Stories of Innovation

INNOVATE™ Toronto

FOUNDER INSTITUTE

FOUNDER INSTITUTE-Since Its Inception In 2009

Since Its Inception In 2009, The Founder Institute Has Always Maintained One Guiding Principle; “There Are A Lot Of Big Problems In The World, And We Are Here To Help Founders Build Companies That Will Solve Them.”

OriginsFrom its Silicon Valley origins, Co-founders Adeo Ressi and Jonathan Greechan have built an unparalleled global network of over 5,000 Portfolio Companies, across 200 cities with the largest mentor network in the world of 21,000 Mentors, innovators, investors and ecosystem builders. With chapters on every continent except Antarctica and $30B...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

GOODBYE MALARIA

GOODBYE MALARIA-IT’S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE

IT’S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE, TO MALARIA

Mosquitoes. For most people around the world, their buzzing is merely an irritation and a disruption to sleep. For many in Africa, it is a deadly killer. Of all the beautiful, awe-inspiring and scary animals across this continent, one of its smallest insects wreaks the most tragedy and pain. To...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

VONDER

TOOL IS VONDER!

With more than 25 years of history, VONDER is proud to offer the best, most complete and award-winning mix of tools, hardware, machinery and equipment for professional use on the market. There are more than 12 thousand items in line, covering segments such as civil construction, mechanics and automotive care,...

INNOVATION Quebec

C2MI

THE LARGEST ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTRE IN CANADA

WE’VE BEEN SHAPING QUEBEC’S DIGITAL LANDSCAPE FOR 10 YEARS.Born from a collaboration between the Université de Sherbrooke, Teledyne DALSA, and IBM Canada, inaugurated in July 2012, the MiQro Innovation Collaborative Centre is the largest world-class microelectronics research centre in Canada. THE KEY ROLE OF MARKETDRIVEN RESEARCH AND WORKFORCE TRAININGSimulated research...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

LACTEC

INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Lactec is one of Brazil’s largest private, self-sustaining and non-profit research centers, which for over 60-years has been at the service of the market and society, offering solutions based on science, technology and innovation. It operates strongly in the Energy, Sanitation, Environment, Industry and Infrastructure markets, throughout the innovation cycle,...

INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1

TIMEDOC HEALTH

TIMEDOC HEALTH-NOW THERE’S TIME FOR EVERYONE

NOW THERE’S TIME FOR EVERYONE

Providers have too much to do and not enough time to do it. And the people this really impacts are their most vulnerable patients. TimeDoc Health makes it easier for overstretched providers to support chronically ill patients between visits – while also maximizing reimbursements. They do this by combining the...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

BESTON GLOBAL FOOD

Disruptive change in extended Food and Beverage supply chains

This creates critical challenges for business to protect brand reputations and achieve sustainability. Digitisation and traceability are increasingly becoming indispensable to enable businesses to diversify and grow while minimising cost and threats of adulteration, counterfeiting and diversion. At Beston Technologies (BT), a wholly owned (ASX listed) Beston Global Foods (BFC)...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

BLACK BUSINESS ASSOCIATION OF BC (BBABC)

UNITY – EXCELLENCE – LEGACY

The Black Business Association of BC was founded by Nerissa Allen and Clavia Alleyne out of a need and passion for helping businesses at a critical point of time, when the Covid 19 pandemic was ravaging small businesses. They set out on a journey to not only support businesses through...

INNOVATE™ Atlantic Canada

LIFE SCIENCES NOVA SCOTIA

BUILDING A THRIVING COMMUNITY

Life Sciences Nova Scotia (LSNS) is more than just an organization; it is the cornerstone of Nova Scotia’s life sciences community, fostering growth, innovation, and collaboration across the province and Atlantic Canada. At its core, LSNS is driven by the belief that transformative ideas in biotechnology, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals can...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

adMare BioInnovations

adMare BioInnovations-Un moteur d’innovation en sciences de la vie qui

Un moteur d’innovation en sciences de la vie qui développe des entreprises, des écosystèmes et des talents

Selon la devise nationale du Canada, A Mari Usque Ad Mare (D’un océan à l’autre), adMare est un organisme pancanadien créée en 2019 qui répond au besoin d’harmoniser et d’optimiser le paysage canadien de la commercialisation des sciences de la vie. Depuis sa création, adMare s’est fermement établie comme un...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

SNAPSCAN

SNAPSCAN- SIMPLIFYING PAYMENTS ONE SNAP AT A TIME

SIMPLIFYING PAYMENTS ONE SNAP AT A TIME

SnapScan is more than just a smartphone app. It’s a contactless, mobile payment solution that makes it easy and safe to pay and receive payments in a store, online, at home, and on the go.   Our storyFounded in 2013, SnapScan gained traction at markets and coffee shops in Stellenbosch....

