Stories of Innovation

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

Union Kitchen

HOW A FOOD BUSINESS ACCELERATOR IN WASHINGTON,DC IS PAVING THE WAY FOR THE NEXT BIG CPG BRANDS

Cullen Gilchrist founded Union Kitchen in 2012 to partner with food businesses of all sizes to grow and scale their success. Cullen got his start in the food industry with his sister and friends when they opened the Blind Dog Cafe. Faced with the challenge of increased demand and not...

INNOVATE® South Carolina

Frampton Construction

Building Value Across the Southeast

Commercial construction plays a critical role in shaping South Carolina’s economy and the communities it serves. From advanced manufacturing and industrial facilities to office, medical, and distribution centers, Frampton Construction delivers projects that support growth, innovation, and long-term resilience. Founded in 1993 as Frampton & Associates, Inc., Frampton Construction is...

INNOVATE® South Carolina

BENEDICT COLLEGE

Pioneering an Entrepreneurial Revolution

In the heart of Columbia, South Carolina, Benedict College is redefining the landscape of higher education by fostering a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. At the forefront of this transformation is the Burroughs Enterprise, Startup, and Technology (B.E.S.T.) Innovation Lab, a dynamic hub that empowers students, faculty, and entrepreneurs to...

INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2

ADLUCENT

ADLUCENT-CREATING A COMPANY FRAMEWORK

CREATING A COMPANY FRAMEWORK

The great management consultant, educator, and author Peter Drucker said it best: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”. As the CEO of Adlucent, a performance marketing agency, I find this quote resonates with me on a deep level. But, while there are many inspiring quotes out there that help leaders set...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

SMARTGREEN

CONNECTING EVERYTHING

CONNECT TO THE FUTURESMARTGREEN TECHNOLOGY FOR SMARTCITIESWe create solutions to connect devices and sensors to the cities through mesh network infrastructure. 1998 – The Beginning of a New Era and the HistoryThe history of Smartgreen begins in 1998 in Brazil when its founders participated in a project called Rede Omega,...

INNOVATE™ Flanders

ZAS

The leading hospital network of the City of Antwerp

Two hospital networks merged in July 2024 in order to create ZAS, the largest healthcare organization in Belgium. ZAS stands for ‘Ziekenhuis aan de Stroom’ (‘Hospital by the river’), a reference to the Schelde, the river of commercial and strategic importance that defines the city. In similar fashion, ZAS plays...

INNOVATE® Milwaukee

STRATUS INDUSTRIES

SHAPING THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING: HOW STRATUS INDUSTRIES IS PIONEERING A NEW ERA

SHAPING THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING: HOW STRATUS INDUSTRIES IS PIONEERING A NEW ERA Stratus Industries, established in 2013, is redefining manufacturing by combining traditional strengths with a tech-driven approach. Led by co-founder Lyle Stoflet, the company embodies the motto “Make Manufacturing Cool Again,” aiming to reshape an industry often seen...

INNOVATION Quebec

CERASP

CCTT EN SCIENCES PHARMACEUTIQUES

Localisé dans le Centre d’Innovation de Montréal à Saint-Laurent, le CERASP, centre de recherche appliquée en sciences pharmaceutiques, est un partenaire unique qui apporte des solutions clés en main, innovantes et durables avec des résultats tangibles. Le centre vous accompagne de l’idée au produit commercialisé via des services de recherche...

INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1

MOBI LOO

MOBI LOO - “YOUR BUSINESS IS OUR BUSINESS”

“YOUR BUSINESS IS OUR BUSINESS”

Mobi Loo is a company that provides professional and reliable services in mobile toilet hire. Its mission is to restore dignity back to the people by setting a foundation of quality and excellence which is the heart of the company. Since inception, its expectation has been to WOW! Its clients...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

OMNICHAT

LEADER IN CHAT COMMERCE IN BRAZIL

OmniChat is a company founded in Curitiba, in 2017, with the mission of transforming conversations into sales through chat commerce. Official provider of Meta since 2021, the startup offers the most advanced conversational technology on the market, capable of centralizing the management of all chat channels, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram...

INNOVATE® Detroit

HRPro/BenePro

Exceptional Client Service And Innovation.

Throughout its almost 35-year history, two things have defined HRPro/BenePro – exceptional client service and innovation. Among its earlier innovations: While it is difficult to imagine a market without any of these, HRPro/BenePro helped create new categories when they first dived into them. More recently, they have been focused on...

