Stories of Innovation

INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1

HOTEL & CONGRES TER ELST

HOTEL & CONGRES TER ELST-A PLACE TO ENJOY THE PEACE AND QUIET YOU NEED IN GREEN SURROUNDINGS

A PLACE TO ENJOY THE PEACE AND QUIET YOU NEED IN GREEN SURROUNDINGS, AND ONLY A STONE’S THROW AWAY FROM THE HEART OF ANTWERP

After Hotel & Congress Ter Elst was taken over in 2011 and thanks to a full transformation of the company, it became one of the major key players in the Meetings & Events industry in the Antwerp region. “We don’t do anything else, we just do it a different way”...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

DEFENCE TRAILBLAZER

THE SA ‘TRAILBLAZER’ DRIVING DEFENCE INNOVATION

Dr Sanjay Mazumdar: The SA ‘trailblazer’ driving defence innovationIn 2022, South Australia reinforced its reputation as the nation’s “defence state” when the University of Adelaide established the Defence Trailblazer for Concept to Sovereign Capability in partnership with the University of New South Wales. Now, this ground-breaking research commercialisation program has...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

EVERYDAY SPEAK

EVERYDAY SPEAK CREATIVITY WILL MAKE THE 21ST CENTURY AFRICA’S CENTURY

CREATIVITY WILL MAKE THE 21ST CENTURY AFRICA’S CENTURY

Founded in 2017, by Melusi Tshabalala (creative professional, entrepreneur, author, speaker, humourist, language & culture activist), Everyday Speak is a culture, dialogue, language activism, advertising and design company. Driven by the ethos – Creativity can make the 21st century Africa’s century – Everyday Speak develops ideas and solutions that touch...

INNOVATE® Kansas City

GOOGLE FIBER

GFIBER HAS WORKED TO ENSURE IT IS DOING ITS PART TO BRIDGE THE DIGITAL DIVIDE PARTICULARLY IN TRADITIONALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES.

“As a Google Fiber team member since 2011, it fills me with immense pride to reflect on our journey – from the selection of Kansas City as our inaugural home to our expansion from coast-to-coast in the last decade. We’ve seen firsthand the transformative power of ultra-high-speed internet in fueling...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

MadeiraMadeira

GET TO KNOW THE CURITIBA UNICORN THAT TRANSFORMED THE FURNITURE AND DECORATION MARKET IN THE COUNTRY

Established in 2009, MadeiraMadeira is now the largest online furniture and decoration platform in Latin America. Prior to its foundation, the company’s story began with brothers Daniel Scandian and Marcelo Scandian. Coming from an entrepreneurial family background, they grew up with the same values. During a challenging period in both...

Global Innovation Spotlight

Business strategies for integrating slotgames into modern digital markets

As of early 2024, slot games account for nearly 70% of digital casino revenue (H2 Gambling Capital). Rapid advances in mobile and cloud tech have forced companies to rethink launches, promotion, and profit models, while a constant flood of new titles keeps operators and studios scrambling to adapt. Today, success...

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® Milwaukee

Ideawake

REVOLUTIONIZING CORPORATE INNOVATION FROM MILWAUKEE

REVOLUTIONIZING CORPORATE INNOVATION FROM MILWAUKEE In a world where ideas hold immense value, Ideawake is on a mission to empower companies to mine their most valuable resource: their employees’ creativity and insights. Founded in 2013 by Coby Skonord and Trae Tessmann, Ideawake began with a vision to make innovation accessible...

INNOVATION Quebec

INNOV & EXPORT PME

INTRODUCING INNOV & EXPORT PME

In a demanding and constantly evolving global market, innovation is essential for developing manufacturing companies and increasing the strength of the Lower St. Lawrence region’s economy. Innov & Export PME is a regional development organization that operates in several enterprises in the Lower St. Lawrence region. As the name suggests,...

