Stories of Innovation

INNOVATE™ Kitchener Waterloo

CATALYST COMMONS

BUILT FOR ENTREPRENEURS, BY ENTREPRENEURS

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...

INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2

SPLASH

A RIPPLE IN INNOVATION, A WAVE OF COMMUNITY.

A sustainably minded hub for entrepreneurship, start-up life, innovation, and community – leading the start-up world – that is Splash. Splash Coworking (Splash) the model of a shared work space and business resource center where entrepreneurs, independent professionals and creatives connect, collaborate and make business happen. Located in downtown San...

INNOVATE® South Florida

Palm Beach State College

THE FUTURE IS HERE

THE FUTURE IS HERE Palm Beach State College prepares the workforce of Palm Beach County for the jobs of the future with more than 130 programs of study, including certificate, associate and bachelor’s degree programs in high demand fields such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and medical imaging. Founded in 1933...

INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1

NAKO TIMEPIECES

NAKO TIMEPIECES- A LUXURY WATCH DESIGNER BRAND WITH HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

A LUXURY WATCH DESIGNER BRAND WITH HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Born and designed in Gaborone, Botswana Nako Timepieces are merging innovation and luxury watchmaking that is proudly rooted in Botswana. BRAND PERSONALITYAn embodiment of Afrocentrism, Tswana origins, selfdiscovery, character and endurance. Having stepped over the line of classic iconic style and into the realm of simplicity — Nako Timepieces identifies...

INNOVATE® Northern Virginia

Dev Technology Group

Engineering Innovation for the Nation’s Most Critical Missions

“Innovation succeeds when people understand the mission behind the technology.” Inside modern government operations, technology environments demand precision and reliability. Systems process enormous volumes of data that support national security programs and help agencies serve millions of people. Delivering those capabilities requires organizations combining advanced engineering and innovation with deep...

INNOVATE® Jacksonville

CuliVino Hospitality Management + Consulting: Chef Tom Gray

OUR STORY Chef Tom Gray is one of North Florida’s most lauded and respected chefs, with two James Beard Award nominations as well as countless awards and accolades. He began his career in his hometown of Jacksonville at the age of 15 at a local country club, with culinary school...

Global Innovation Spotlight

Why Lean Innovation Thrives on Agile Digital Foundations

Lean innovation loves speed, but it worships clarity. That combination sounds simple until a team tries to run experiments on a digital base held together with wishful thinking and last year’s duct tape. Ideas don’t die because they’re unworkable. They die because the system can’t change without breaking, because data...

INNOVATE® Miami

Greenberg Traurig

Greenberg Traurig - Entrepreneur Focused Legal Counsel at the Center of Miami’s Innovation Ecosystem

Entrepreneur Focused Legal Counsel at the Center of Miami’s Innovation Ecosystem

At Greenberg Traurig, innovation is more than just talk. It’s in our DNA. Our global law firm utilizes a systemic, holistic approach to innovation, helping clients cut through the noise and pursue their most business-critical goals and growth objectives. Greenberg Traurig’s Emerging Technology Practice is a multidisciplinary legal team representing...

INNOVATION Quebec

Calcul Québec

Calcul Québec- Collaborate to innovate

Collaborate to innovate

United for more powerQuébec is a pioneer in the field of advanced computing in the country. From 1992, several inter-institutional collaborations emerged. These collaborations made possible the acquisition of supercomputers, and the development of local expertise in order to support the research community. Thirty years ago, this support enabled Québec...

INNOVATE® South Florida

CORAL GABLES - THE CITY BEAUTIFUL

RECOGNIZED NATIONWIDE AS A LEADING SMART CITY

Coral Gables was founded on innovation, being one of the very first planned communities in the United States. Today, we’re known internationally as a Smart City, leveraging information and communication technologies and intelligent connected infrastructure to benefit our residents, employees, businesses, and visitors, as well as make our city more...

INNOVATE® Detroit

DETROIT’S ECONOMIC RENAISSANCE

The Detroit Development Fund’s 25-Year Journey

DETROIT’S ECONOMIC RENAISSANCE-The Detroit Development Fund’s 25-Year Journey Towards Inclusive Prosperity In the heart of Detroit’s vibrant entrepreneurial landscape, the Detroit Development Fund (DDF) has emerged as a devoted ally for local businesses, catalyzing economic growth and fostering lasting community development. Over the past 25 years, this organization, originally known...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

DCSTW. - DC STARTUP & TECH WEEK

Igniting Innovation in the Heart of America

In the heart of the Mid-Atlantic, a powerful wave of innovation is surging through the Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) region. Driven by a collective mission to transform the area into a globally recognized innovation hub, this movement is brewing a different kind of revolution in the nation’s capital....

INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

HEY LISTEN GAMES

HEY LISTEN GAMES-Teaching With Video Games

Teaching With Video Games

Hey Listen Games was born out of my passion for gaming and my desire to find ways to best teach my students. I teach at Ellis Preparatory Academy, a public high school in New York City dedicated to a one hundred percent immigrant and ENL (English as a New Language)...

INNOVATE™ Oeiras

Desafio Global Events & Activation Experience

Desafio Global Events & Activation Experience The Most Awarded Portuguese Events Agency And One Of The Most Awarded In The Corporate Events Sector In Europe.

The Most Awarded Portuguese Events Agency And One Of The Most Awarded In The Corporate Events Sector In Europe.

Desafio Global – Events & Activation Experience is an event organisation company that combines creativity with high production capacity, organising an average of 200 events per year and brand activation campaigns for the main Portuguese brands. Desafio Global has been operating for 20 years and has won 128 awards to...

INNOVATE® Nashville

NASHVILLE INNOVATION ALLIANCE

FUELING INNOVATION FOR A THRIVING NASHVILLE

The Nashville Innovation Alliance aims to make Nashville one of America’s leading centers of technology innovation by bringing the community together to create a shared vision, set ambitious goals and advance strategic initiatives. Established by Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Vanderbilt University in 2024, and anchored by participation from LaunchTN, the...

INNOVATE® Maryland

Upling

Delivering Equity, One Order at a Time.

In a world that often overlooks the most vulnerable, Upling is doing more than just delivering cannabis — it’s delivering purpose, access, and social equity. This Maryland-based, AI-powered cannabis delivery platform is rewriting the rules of healthcare access and digital entrepreneurship, all while confronting long-standing injustices in the cannabis industry....

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

SOUTHERN LAUNCH

FROM LITTLE THINGS BIG THINGS GROW. How Southern Launch helped launch the Australian space industry

For any industry there’s a seed, a starting point for investment, innovation and inspiration. It’s a company, person or natural resource that attracts other companies to support each other and invest in the future. For the South Australian space industry that seed is Southern Launch. A launch site is essential...

INNOVATE® Puerto Rico

PILOTO 151

PILOTO 151-PUERTO RICO’S LAUNCHPAD FOR INVESTMENT AND INNOVATION

PUERTO RICO’S LAUNCHPAD FOR INVESTMENT AND INNOVATION

The year was 2012. Stolberg siblings, Sofia and Juan Carlos, had just moved back to their native Puerto Rico, ran their own businesses, and were searching for a coworking space to network with like-minded individuals. Noticing that coworking was not a thing on the Island, they took it upon themselves...

The Rise of Digital Third Places in Innovation Ecosystems

Innovation ecosystems have always grown around shared physical places, from university labs and coworking spaces to startup districts, demo days, accelerators, and global conferences. These places still matter because people build trust faster when they can meet, listen, and exchange ideas in the same room.  Yet they are no longer...

INNOVATION Quebec

IREQ, HYDRO-QUÉBEC’S

RESEARCH INSTITUTE

The energy transition is in full swing. The energy industry is undergoing profound transformations prompted by the search for sustainable solutions to address the impacts of climate change, meet our customers’ evolving needs and consumption habits and reap the benefits of the broad accessibility of new technologies. The invention of...

INNOVATE™ Toronto

THE CCRM STORY

THE CCRM STORY: 10 YEARS IN THE MAKING

10 YEARS IN THE MAKING

“Regenerative medicine is the future, and not only is it the future, it’s a branch of medicine that Canada and the province of Ontario are actually quite good at.” – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau When it launched onto the scene in 2011, there was nothing else like it. Even today, ten years...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

AUSHEALTH

BRINGING MEDICAL INNOVATION TO LIFE!

AusHealth® is an Australian-owned health and wellbeing organisation that provides workplace drug and alcohol testing and debt collection services to hospitals, while turning its profits wholly to locally led, globally recognised medical research. Since establishing in 1985, AusHealth® has contributed more than $47 million into South-Australian led research towards pain...

INNOVATE® South Carolina

Gnosis Freight

The Operating System for International Logistics

In the heart of Charleston, South Carolina, a quiet revolution in global trade is underway. Gnosis Freight, a software company founded just a few miles from the port, is building the digital infrastructure that powers the world’s most complex supply chains. Global freight runs on shipping containers – but despite...

INNOVATE® Philadelphia: 250 Years of Innovation

GIRL CONCRETE

BUILDING THE NEXT 250 YEARS

Philadelphia is the birthplace of American independence – a city where ideas of democracy, access, and public responsibility were first debated, documented, and declared. Two and a half centuries later, those ideals are sustained not only by words, but by infrastructure. Streets, sidewalks, schools, hospitals, transit hubs, and public spaces...