INNOVATION Quebec

TechniTextile Québec

TechniTextile Québec -Since 2017

Le créneau d’excellence TechniTextile Québec concerte les entreprises et autres acteurs clés du secteur textile depuis 2017. Il agit comme vecteur de collaboration afin de favoriser l’innovation, l’élargissement des opportunités, la commercialisation et la compétitivité des entreprises

Soutenue par la démarche ACCORD du ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation, l’équipe de TechniTextile accompagne les dirigeants de l’industrie dans la réalisation de projets d’innovation collaboratifs issus de leurs propres besoins. Des projets de Créneau axés sur l’innovationLes projets appuyés ou gérés par TechniTextile servent de levier aux entreprises...

INNOVATION Quebec

NOKIA BELL LABS

NOKIA BELL LABS-A CENTURY OF INNOVATION AT THE FLAGSHIP TELECOM RESEARCH INSTITUTE

A CENTURY OF INNOVATION AT THE FLAGSHIP TELECOM RESEARCH INSTITUTE

For nearly a century, Bell Labs has been revolutionizing the telecommunications industry from its headquarters in Murray Hill, New Jersey. The facility has been a hotbed of innovation for the renowned industrial research institute. Perhaps Bell Labs’ greatest brainchild, the transistor, was first demonstrated there in 1947. Groundbreaking inventions in...

INNOVATE™ Toronto

MERIC S. GERTLER

MERIC S. GERTLER PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO ” INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE ” “U of T’s remarkable diversity provides both a springboard to social mobility and a superb environment for education, research and innovation.” – MERIC S. GERTLER, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO The strength of Toronto’s higher education, research and innovation enterprise...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

FURUKAWA ELECTRIC

INNOVATION AND CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY ARE PILLARS OF FURUKAWA ELECTRIC LATAM

FURUKAWA ELECTRIC-INNOVATION AND CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY ARE PILLARS OF FURUKAWA ELECTRIC LATAM, A TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY WITH HEADQUARTERS IN CURITIBA. Innovation is in the DNA of Furukawa Electric LatAm (FEL), which has been present in Brazil for 50-years and remains at the forefront of technology by offering connectivity solutions that anticipate market...

INNOVATE® Kansas City

THE CAPS NETWORK

EMPOWERING FUTURES

In the ever-evolving landscape of education, where the traditional model struggles to meet the demands of the 21st-century workforce, there emerges a beacon of innovation – the Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) Network. Transforming Education for the Future CAPS embodies a revolutionary approach to education, recognizing the need for...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

THE GOOD THINGS GUY

THE GOOD THINGS GUY - KNOWN AS A SOURCE OF GOOD NEWS AND INSPIRATIONAL STORIES.

BEST KNOWN AS A SOURCE OF GOOD NEWS AND INSPIRATIONAL STORIES BY SOUTH AFRICANS FOR SOUTH AFRICANS. SPARKED BY AN ONLINE VIRAL MOVEMENT, THE GOOD THINGS GUY IS NOW A GLOBAL MULTI-PLATFORM MEDIA COMPANY DELIVERING GOOD NEWS DAILY TO SOUTH AFRICANS

Kindness is the only thing that mattersSouth Africa’s news feeds are filled with hard news, stories of murder, corruption, robberies, and failing state-owned enterprises. Is there a space for good news – and do South Africans have an appetite for it? Brent Lindeque founded the Good Things Guy on 1...

INNOVATE™ Atlantic Canada

Nova Scotia Health

Innovation Hub

Making Healthcare in Nova Scotia Better There is a smarter way to deliver quality healthcare, but achieving it requires fresh thinking, a forward-focused approach, and the courage to move beyond traditional methods. That is exactly what the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub is designed to do. Established in 2023, the...

INNOVATION Quebec

MAIN

IS THE MOVEMENT OF QUEBEC INNOVATION ACCELERATORS

Since 2016, we have firmly embraced the notion that by promoting collaboration and the mutual exchange of practices and resources (movement) among all those involved in accelerating startup growth (accelerators), we can amplify the impact of startups (innovation) from all regions of Quebec. Our goal is to ensure that every...