INNOVATE® Blockchain

DELTACORE CAPITAL

DELTACORE CAPITAL-

A HEDGE FUND FOR DIGITAL ASSETS - CRYPTO INVESTMENT FUND AND CONSULTING FIRM

Deltacore Capital was established in 2018, after finding success in the very popular 2017 crypto bullrun. Since then their focus has been on consulting, educating on financial crypto literacy as well as being the General Partner for Deltacore Digital Assets LP, a multi strategy investment fund focused solely on digital...

INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1

NATURE'S FYND

NATURE'S FYND-TRANSFORMING HOW THE WORLD EATS WITH FY™

TRANSFORMING HOW THE WORLD EATS WITH FY™, A NEW-TO-THE-WORLD, NUTRITIONAL FUNGI PROTEIN

The story of Nature’s Fynd™ begins millions of years ago, in an acidic hot spring located in what is today Yellowstone National Park when a remarkable microbe was born. In 2009, NASA-backed research on extremophiles led our co-founder to the park’s hot springs. He then isolated and discovered a remarkable...

INNOVATE™ Estonia

GLOBEDRY

SOLAR-DRIED FOODS FOR A RESILIENT AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

In many rural regions, fresh harvests are lost before they ever reach a market — not because of poor quality, but due to heat, humidity, and lack of proper preservation. GlobeDry, a family-owned Estonian company, is tackling this challenge with solar-powered food dryers that allow communities and food entrepreneurs to...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

AHRENS

120 YEARS FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Proudly, Ahrens is a 120-year-old family-owned SA company, spanning five generations, delivering a diverse range of high-quality and cost-effective products, projects and services. Beginning in 1902 as a one-dimensional business in Sheaoak Log, on the edge of the Barossa Valley, and offering blacksmithing services of its time, the business has...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

SHRMLABS

Spearheading Workplace Innovation Globally

Spearheading Workplace Innovation Globally As the pioneering innovation lab and venture capital arm of SHRM, headquartered in Alexandria, Va., SHRMLabs drives the development of revolutionary and ethical technologies tailored to solve pressing real-world workplace challenges. By connecting a global community of over 325,000 HR professionals with leading startups and innovators...

INNOVATION Quebec

CQMF

LE CENTRE QUÉBÉCOIS SUR LES MATÉRIAUX FONCTIONNELS (CQMF) EST UN REGROUPEMENT STRATÉGIQUE DU FRQNT1 QUI RASSEMBLE PLUS DE 100 GROUPES DE RECHERCHE UNIVERSITAIRES ET COLLÉGIAUX, AINSI QUE PLUSIEURS PLATEFORMES SCIENTIFIQUES. Le CQMF adresse les grands défis de société par le biais des matériaux ayant des fonctionnalités avancées2 développés en étroite...

Global Innovation Spotlight

The New MVP Tech Stack: What Forward-Thinking Founders Are Betting On in 2026

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...

INNOVATION Quebec

ARTENSO

CCTT EN ART ET ENGAGEMENT SOCIAL

Artenso est un acronyme signifiant art et engagement social. Le CCTT croit activement au pouvoir de la culture comme vecteur de développement économique et social des collectivités. Affilié au cégep de Saint-Laurent à Montréal, Artenso se démarque par son expertise croisée dans les champs des politiques publiques, des pratiques artistiques...

INNOVATE® Seattle

READ

BUILDING THE FUTURE OF WORKWITH CONNECTED INTELLIGENCE

BUILDING THE FUTURE OF WORKWITH CONNECTED INTELLIGENCE. Founded in 2021 by David Shim, Robert Williams, and Elliott Waldron, Read AI brings together your meetings, emails, and messages and transforms them into collaborative partners, so that they talk to each other, share information, offer updates, find answers, and organize tasks through...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

THE MAKERSPACE

THE MAKERSPACE- WE DRIVE SOCIAL COHESION THROUGH THE COMMON LANGUAGE OF MAKING

WE DRIVE SOCIAL COHESION THROUGH THE COMMON LANGUAGE OF MAKING, A LANGUAGE THAT TRANSCENDS CLASS & CULTURE AND THAT UPLIFTS AS IT ENLIGHTENS

By leveraging the natural generosity inherent in maker culture, the project is able to unlock a new level of efficiency in skills transfer. Creating a safe environment where anyone can learn to use new technologies, where experienced professionals can share their knowledge and help the next generation. Makers” make things,...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