INNOVATE™ Alberta

WOOD BUFFALO REGIONAL INNOVATION NETWORK

There’s no better time and place to get started with the Wood Buffalo Regional Innovation Network

The Wood Buffalo Regional Innovation Network (WBRIN) was born of a need to connect business support organizations in Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo to each other, as well as entrepreneurs in the region and Alberta. It is a network of six organizations in Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo, who occupy the roles...

INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1

WARONA LAW OFFICE

WARONA LAW OFFICE - MOLAO WARONA ROTLHE

MOLAO WARONA ROTLHE

What’s in a name?In this case – everything! Warona is a Setswana pronoun, which translates to “ours” in English. The fact of the matter is the law is “ours” – all of us, made by us to govern and protect us. It also happens to be the middle name of...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

UTFPR

TECHNOLOGY COMPETITION TEAM BY UTFPR

The Federal Technological University of Paraná (UTFPR) – Brazil, is a century-old center for technological education, founded in 1909. In 2005, it became the first Technological University in Brazil. In 2023, it has approximately 35,000 students in various undergraduate courses across 13 campuses distributed throughout the state of Paraná. The...

INNOVATE™ Toronto

UHN

UHN-Is the Leading and Largest Research Hospital in Canada. The Scope of Research and Complexity of Cases at UHN Has Made It a National and International Source of Discovery

Is the Leading and Largest Research Hospital in Canada. The Scope of Research and Complexity of Cases at UHN Has Made It a National and International Source of Discovery, Education and Excellence in Patient Care

The Michener Institute of Education at UHN is the only institution in Canada devoted exclusively to applied health sciences education, Michener is Canada’s first-ever merger between a hospital and a post-secondary health education institution and the only post-secondary institution devoted exclusively to specialized applied health education in the country.  ...

INNOVATE™ Estonia

POWERUP ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES

BEYOND THE HYPE: POWERUP ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES MAKES HYDROGEN A COMMERCIAL REALITY

While the concept of a “hydrogen economy” has been a topic of political discourse and future-gazing for years, one Tallinn-based company is demonstrating that for many applications, the future is already here. PowerUP Energy Technologies, founded by scientist and entrepreneur Ivar Kruusenberg, is moving beyond theoretical promise and deploying certified...

INNOVATE™ Estonia

MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

ESTONIA’S INNOVATION POLICY: DESIGNING A FUTURE-READY NATION

When Estonia regained its independence in the early 1990s, it faced a dauntingquestion: how can a nation so small, with so few resources, stand out in theworld? The answer did not come in steel or oil, but in imagination and boldness.Out of necessity, Estonians learned to skip steps others had...

INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1

THE GIFT PLACE

THE TRUE VALUE OF A GIFT IS THE SENTIMENT BEHIND THE GIFTING

NOTE FROM FOUNDER A few years ago, I realized how strenuous it is for some to come up with or present a thoughtful gift for any occasion. The idea of The Gift Place grew from my passion to create a gift by simply sourcing various items from different outlets to...

INNOVATION Quebec

Xn Québec

Mobiliser la créativité numérique au service de l’innovation

Xn Québec est l’association des producteur. rice.s d’expériences numériques du Québec. L’association regroupe les principaux acteurs de l’industrie de la créativité numérique, soit plus de 165 studios membres – producteur.rice.s de contenu, original ou de commande, pour différentes plateformes, lieux et espaces. Elle représente les intérêts de l’industrie auprès des...

INNOVATE® Nashville

Launch Tennessee

Advances legacy of innovation

Public-private partnership Launch Tennessee has spent more than a decade creating a unique statewide startup ecosystem, supporting entrepreneurs in all 95 counties across the Volunteer State by providing capital, commercialization support, and connections. “It’s a great privilege to work on behalf of the entire state to boost innovation and entrepreneurship,”...

INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

FRUITLAB

FRUITLAB-IS A COMMUNITY PLATFORM FOR THE BILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD THAT ENJOY SMILING OR GAMING OR SMILING AND GAMING

IS A COMMUNITY PLATFORM FOR THE BILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD THAT ENJOY SMILING OR GAMING OR SMILING AND GAMING

Imagine a social platform built especially for gamers that enabled users to earn cryptocurrency from their content and from playing their favourite games. Now imagine being able to use that cryptocurrency to buy games and in-game upgrades, purchase NFTs of content from top Content creators or to compete against other...

INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

NEWZOO

NEWZOO-TWO CHILDHOOD FRIENDS WITH ONE BIG IDEA — THAT’S THE GIST OF NEWZOO’S BEGINNINGS

TWO CHILDHOOD FRIENDS WITH ONE BIG IDEA — THAT’S THE GIST OF NEWZOO’S BEGINNINGS

But Newzoo wasn’t its founder’s (Peter Warman and Thijs Hagoort) first venture into the world of business. Far from it. After becoming friends playing basketball in high school, the industrious duo sold custom-designed t-shirts. Those early days taught them a valuable lesson: custom production based on manuals does not scale...

INNOVATE® Detroit

StockX

Leading Next Gen Retail

The Birth of a Marketplace Revolution. In 2016, in downtown Detroit, a disruptive idea took shape—one that would forever change the way people buy and sell limited-edition sneakers, streetwear, and collectibles. StockX, the brainchild of Greg Schwartz, Josh Luber, Dan Gilbert, and Chris Kaufman, was built on a simple yet...

INNOVATE™ Toronto

NRSTOR INCORPORATED

NRSTOR INCORPORATED – INNOVATIVE ENERGY STORAGE SOLUTIONS INSPIRING THE GRID TO DELIVER A CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE

INNOVATIVE ENERGY STORAGE SOLUTIONS INSPIRING THE GRID TO DELIVER A CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE

NRStor Incorporated is an industry-leading Canadian energy storage developer, owner and operator with experience deploying energy storage across the energy supply chain. Our vision is to deploy energy storage projects at scale in order to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon energy system. NRStor has successfully deployed numerous first-of-a-kind energy...

INNOVATE™ Toronto

FOUNDER INSTITUTE

FOUNDER INSTITUTE-Since Its Inception In 2009

Since Its Inception In 2009, The Founder Institute Has Always Maintained One Guiding Principle; “There Are A Lot Of Big Problems In The World, And We Are Here To Help Founders Build Companies That Will Solve Them.”

OriginsFrom its Silicon Valley origins, Co-founders Adeo Ressi and Jonathan Greechan have built an unparalleled global network of over 5,000 Portfolio Companies, across 200 cities with the largest mentor network in the world of 21,000 Mentors, innovators, investors and ecosystem builders. With chapters on every continent except Antarctica and $30B...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

GOODBYE MALARIA

GOODBYE MALARIA-IT’S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE

IT’S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE, TO MALARIA

Mosquitoes. For most people around the world, their buzzing is merely an irritation and a disruption to sleep. For many in Africa, it is a deadly killer. Of all the beautiful, awe-inspiring and scary animals across this continent, one of its smallest insects wreaks the most tragedy and pain. To...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

VONDER

TOOL IS VONDER!

With more than 25 years of history, VONDER is proud to offer the best, most complete and award-winning mix of tools, hardware, machinery and equipment for professional use on the market. There are more than 12 thousand items in line, covering segments such as civil construction, mechanics and automotive care,...

INNOVATION Quebec

C2MI

THE LARGEST ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTRE IN CANADA

WE’VE BEEN SHAPING QUEBEC’S DIGITAL LANDSCAPE FOR 10 YEARS.Born from a collaboration between the Université de Sherbrooke, Teledyne DALSA, and IBM Canada, inaugurated in July 2012, the MiQro Innovation Collaborative Centre is the largest world-class microelectronics research centre in Canada. THE KEY ROLE OF MARKETDRIVEN RESEARCH AND WORKFORCE TRAININGSimulated research...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

LACTEC

INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Lactec is one of Brazil’s largest private, self-sustaining and non-profit research centers, which for over 60-years has been at the service of the market and society, offering solutions based on science, technology and innovation. It operates strongly in the Energy, Sanitation, Environment, Industry and Infrastructure markets, throughout the innovation cycle,...

INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1

TIMEDOC HEALTH

TIMEDOC HEALTH-NOW THERE’S TIME FOR EVERYONE

NOW THERE’S TIME FOR EVERYONE

Providers have too much to do and not enough time to do it. And the people this really impacts are their most vulnerable patients. TimeDoc Health makes it easier for overstretched providers to support chronically ill patients between visits – while also maximizing reimbursements. They do this by combining the...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

BESTON GLOBAL FOOD

Disruptive change in extended Food and Beverage supply chains

This creates critical challenges for business to protect brand reputations and achieve sustainability. Digitisation and traceability are increasingly becoming indispensable to enable businesses to diversify and grow while minimising cost and threats of adulteration, counterfeiting and diversion. At Beston Technologies (BT), a wholly owned (ASX listed) Beston Global Foods (BFC)...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

BLACK BUSINESS ASSOCIATION OF BC (BBABC)

UNITY – EXCELLENCE – LEGACY

The Black Business Association of BC was founded by Nerissa Allen and Clavia Alleyne out of a need and passion for helping businesses at a critical point of time, when the Covid 19 pandemic was ravaging small businesses. They set out on a journey to not only support businesses through...

INNOVATE™ Atlantic Canada

LIFE SCIENCES NOVA SCOTIA

BUILDING A THRIVING COMMUNITY

Life Sciences Nova Scotia (LSNS) is more than just an organization; it is the cornerstone of Nova Scotia’s life sciences community, fostering growth, innovation, and collaboration across the province and Atlantic Canada. At its core, LSNS is driven by the belief that transformative ideas in biotechnology, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals can...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

adMare BioInnovations

adMare BioInnovations-Un moteur d’innovation en sciences de la vie qui

Un moteur d’innovation en sciences de la vie qui développe des entreprises, des écosystèmes et des talents

Selon la devise nationale du Canada, A Mari Usque Ad Mare (D’un océan à l’autre), adMare est un organisme pancanadien créée en 2019 qui répond au besoin d’harmoniser et d’optimiser le paysage canadien de la commercialisation des sciences de la vie. Depuis sa création, adMare s’est fermement établie comme un...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

SNAPSCAN

SNAPSCAN- SIMPLIFYING PAYMENTS ONE SNAP AT A TIME

SIMPLIFYING PAYMENTS ONE SNAP AT A TIME

SnapScan is more than just a smartphone app. It’s a contactless, mobile payment solution that makes it easy and safe to pay and receive payments in a store, online, at home, and on the go.   Our storyFounded in 2013, SnapScan gained traction at markets and coffee shops in Stellenbosch....

INNOVATE™ Alberta

WOOD BUFFALO REGIONAL INNOVATION NETWORK

There’s no better time and place to get started with the Wood Buffalo Regional Innovation Network

The Wood Buffalo Regional Innovation Network (WBRIN) was born of a need to connect business support organizations in Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo to each other, as well as entrepreneurs in the region and Alberta. It is a network of six organizations in Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo, who occupy the roles...

INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1

WARONA LAW OFFICE

WARONA LAW OFFICE - MOLAO WARONA ROTLHE

MOLAO WARONA ROTLHE

What’s in a name?In this case – everything! Warona is a Setswana pronoun, which translates to “ours” in English. The fact of the matter is the law is “ours” – all of us, made by us to govern and protect us. It also happens to be the middle name of...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

UTFPR

TECHNOLOGY COMPETITION TEAM BY UTFPR

The Federal Technological University of Paraná (UTFPR) – Brazil, is a century-old center for technological education, founded in 1909. In 2005, it became the first Technological University in Brazil. In 2023, it has approximately 35,000 students in various undergraduate courses across 13 campuses distributed throughout the state of Paraná. The...

INNOVATE™ Toronto

UHN

UHN-Is the Leading and Largest Research Hospital in Canada. The Scope of Research and Complexity of Cases at UHN Has Made It a National and International Source of Discovery

Is the Leading and Largest Research Hospital in Canada. The Scope of Research and Complexity of Cases at UHN Has Made It a National and International Source of Discovery, Education and Excellence in Patient Care

The Michener Institute of Education at UHN is the only institution in Canada devoted exclusively to applied health sciences education, Michener is Canada’s first-ever merger between a hospital and a post-secondary health education institution and the only post-secondary institution devoted exclusively to specialized applied health education in the country.  ...