INNOVATE™ Flanders

DIGITRANS

REVOLUTIONIZING LOGISTICS

REVOLUTIONIZING LOGISTICS DIGITRANS UNVEILS ONE OF THE FIRST AI-POWERED APPLICATIONS FOR THE TRANSPORT SECTOR IN ANTWERP In a world where efficiency is paramount and time is of the essence, the transport and logistics sector stands as a beacon of constant movement and coordination. Amidst this bustling industry, DigiTrans emerges as...

INNOVATE® Tampa Bay Vol.3

RELIEVEIT

RELIEVEIT-The First Plant-Derived Anti-Inflammatory Drug Discovery Credited To A Black-Owned Company In U.S. History

The First Plant-Derived Anti-Inflammatory Drug Discovery Credited To A Black-Owned Company In U.S. History

What began hundreds of years ago as a pain remedy on the island of diseases reached a staggering 43.5 million. Trinidad has evolved into the United States’ first plant-derived, anti-inflammatory drug discovery credited to a Black-owned company.   RelieveIt is a pain relief medicine and the brainchild of W. Caleb...

INNOVATE® Detroit

DCI MARKETING

FOSTERS A CULTURE OF INNOVATION FOCUSED ON INVENTIVE SOLUTIONS FOR LEADING AUTOMOTIVE AND LIFESTYLE BRANDS, MAJOR RETAILERS AND CONSUMERS

Even in its earliest history, DCI Marketing was focused on brand-building. Originally known as ColorPrint Products Printing, the company built a name for itself producing window signage for shoe stores. But new opportunities with Cadillac and Harley-Davidson propelled DCI Marketing forward, establishing it as not only an innovative design firm,...

INNOVATION Quebec

TransBIOTech

CCTT IN BIOTECHNOLOGY

Founded in 1999 at the request of the Cégep de Lévis, TransBIOTech is a college centre for biotech transfer that draws on the Cégep’s biotechnolog y and analytical chemistry technical programs. As a non-profit organization, we focus on demonstrating the efficacy and safety of natural active compounds for use in...

INNOVATE® Seattle

Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship

UW’S BUERK CENTER IS IN THE BUSINESS OF IDEAS

Inside the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business is a small office dedicated to helping big entrepreneurial ideas take shape. The Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship offers academic programs and real-world experiences for undergraduate and graduate students interested in the startup process. By empowering early-stage founders to embrace a sense...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

Union Kitchen

HOW A FOOD BUSINESS ACCELERATOR IN WASHINGTON,DC IS PAVING THE WAY FOR THE NEXT BIG CPG BRANDS

Cullen Gilchrist founded Union Kitchen in 2012 to partner with food businesses of all sizes to grow and scale their success. Cullen got his start in the food industry with his sister and friends when they opened the Blind Dog Cafe. Faced with the challenge of increased demand and not...

INNOVATE® South Carolina

Frampton Construction

Building Value Across the Southeast

Commercial construction plays a critical role in shaping South Carolina’s economy and the communities it serves. From advanced manufacturing and industrial facilities to office, medical, and distribution centers, Frampton Construction delivers projects that support growth, innovation, and long-term resilience. Founded in 1993 as Frampton & Associates, Inc., Frampton Construction is...

INNOVATE® South Carolina

BENEDICT COLLEGE

Pioneering an Entrepreneurial Revolution

In the heart of Columbia, South Carolina, Benedict College is redefining the landscape of higher education by fostering a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. At the forefront of this transformation is the Burroughs Enterprise, Startup, and Technology (B.E.S.T.) Innovation Lab, a dynamic hub that empowers students, faculty, and entrepreneurs to...

INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2

ADLUCENT

ADLUCENT-CREATING A COMPANY FRAMEWORK

CREATING A COMPANY FRAMEWORK

The great management consultant, educator, and author Peter Drucker said it best: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”. As the CEO of Adlucent, a performance marketing agency, I find this quote resonates with me on a deep level. But, while there are many inspiring quotes out there that help leaders set...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

SMARTGREEN

CONNECTING EVERYTHING

CONNECT TO THE FUTURESMARTGREEN TECHNOLOGY FOR SMARTCITIESWe create solutions to connect devices and sensors to the cities through mesh network infrastructure. 1998 – The Beginning of a New Era and the HistoryThe history of Smartgreen begins in 1998 in Brazil when its founders participated in a project called Rede Omega,...