ORGANIKA

ORGANIKA-A SINCERE PASSION FOR DELIVERING HIGH QUALITY CUSTOMER CARE

ORGANIKA-A SINCERE PASSION FOR DELIVERING HIGH QUALITY CUSTOMER CARE AND LEADING WITH INNOVATION, HAS BECOME ORGANIKA’S KEYDIFFERENTIATOR IN THE HEALTH AND WELLNESS SPACE. It has led Organika to achieve uncapped market success and global growth, even amidst a pandemic. Breaking out into 7,000 stores across the world, Organika has grown...

INNOVATE® Seattle

BRINC

TRANSFORMING PUBLIC SAFETY: THE FUTURE OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Blake Resnick, the founder and CEO of BRINC, started his engineering career at McLaren Automotive at 14. He later worked at Tesla Motors and DJI, the world’s largest drone company. Growing up in Las Vegas, the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting deeply impacted Blake, leading him to focus on public...

INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1

BOTSWANA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (BIUST)

EMBRACING BOTSWANA’S TRANSFORMATION TO KNOWLEDGE BASED ECONOMY

The Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) is a research-intensive University and the only specialised University in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM). It aims to increase: The mission of BIUST is to produce world-class research and innovation in science, engineering and technology contributing to industry growth and...

INNOVATE™ Estonia

MINDCHIP

THE RISE AT SEA: HOW MINDCHIP TEACHES SHIPS TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES

The sea has always been humanity’s vital artery—through it flow goods, people, and ideas. Yet the sea is also unpredictable and harsh. It is here, among waves and storms, that the Estonian deep-tech company MindChip faces a challenge that could reshape the future of maritime operations: how to make ships...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

DOT LEMON

REMON HENES-DC ZESTY STORY-AN INNOVATOR SHAPING THE NARRATIVE OF D.C.

A Visionary Among D.C.’s Top 100 InnovatorsRemon Henes stands out as one of the District of Columbia’s 100 leading innovators, offering the world a fresh perspective on Washington through his groundbreaking project, DC Zesty Story. An award-winning producer and filmmaker from Cairo, Remon’s dynamic vision led to the inception of...

INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1

HOTEL & CONGRES TER ELST

HOTEL & CONGRES TER ELST-A PLACE TO ENJOY THE PEACE AND QUIET YOU NEED IN GREEN SURROUNDINGS

A PLACE TO ENJOY THE PEACE AND QUIET YOU NEED IN GREEN SURROUNDINGS, AND ONLY A STONE’S THROW AWAY FROM THE HEART OF ANTWERP

After Hotel & Congress Ter Elst was taken over in 2011 and thanks to a full transformation of the company, it became one of the major key players in the Meetings & Events industry in the Antwerp region. “We don’t do anything else, we just do it a different way”...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

DEFENCE TRAILBLAZER

THE SA ‘TRAILBLAZER’ DRIVING DEFENCE INNOVATION

Dr Sanjay Mazumdar: The SA ‘trailblazer’ driving defence innovationIn 2022, South Australia reinforced its reputation as the nation’s “defence state” when the University of Adelaide established the Defence Trailblazer for Concept to Sovereign Capability in partnership with the University of New South Wales. Now, this ground-breaking research commercialisation program has...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

EVERYDAY SPEAK

EVERYDAY SPEAK CREATIVITY WILL MAKE THE 21ST CENTURY AFRICA’S CENTURY

CREATIVITY WILL MAKE THE 21ST CENTURY AFRICA’S CENTURY

Founded in 2017, by Melusi Tshabalala (creative professional, entrepreneur, author, speaker, humourist, language & culture activist), Everyday Speak is a culture, dialogue, language activism, advertising and design company. Driven by the ethos – Creativity can make the 21st century Africa’s century – Everyday Speak develops ideas and solutions that touch...

INNOVATE® Kansas City

GOOGLE FIBER

GFIBER HAS WORKED TO ENSURE IT IS DOING ITS PART TO BRIDGE THE DIGITAL DIVIDE PARTICULARLY IN TRADITIONALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES.

