINE

La Corporation d’innovation et de développement des Îles, LA VAGUE, est un organisme qui crée un lieu de convergence pour favoriser la synergie entre les acteurs socioéconomiques des Îles-de-laMadeleine et d’ailleurs. Sa vision est orientée vers une économie insulaire durable et créatrice de richesses. Elle offre de l’accompagnement spécialisé pour...

INNOVATE® Seattle

DEFINED.AI

TRANSFORMING AI TRAINING, ONE DATASET AT A TIME

At Defined.ai, our commitment is to enable the builders of AI with ethically sourced data and deliver conversational AI to digitally low-resourced markets. I had the idea of founding the company when I realized how the Conversational AI market was becoming mainstream, and everyone was building multilingual voice search and...

INNOVATE® Puerto Rico

INVEST PUERTO RICO

WHY PUERTO RICO?

“ARMED WITH AN AMBITIOUS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, PUERTO RICO IS GIVING GAME-CHANGERS FROM MYRIAD FIELDS THE SUPPORT AND RESOURCES THEY NEED TO MAKE “IT” HAPPEN.” – ELLA WOGER-NIEVES – CEO, INVEST PUERTO RICO The day began like any other: a morning power-walk along the beach under a rising 7:00 a.m....

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

GW - George Washington University

Technology Commercialization Office and Office of Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Technology Commercialization Office and Office of Innovation & Entrepreneurship Inspire, Innovate, Impact The George Washington University (GW) GW is a vibrant hub of innovation and entrepreneurship. At the core of this dynamic institution are two offices founded in 2010: The Technology Commercialization Office (TCO), a powerhouse dedicated to transforming groundbreaking...

INNOVATE® South Carolina

First Class Recruiting

Elevating Talent, Powering Industry

In the heart of South Carolina’s booming Upstate region, where aerospace, manufacturing, and technology sectors thrive, First Class Recruiting is building more than just careers – it’s building futures. Helmed by U.S. Air Force veteran and industry trailblazer Lindsay Hansel, this boutique executive search firm has become synonymous with precision...

INNOVATE® Nashville

NASHVILLE ENTREPRENEUR CENTER

NASHVILLE ENTREPRENEUR CENTER-The Hub

The Hub, the Heart, the Front Door - Nashville Entrepreneur Center is the City’s Home to Entrepreneurship

At the heart of innovation lies a problem and entrepreneurs are the needed visionaries that see a better way to live, work, or play. At the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, commonly known as “the EC,” we help entrepreneurs develop and build upon their business with an organizational vision to make our...

Global Innovation Spotlight

Latoria Williams — Chief Executive Officer, 1F Cash Advance

1F Cash Advance is a fintech company that provides short-term financial support for people who have trouble qualifying for traditional bank loans. The company was founded and is led by CEO Latoria Williams. Her business journey began with the realization that nearly half of Americans do not have an emergency...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

HORUS SOLUTIONS

EXCELLENCE IN INFORMATION MANAGEMENT HORUS SOLUTIONS INNOVATES WITH THE FALCON SOLUTION

Horus Solutions is a national company that stands out as a specialist in information management solutions. Since its foundation in 1995, Horus has played an important role in the business scene, offering excellent services throughout the national and international territories. As an official partner of leading software companies such as...

INNOVATE® Nashville

NEW ORCHARD

NEW ORCHARD-Leaders are getting catfished by the promise of data. New Orchard helps lessen those odds

Leaders are getting catfished by the promise of data. New Orchard helps lessen those odds

If 2020 proved anything, it’s that change is inevitable, whether that is decided on internally or not. “The ability to be resilient lies within confidently understanding where your organization is today, where it desires to be, the team that makes it up, and the processes that support it, fast,” says...

INNOVATE® Nashville

Snapshot

We bring clarity to complexity, and creativity to business goals.

In a small office tucked away in East Nashville’s Five Points neighborhood, Snapshot’s modest beginnings started as a video production company. At the time, Nashville had plenty of production houses producing great video, and a handful of large agencies infusing strategy into high-budget campaigns. But our founders saw a gap...