INNOVATE™ Estonia

POWERUP ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES

BEYOND THE HYPE: POWERUP ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES MAKES HYDROGEN A COMMERCIAL REALITY

While the concept of a “hydrogen economy” has been a topic of political discourse and future-gazing for years, one Tallinn-based company is demonstrating that for many applications, the future is already here. PowerUP Energy Technologies, founded by scientist and entrepreneur Ivar Kruusenberg, is moving beyond theoretical promise and deploying certified...

INNOVATE™ Estonia

MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

ESTONIA’S INNOVATION POLICY: DESIGNING A FUTURE-READY NATION

When Estonia regained its independence in the early 1990s, it faced a dauntingquestion: how can a nation so small, with so few resources, stand out in theworld? The answer did not come in steel or oil, but in imagination and boldness.Out of necessity, Estonians learned to skip steps others had...

INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1

THE GIFT PLACE

THE TRUE VALUE OF A GIFT IS THE SENTIMENT BEHIND THE GIFTING

NOTE FROM FOUNDER A few years ago, I realized how strenuous it is for some to come up with or present a thoughtful gift for any occasion. The idea of The Gift Place grew from my passion to create a gift by simply sourcing various items from different outlets to...

INNOVATION Quebec

Xn Québec

Mobiliser la créativité numérique au service de l’innovation

Xn Québec est l’association des producteur. rice.s d’expériences numériques du Québec. L’association regroupe les principaux acteurs de l’industrie de la créativité numérique, soit plus de 165 studios membres – producteur.rice.s de contenu, original ou de commande, pour différentes plateformes, lieux et espaces. Elle représente les intérêts de l’industrie auprès des...

INNOVATE® Nashville

Launch Tennessee

Advances legacy of innovation

Public-private partnership Launch Tennessee has spent more than a decade creating a unique statewide startup ecosystem, supporting entrepreneurs in all 95 counties across the Volunteer State by providing capital, commercialization support, and connections. “It’s a great privilege to work on behalf of the entire state to boost innovation and entrepreneurship,”...

INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

FRUITLAB

FRUITLAB-IS A COMMUNITY PLATFORM FOR THE BILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD THAT ENJOY SMILING OR GAMING OR SMILING AND GAMING

IS A COMMUNITY PLATFORM FOR THE BILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD THAT ENJOY SMILING OR GAMING OR SMILING AND GAMING

Imagine a social platform built especially for gamers that enabled users to earn cryptocurrency from their content and from playing their favourite games. Now imagine being able to use that cryptocurrency to buy games and in-game upgrades, purchase NFTs of content from top Content creators or to compete against other...

INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

NEWZOO

NEWZOO-TWO CHILDHOOD FRIENDS WITH ONE BIG IDEA — THAT’S THE GIST OF NEWZOO’S BEGINNINGS

TWO CHILDHOOD FRIENDS WITH ONE BIG IDEA — THAT’S THE GIST OF NEWZOO’S BEGINNINGS

But Newzoo wasn’t its founder’s (Peter Warman and Thijs Hagoort) first venture into the world of business. Far from it. After becoming friends playing basketball in high school, the industrious duo sold custom-designed t-shirts. Those early days taught them a valuable lesson: custom production based on manuals does not scale...

INNOVATE® Detroit

StockX

Leading Next Gen Retail

The Birth of a Marketplace Revolution. In 2016, in downtown Detroit, a disruptive idea took shape—one that would forever change the way people buy and sell limited-edition sneakers, streetwear, and collectibles. StockX, the brainchild of Greg Schwartz, Josh Luber, Dan Gilbert, and Chris Kaufman, was built on a simple yet...

INNOVATE™ Toronto

NRSTOR INCORPORATED

NRSTOR INCORPORATED – INNOVATIVE ENERGY STORAGE SOLUTIONS INSPIRING THE GRID TO DELIVER A CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE

INNOVATIVE ENERGY STORAGE SOLUTIONS INSPIRING THE GRID TO DELIVER A CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE

NRStor Incorporated is an industry-leading Canadian energy storage developer, owner and operator with experience deploying energy storage across the energy supply chain. Our vision is to deploy energy storage projects at scale in order to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon energy system. NRStor has successfully deployed numerous first-of-a-kind energy...

Ecosystems