“As a Google Fiber team member since 2011, it fills me with immense pride to reflect on our journey – from the selection of Kansas City as our inaugural home to our expansion from coast-to-coast in the last decade. We’ve seen firsthand the transformative power of ultra-high-speed internet in fueling...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

MadeiraMadeira

GET TO KNOW THE CURITIBA UNICORN THAT TRANSFORMED THE FURNITURE AND DECORATION MARKET IN THE COUNTRY

Established in 2009, MadeiraMadeira is now the largest online furniture and decoration platform in Latin America. Prior to its foundation, the company’s story began with brothers Daniel Scandian and Marcelo Scandian. Coming from an entrepreneurial family background, they grew up with the same values. During a challenging period in both...

Global Innovation Spotlight

Business strategies for integrating slotgames into modern digital markets

As of early 2024, slot games account for nearly 70% of digital casino revenue (H2 Gambling Capital). Rapid advances in mobile and cloud tech have forced companies to rethink launches, promotion, and profit models, while a constant flood of new titles keeps operators and studios scrambling to adapt. Today, success...

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® Milwaukee

Ideawake

REVOLUTIONIZING CORPORATE INNOVATION FROM MILWAUKEE

REVOLUTIONIZING CORPORATE INNOVATION FROM MILWAUKEE In a world where ideas hold immense value, Ideawake is on a mission to empower companies to mine their most valuable resource: their employees’ creativity and insights. Founded in 2013 by Coby Skonord and Trae Tessmann, Ideawake began with a vision to make innovation accessible...

INNOVATION Quebec

INNOV & EXPORT PME

INTRODUCING INNOV & EXPORT PME

In a demanding and constantly evolving global market, innovation is essential for developing manufacturing companies and increasing the strength of the Lower St. Lawrence region’s economy. Innov & Export PME is a regional development organization that operates in several enterprises in the Lower St. Lawrence region. As the name suggests,...

INNOVATE® Blockchain

DELTACORE CAPITAL

DELTACORE CAPITAL-

A HEDGE FUND FOR DIGITAL ASSETS - CRYPTO INVESTMENT FUND AND CONSULTING FIRM

Deltacore Capital was established in 2018, after finding success in the very popular 2017 crypto bullrun. Since then their focus has been on consulting, educating on financial crypto literacy as well as being the General Partner for Deltacore Digital Assets LP, a multi strategy investment fund focused solely on digital...

INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1

NATURE'S FYND

NATURE'S FYND-TRANSFORMING HOW THE WORLD EATS WITH FY™

TRANSFORMING HOW THE WORLD EATS WITH FY™, A NEW-TO-THE-WORLD, NUTRITIONAL FUNGI PROTEIN

The story of Nature’s Fynd™ begins millions of years ago, in an acidic hot spring located in what is today Yellowstone National Park when a remarkable microbe was born. In 2009, NASA-backed research on extremophiles led our co-founder to the park’s hot springs. He then isolated and discovered a remarkable...

INNOVATE™ Estonia

GLOBEDRY

SOLAR-DRIED FOODS FOR A RESILIENT AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

In many rural regions, fresh harvests are lost before they ever reach a market — not because of poor quality, but due to heat, humidity, and lack of proper preservation. GlobeDry, a family-owned Estonian company, is tackling this challenge with solar-powered food dryers that allow communities and food entrepreneurs to...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

AHRENS

120 YEARS FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Proudly, Ahrens is a 120-year-old family-owned SA company, spanning five generations, delivering a diverse range of high-quality and cost-effective products, projects and services. Beginning in 1902 as a one-dimensional business in Sheaoak Log, on the edge of the Barossa Valley, and offering blacksmithing services of its time, the business has...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

SHRMLABS

Spearheading Workplace Innovation Globally

Spearheading Workplace Innovation Globally As the pioneering innovation lab and venture capital arm of SHRM, headquartered in Alexandria, Va., SHRMLabs drives the development of revolutionary and ethical technologies tailored to solve pressing real-world workplace challenges. By connecting a global community of over 325,000 HR professionals with leading startups and innovators...