INNOVATE™ Flanders

ZAS

The leading hospital network of the City of Antwerp

Two hospital networks merged in July 2024 in order to create ZAS, the largest healthcare organization in Belgium. ZAS stands for ‘Ziekenhuis aan de Stroom’ (‘Hospital by the river’), a reference to the Schelde, the river of commercial and strategic importance that defines the city. In similar fashion, ZAS plays...

INNOVATE® Milwaukee

STRATUS INDUSTRIES

SHAPING THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING: HOW STRATUS INDUSTRIES IS PIONEERING A NEW ERA

SHAPING THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING: HOW STRATUS INDUSTRIES IS PIONEERING A NEW ERA Stratus Industries, established in 2013, is redefining manufacturing by combining traditional strengths with a tech-driven approach. Led by co-founder Lyle Stoflet, the company embodies the motto “Make Manufacturing Cool Again,” aiming to reshape an industry often seen...

INNOVATION Quebec

CERASP

CCTT EN SCIENCES PHARMACEUTIQUES

Localisé dans le Centre d’Innovation de Montréal à Saint-Laurent, le CERASP, centre de recherche appliquée en sciences pharmaceutiques, est un partenaire unique qui apporte des solutions clés en main, innovantes et durables avec des résultats tangibles. Le centre vous accompagne de l’idée au produit commercialisé via des services de recherche...

INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1

MOBI LOO

MOBI LOO - “YOUR BUSINESS IS OUR BUSINESS”

“YOUR BUSINESS IS OUR BUSINESS”

Mobi Loo is a company that provides professional and reliable services in mobile toilet hire. Its mission is to restore dignity back to the people by setting a foundation of quality and excellence which is the heart of the company. Since inception, its expectation has been to WOW! Its clients...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

OMNICHAT

LEADER IN CHAT COMMERCE IN BRAZIL

OmniChat is a company founded in Curitiba, in 2017, with the mission of transforming conversations into sales through chat commerce. Official provider of Meta since 2021, the startup offers the most advanced conversational technology on the market, capable of centralizing the management of all chat channels, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram...

INNOVATE® Detroit

HRPro/BenePro

Exceptional Client Service And Innovation.

Throughout its almost 35-year history, two things have defined HRPro/BenePro – exceptional client service and innovation. Among its earlier innovations: While it is difficult to imagine a market without any of these, HRPro/BenePro helped create new categories when they first dived into them. More recently, they have been focused on...

INNOVATION Quebec

TechniTextile Québec

TechniTextile Québec -Since 2017

Le créneau d’excellence TechniTextile Québec concerte les entreprises et autres acteurs clés du secteur textile depuis 2017. Il agit comme vecteur de collaboration afin de favoriser l’innovation, l’élargissement des opportunités, la commercialisation et la compétitivité des entreprises

Soutenue par la démarche ACCORD du ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation, l’équipe de TechniTextile accompagne les dirigeants de l’industrie dans la réalisation de projets d’innovation collaboratifs issus de leurs propres besoins. Des projets de Créneau axés sur l’innovationLes projets appuyés ou gérés par TechniTextile servent de levier aux entreprises...

INNOVATION Quebec

NOKIA BELL LABS

NOKIA BELL LABS-A CENTURY OF INNOVATION AT THE FLAGSHIP TELECOM RESEARCH INSTITUTE

A CENTURY OF INNOVATION AT THE FLAGSHIP TELECOM RESEARCH INSTITUTE

For nearly a century, Bell Labs has been revolutionizing the telecommunications industry from its headquarters in Murray Hill, New Jersey. The facility has been a hotbed of innovation for the renowned industrial research institute. Perhaps Bell Labs’ greatest brainchild, the transistor, was first demonstrated there in 1947. Groundbreaking inventions in...

INNOVATE™ Toronto

MERIC S. GERTLER

MERIC S. GERTLER PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO ” INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE ” “U of T’s remarkable diversity provides both a springboard to social mobility and a superb environment for education, research and innovation.” – MERIC S. GERTLER, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO The strength of Toronto’s higher education, research and innovation enterprise...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

FURUKAWA ELECTRIC

INNOVATION AND CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY ARE PILLARS OF FURUKAWA ELECTRIC LATAM

FURUKAWA ELECTRIC-INNOVATION AND CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY ARE PILLARS OF FURUKAWA ELECTRIC LATAM, A TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY WITH HEADQUARTERS IN CURITIBA. Innovation is in the DNA of Furukawa Electric LatAm (FEL), which has been present in Brazil for 50-years and remains at the forefront of technology by offering connectivity solutions that anticipate market...