INNOVATION Quebec

OPTECH

CCTT EN OPTIQUE-PHOTONIQUE

Le centre collégial de transfert technologique (CCTT) Optech est un organisme à but non lucratif (OBNL) qui a été fondé en 2002 avec la mission de faire connaître les technologies reliées à l’optique – photonique et de contribuer à leur implantation afin de soutenir les efforts d’amélioration de productivité et...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

TECHNICAL.LY

THE DMV REGION: A GROWING HUB FOR STARTUP AND TECH INNOVATION

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,...

INNOVATE™ Atlantic Canada

IGNITE

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A ONE-STOP DESTINATION TO TURN BOLD IDEAS INTO GAME-CHANGING TECHNOLOGIES, LAUNCH THRIVING BUSINESSES, OR EXPAND ESTABLISHED COMPANIES GLOBALLY, LOOK NO FURTHER.

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A ONE-STOP DESTINATION TO TURN BOLD IDEAS INTO GAME-CHANGING TECHNOLOGIES, LAUNCH THRIVING BUSINESSES, OR EXPAND ESTABLISHED COMPANIES GLOBALLY, LOOK NO FURTHER. Ignite equips entrepreneurs and businesses with the tools to succeed in an evolving marketplace. Together with our partners at Planet Hatch, we are committed to...

INNOVATE® Nashville

BOON LEGAL

BOON LEGAL-MAKE MORE MISTAKES AND FAIL EARLY AND OFTEN IN SERVICE OF DISCOVERY

MAKE MORE MISTAKES AND FAIL EARLY AND OFTEN IN SERVICE OF DISCOVERY

It’s all too easy to get swept up in the fervor of “innovation.” In the polished, produced world of prime-time, venture capitalists drop seven figures into start-ups while founders celebrate exits. Like most things that reach a level of celebrity status in our world of “reality” entertainment, the true story...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

MAGGIE O’NEILL

WHAT IF COLOR IS THE ANSWER?

Maggie O’Neill is a Washington, D.C.-based artist, designer, entrepreneur, and activist with 20+ years of experience supporting the city’s creative community through her multifaceted work. Her integral role as one of the District’s cultural leaders at the intersection of arts and hospitality is a culmination of her creative design firm...

INNOVATION Quebec

MONTÉRÉGIE ÉCONOMIQUE

THE INNOVATIVE ECOSYSTEM OF THE MONTÉRÉGIE

Espace régional d’accélération et de croissance de la Montérégie was established in 2020 and is powered by Montérégie Économique, which brings together economic development organizations from the MRCs and the agglomeration of Longueuil. The NPO supports economic operators, guides businesses towards business support and acceleration services and cooperates with key...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL ROADS AGENCY SOC LTD (SANRAL)

THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL ROADS AGENCY SOC LTD (SANRAL)- IN LINE WITH GOVERNMENT’S COMMITMENT TO TRANSFORM THE PUBLIC SECTOR

IN LINE WITH GOVERNMENT’S COMMITMENT TO TRANSFORM THE PUBLIC SECTOR, THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL ROADS AGENCY SOC LTD (SANRAL) WAS ESTABLISHED IN APRIL 1998 BY AN ACT OF PARLIAMENT, AS AN INDEPENDENT STATUTORY COMPANY OPERATING ALONG COMMERCIAL LINES AND AT ARM’S LENGTH FROM GOVERNMENT

WITH A MANDATE TO FINANCE, DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN THE NATIONAL ROAD NETWORK OF OVER 22 000 KM, SANRAL LEADS THE WAY ON INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IN A POST-COVID SOUTH AFRICA.   Innovation is at the forefront of SANRAL’s agenda in the infrastructure development space. In recent years the Agency has increasingly...

INNOVATE® South Florida

NEPTUNYA - OCEAN POWER

OCTOPODZ: REVOLUTIONIZING OCEAN ENERGY WITH MIXED-MODE MARINE POWER SOLUTIONS

OCTOPODZ: REVOLUTIONIZING OCEAN ENERGY WITH MIXED-MODE MARINE POWER SOLUTIONS NEPTUNYA, an innovator in marine renewable energy, is transforming the future of ocean-based power with its OCTOPODZ energy converter—a groundbreaking device combining wind and wave power to deliver affordable and reliable offshore energy. As part of its ongoing development, NEPTUNYA will...