INNOVATE™ Kitchener Waterloo

CATALYST COMMONS

BUILT FOR ENTREPRENEURS, BY ENTREPRENEURS

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...

INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2

SPLASH

A RIPPLE IN INNOVATION, A WAVE OF COMMUNITY.

A sustainably minded hub for entrepreneurship, start-up life, innovation, and community – leading the start-up world – that is Splash. Splash Coworking (Splash) the model of a shared work space and business resource center where entrepreneurs, independent professionals and creatives connect, collaborate and make business happen. Located in downtown San...

INNOVATE® South Florida

Palm Beach State College

THE FUTURE IS HERE

THE FUTURE IS HERE Palm Beach State College prepares the workforce of Palm Beach County for the jobs of the future with more than 130 programs of study, including certificate, associate and bachelor’s degree programs in high demand fields such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and medical imaging. Founded in 1933...

INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1

NAKO TIMEPIECES

NAKO TIMEPIECES- A LUXURY WATCH DESIGNER BRAND WITH HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

A LUXURY WATCH DESIGNER BRAND WITH HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Born and designed in Gaborone, Botswana Nako Timepieces are merging innovation and luxury watchmaking that is proudly rooted in Botswana. BRAND PERSONALITYAn embodiment of Afrocentrism, Tswana origins, selfdiscovery, character and endurance. Having stepped over the line of classic iconic style and into the realm of simplicity — Nako Timepieces identifies...

INNOVATE® Northern Virginia

Dev Technology Group

Engineering Innovation for the Nation’s Most Critical Missions

“Innovation succeeds when people understand the mission behind the technology.” Inside modern government operations, technology environments demand precision and reliability. Systems process enormous volumes of data that support national security programs and help agencies serve millions of people. Delivering those capabilities requires organizations combining advanced engineering and innovation with deep...

INNOVATE® Jacksonville

CuliVino Hospitality Management + Consulting: Chef Tom Gray

OUR STORY Chef Tom Gray is one of North Florida’s most lauded and respected chefs, with two James Beard Award nominations as well as countless awards and accolades. He began his career in his hometown of Jacksonville at the age of 15 at a local country club, with culinary school...

Global Innovation Spotlight

Why Lean Innovation Thrives on Agile Digital Foundations

Lean innovation loves speed, but it worships clarity. That combination sounds simple until a team tries to run experiments on a digital base held together with wishful thinking and last year’s duct tape. Ideas don’t die because they’re unworkable. They die because the system can’t change without breaking, because data...

INNOVATE® Miami

Greenberg Traurig

Greenberg Traurig - Entrepreneur Focused Legal Counsel at the Center of Miami’s Innovation Ecosystem

Entrepreneur Focused Legal Counsel at the Center of Miami’s Innovation Ecosystem

At Greenberg Traurig, innovation is more than just talk. It’s in our DNA. Our global law firm utilizes a systemic, holistic approach to innovation, helping clients cut through the noise and pursue their most business-critical goals and growth objectives. Greenberg Traurig’s Emerging Technology Practice is a multidisciplinary legal team representing...

INNOVATION Quebec

Calcul Québec

Calcul Québec- Collaborate to innovate

Collaborate to innovate

United for more powerQuébec is a pioneer in the field of advanced computing in the country. From 1992, several inter-institutional collaborations emerged. These collaborations made possible the acquisition of supercomputers, and the development of local expertise in order to support the research community. Thirty years ago, this support enabled Québec...

INNOVATE® South Florida

CORAL GABLES - THE CITY BEAUTIFUL

RECOGNIZED NATIONWIDE AS A LEADING SMART CITY

Coral Gables was founded on innovation, being one of the very first planned communities in the United States. Today, we’re known internationally as a Smart City, leveraging information and communication technologies and intelligent connected infrastructure to benefit our residents, employees, businesses, and visitors, as well as make our city more...

INNOVATE® Detroit

DETROIT’S ECONOMIC RENAISSANCE

The Detroit Development Fund’s 25-Year Journey

DETROIT’S ECONOMIC RENAISSANCE-The Detroit Development Fund’s 25-Year Journey Towards Inclusive Prosperity In the heart of Detroit’s vibrant entrepreneurial landscape, the Detroit Development Fund (DDF) has emerged as a devoted ally for local businesses, catalyzing economic growth and fostering lasting community development. Over the past 25 years, this organization, originally known...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

DCSTW. - DC STARTUP & TECH WEEK

Igniting Innovation in the Heart of America

In the heart of the Mid-Atlantic, a powerful wave of innovation is surging through the Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) region. Driven by a collective mission to transform the area into a globally recognized innovation hub, this movement is brewing a different kind of revolution in the nation’s capital....

INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

HEY LISTEN GAMES

HEY LISTEN GAMES-Teaching With Video Games

Teaching With Video Games

Hey Listen Games was born out of my passion for gaming and my desire to find ways to best teach my students. I teach at Ellis Preparatory Academy, a public high school in New York City dedicated to a one hundred percent immigrant and ENL (English as a New Language)...

INNOVATE™ Oeiras

Desafio Global Events & Activation Experience

Desafio Global Events & Activation Experience The Most Awarded Portuguese Events Agency And One Of The Most Awarded In The Corporate Events Sector In Europe.

The Most Awarded Portuguese Events Agency And One Of The Most Awarded In The Corporate Events Sector In Europe.

Desafio Global – Events & Activation Experience is an event organisation company that combines creativity with high production capacity, organising an average of 200 events per year and brand activation campaigns for the main Portuguese brands. Desafio Global has been operating for 20 years and has won 128 awards to...

INNOVATE® Nashville

NASHVILLE INNOVATION ALLIANCE

FUELING INNOVATION FOR A THRIVING NASHVILLE

The Nashville Innovation Alliance aims to make Nashville one of America’s leading centers of technology innovation by bringing the community together to create a shared vision, set ambitious goals and advance strategic initiatives. Established by Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Vanderbilt University in 2024, and anchored by participation from LaunchTN, the...

INNOVATE® Maryland

Upling

Delivering Equity, One Order at a Time.

In a world that often overlooks the most vulnerable, Upling is doing more than just delivering cannabis — it’s delivering purpose, access, and social equity. This Maryland-based, AI-powered cannabis delivery platform is rewriting the rules of healthcare access and digital entrepreneurship, all while confronting long-standing injustices in the cannabis industry....

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

SOUTHERN LAUNCH

FROM LITTLE THINGS BIG THINGS GROW. How Southern Launch helped launch the Australian space industry

For any industry there’s a seed, a starting point for investment, innovation and inspiration. It’s a company, person or natural resource that attracts other companies to support each other and invest in the future. For the South Australian space industry that seed is Southern Launch. A launch site is essential...

INNOVATE® Puerto Rico

PILOTO 151

PILOTO 151-PUERTO RICO’S LAUNCHPAD FOR INVESTMENT AND INNOVATION

PUERTO RICO’S LAUNCHPAD FOR INVESTMENT AND INNOVATION

The year was 2012. Stolberg siblings, Sofia and Juan Carlos, had just moved back to their native Puerto Rico, ran their own businesses, and were searching for a coworking space to network with like-minded individuals. Noticing that coworking was not a thing on the Island, they took it upon themselves...

The Rise of Digital Third Places in Innovation Ecosystems

Innovation ecosystems have always grown around shared physical places, from university labs and coworking spaces to startup districts, demo days, accelerators, and global conferences. These places still matter because people build trust faster when they can meet, listen, and exchange ideas in the same room.  Yet they are no longer...

INNOVATION Quebec

IREQ, HYDRO-QUÉBEC’S

RESEARCH INSTITUTE

The energy transition is in full swing. The energy industry is undergoing profound transformations prompted by the search for sustainable solutions to address the impacts of climate change, meet our customers’ evolving needs and consumption habits and reap the benefits of the broad accessibility of new technologies. The invention of...

INNOVATE™ Toronto

THE CCRM STORY

THE CCRM STORY: 10 YEARS IN THE MAKING

10 YEARS IN THE MAKING

“Regenerative medicine is the future, and not only is it the future, it’s a branch of medicine that Canada and the province of Ontario are actually quite good at.” – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau When it launched onto the scene in 2011, there was nothing else like it. Even today, ten years...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

AUSHEALTH

BRINGING MEDICAL INNOVATION TO LIFE!

AusHealth® is an Australian-owned health and wellbeing organisation that provides workplace drug and alcohol testing and debt collection services to hospitals, while turning its profits wholly to locally led, globally recognised medical research. Since establishing in 1985, AusHealth® has contributed more than $47 million into South-Australian led research towards pain...

INNOVATE® South Carolina

Gnosis Freight

The Operating System for International Logistics

In the heart of Charleston, South Carolina, a quiet revolution in global trade is underway. Gnosis Freight, a software company founded just a few miles from the port, is building the digital infrastructure that powers the world’s most complex supply chains. Global freight runs on shipping containers – but despite...

INNOVATE® Philadelphia: 250 Years of Innovation

GIRL CONCRETE

BUILDING THE NEXT 250 YEARS

Philadelphia is the birthplace of American independence – a city where ideas of democracy, access, and public responsibility were first debated, documented, and declared. Two and a half centuries later, those ideals are sustained not only by words, but by infrastructure. Streets, sidewalks, schools, hospitals, transit hubs, and public spaces...

Ecosystems