INNOVATE® Kansas City

THE CAPS NETWORK

EMPOWERING FUTURES

In the ever-evolving landscape of education, where the traditional model struggles to meet the demands of the 21st-century workforce, there emerges a beacon of innovation – the Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) Network. Transforming Education for the Future CAPS embodies a revolutionary approach to education, recognizing the need for...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

THE GOOD THINGS GUY

THE GOOD THINGS GUY - KNOWN AS A SOURCE OF GOOD NEWS AND INSPIRATIONAL STORIES.

BEST KNOWN AS A SOURCE OF GOOD NEWS AND INSPIRATIONAL STORIES BY SOUTH AFRICANS FOR SOUTH AFRICANS. SPARKED BY AN ONLINE VIRAL MOVEMENT, THE GOOD THINGS GUY IS NOW A GLOBAL MULTI-PLATFORM MEDIA COMPANY DELIVERING GOOD NEWS DAILY TO SOUTH AFRICANS

Kindness is the only thing that mattersSouth Africa’s news feeds are filled with hard news, stories of murder, corruption, robberies, and failing state-owned enterprises. Is there a space for good news – and do South Africans have an appetite for it? Brent Lindeque founded the Good Things Guy on 1...

INNOVATE™ Atlantic Canada

Nova Scotia Health

Innovation Hub

Making Healthcare in Nova Scotia Better There is a smarter way to deliver quality healthcare, but achieving it requires fresh thinking, a forward-focused approach, and the courage to move beyond traditional methods. That is exactly what the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub is designed to do. Established in 2023, the...

INNOVATION Quebec

MAIN

IS THE MOVEMENT OF QUEBEC INNOVATION ACCELERATORS

Since 2016, we have firmly embraced the notion that by promoting collaboration and the mutual exchange of practices and resources (movement) among all those involved in accelerating startup growth (accelerators), we can amplify the impact of startups (innovation) from all regions of Quebec. Our goal is to ensure that every...

INNOVATE™ Flanders

DIGITRANS

REVOLUTIONIZING LOGISTICS

REVOLUTIONIZING LOGISTICS DIGITRANS UNVEILS ONE OF THE FIRST AI-POWERED APPLICATIONS FOR THE TRANSPORT SECTOR IN ANTWERP In a world where efficiency is paramount and time is of the essence, the transport and logistics sector stands as a beacon of constant movement and coordination. Amidst this bustling industry, DigiTrans emerges as...

INNOVATE® Tampa Bay Vol.3

RELIEVEIT

RELIEVEIT-The First Plant-Derived Anti-Inflammatory Drug Discovery Credited To A Black-Owned Company In U.S. History

The First Plant-Derived Anti-Inflammatory Drug Discovery Credited To A Black-Owned Company In U.S. History

What began hundreds of years ago as a pain remedy on the island of diseases reached a staggering 43.5 million. Trinidad has evolved into the United States’ first plant-derived, anti-inflammatory drug discovery credited to a Black-owned company.   RelieveIt is a pain relief medicine and the brainchild of W. Caleb...

INNOVATE® Detroit

DCI MARKETING

FOSTERS A CULTURE OF INNOVATION FOCUSED ON INVENTIVE SOLUTIONS FOR LEADING AUTOMOTIVE AND LIFESTYLE BRANDS, MAJOR RETAILERS AND CONSUMERS

Even in its earliest history, DCI Marketing was focused on brand-building. Originally known as ColorPrint Products Printing, the company built a name for itself producing window signage for shoe stores. But new opportunities with Cadillac and Harley-Davidson propelled DCI Marketing forward, establishing it as not only an innovative design firm,...

INNOVATION Quebec

TransBIOTech

CCTT IN BIOTECHNOLOGY

Founded in 1999 at the request of the Cégep de Lévis, TransBIOTech is a college centre for biotech transfer that draws on the Cégep’s biotechnolog y and analytical chemistry technical programs. As a non-profit organization, we focus on demonstrating the efficacy and safety of natural active compounds for use in...

INNOVATE® Seattle

Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship

UW’S BUERK CENTER IS IN THE BUSINESS OF IDEAS

Inside the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business is a small office dedicated to helping big entrepreneurial ideas take shape. The Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship offers academic programs and real-world experiences for undergraduate and graduate students interested in the startup process. By empowering early-stage founders to embrace a sense...

Ecosystems