INNOVATE® Detroit

Driven

Ending legal debt traps with smart payments

In the U.S., over 11 million people havehad their driver’s licenses suspendeddue to unpaid fines. This isn’t just aninconvenience – it’s a direct hit to financialstability. Losing the ability to drive meanslosing access to jobs, education, andessential services. In cities like Detroit,where public transit is unreliable, asuspended license can mean...

INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2

FORUM ADVOCATEN

FORUM ADVOCATEN- WAS FOUNDED IN 2012 BY FOUR ASSOCIATES: REINER TIJS

WAS FOUNDED IN 2012 BY FOUR ASSOCIATES: REINER TIJS, FREDERIC ROSIERS, JANA KERN AND ILSE DE GEYTER. THEY DRASTICALLY CHANGED THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE WITH THEIR UNIQUE METHODOLOGY: THEY BASE THEIR WORK ON A RELATIONSHIP-ORIENTED APPROACH TO LAW

innovationsoftheworld.com

...

INNOVATE® South Carolina

Build Carolina

An agile approach: Academy, Apprenticeship, Advisors

Bridging talent, training, and opportunity across the Palmetto State The team at Build Carolina sees possibilities all around. They see massive talent and drive across South Carolina—from individuals eager to build new careers in technology to companies working to innovate and grow. They see a future shaped by meaningful, sustainable...

INNOVATE® Puerto Rico

GRUPO GUAYACÁN-Building Local Entrepreneurship From The Ground Up

Very few people were talking about entrepreneurship in Puerto Rico when Grupo Guayacan, Inc. was born in 1996. Founded by Enrique “Ricky” Adsuar as a private sector mission-driven nonprofit organization, it has served entrepreneurs with a unique model that has coupled private equity investment with a series of programs to...

INNOVATE® Detroit

Newlab

Building the Future of Sustainable Mobility at Michigan Central

Newlab is a global network of purpose-built innovation hubs that accelerates climate and deep tech time-to-market. Newlab provides startups with physical infrastructure, direct investment opportunities, and pilot partnerships to drive meaningful commercialization outcomes and economic development in energy, materials, and mobility. Newlab established its Detroit home in 2023 to enable...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

TAKASA

UNLOCK A WORLD OF SUSTAINABLE POSSIBILITIES WITH TAKASA

Takasa is a premium organic lifestyle company that is devoted to sourcing the finest materials, partnering with fair-trade and clean manufacturers, and delivering exceptional value to customers. With a passion for exceptionally high-quality materials and socially conscious manufacturing processes, Takasa is focused on combining thoughtfully designed premium products for those...

INNOVATION Quebec

LA VAGUE

L’ACCÉLÉRATEUR INSULAIRE ÎLES-DE-LA-MADELEINE

La Corporation d’innovation et de développement des Îles, LA VAGUE, est un organisme qui crée un lieu de convergence pour favoriser la synergie entre les acteurs socioéconomiques des Îles-de-laMadeleine et d’ailleurs. Sa vision est orientée vers une économie insulaire durable et créatrice de richesses. Elle offre de l’accompagnement spécialisé pour...

INNOVATE® Seattle

DEFINED.AI

TRANSFORMING AI TRAINING, ONE DATASET AT A TIME

At Defined.ai, our commitment is to enable the builders of AI with ethically sourced data and deliver conversational AI to digitally low-resourced markets. I had the idea of founding the company when I realized how the Conversational AI market was becoming mainstream, and everyone was building multilingual voice search and...

INNOVATE® Puerto Rico

INVEST PUERTO RICO

WHY PUERTO RICO?

“ARMED WITH AN AMBITIOUS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, PUERTO RICO IS GIVING GAME-CHANGERS FROM MYRIAD FIELDS THE SUPPORT AND RESOURCES THEY NEED TO MAKE “IT” HAPPEN.” – ELLA WOGER-NIEVES – CEO, INVEST PUERTO RICO The day began like any other: a morning power-walk along the beach under a rising 7:00 a.m....

Ecosystems