INNOVATION Quebec

CQMF

LE CENTRE QUÉBÉCOIS SUR LES MATÉRIAUX FONCTIONNELS (CQMF) EST UN REGROUPEMENT STRATÉGIQUE DU FRQNT1 QUI RASSEMBLE PLUS DE 100 GROUPES DE RECHERCHE UNIVERSITAIRES ET COLLÉGIAUX, AINSI QUE PLUSIEURS PLATEFORMES SCIENTIFIQUES. Le CQMF adresse les grands défis de société par le biais des matériaux ayant des fonctionnalités avancées2 développés en étroite...

Global Innovation Spotlight

The New MVP Tech Stack: What Forward-Thinking Founders Are Betting On in 2026

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...

INNOVATION Quebec

ARTENSO

CCTT EN ART ET ENGAGEMENT SOCIAL

Artenso est un acronyme signifiant art et engagement social. Le CCTT croit activement au pouvoir de la culture comme vecteur de développement économique et social des collectivités. Affilié au cégep de Saint-Laurent à Montréal, Artenso se démarque par son expertise croisée dans les champs des politiques publiques, des pratiques artistiques...

INNOVATE® Seattle

READ

BUILDING THE FUTURE OF WORKWITH CONNECTED INTELLIGENCE

BUILDING THE FUTURE OF WORKWITH CONNECTED INTELLIGENCE. Founded in 2021 by David Shim, Robert Williams, and Elliott Waldron, Read AI brings together your meetings, emails, and messages and transforms them into collaborative partners, so that they talk to each other, share information, offer updates, find answers, and organize tasks through...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

THE MAKERSPACE

THE MAKERSPACE- WE DRIVE SOCIAL COHESION THROUGH THE COMMON LANGUAGE OF MAKING

WE DRIVE SOCIAL COHESION THROUGH THE COMMON LANGUAGE OF MAKING, A LANGUAGE THAT TRANSCENDS CLASS & CULTURE AND THAT UPLIFTS AS IT ENLIGHTENS

By leveraging the natural generosity inherent in maker culture, the project is able to unlock a new level of efficiency in skills transfer. Creating a safe environment where anyone can learn to use new technologies, where experienced professionals can share their knowledge and help the next generation. Makers” make things,...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

ORGANIKA

ORGANIKA-A SINCERE PASSION FOR DELIVERING HIGH QUALITY CUSTOMER CARE

ORGANIKA-A SINCERE PASSION FOR DELIVERING HIGH QUALITY CUSTOMER CARE AND LEADING WITH INNOVATION, HAS BECOME ORGANIKA’S KEYDIFFERENTIATOR IN THE HEALTH AND WELLNESS SPACE. It has led Organika to achieve uncapped market success and global growth, even amidst a pandemic. Breaking out into 7,000 stores across the world, Organika has grown...

INNOVATE® Seattle

BRINC

TRANSFORMING PUBLIC SAFETY: THE FUTURE OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Blake Resnick, the founder and CEO of BRINC, started his engineering career at McLaren Automotive at 14. He later worked at Tesla Motors and DJI, the world’s largest drone company. Growing up in Las Vegas, the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting deeply impacted Blake, leading him to focus on public...

INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1

BOTSWANA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (BIUST)

EMBRACING BOTSWANA’S TRANSFORMATION TO KNOWLEDGE BASED ECONOMY

The Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) is a research-intensive University and the only specialised University in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM). It aims to increase: The mission of BIUST is to produce world-class research and innovation in science, engineering and technology contributing to industry growth and...

INNOVATE™ Estonia

MINDCHIP

THE RISE AT SEA: HOW MINDCHIP TEACHES SHIPS TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES

The sea has always been humanity’s vital artery—through it flow goods, people, and ideas. Yet the sea is also unpredictable and harsh. It is here, among waves and storms, that the Estonian deep-tech company MindChip faces a challenge that could reshape the future of maritime operations: how to make ships...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

DOT LEMON

REMON HENES-DC ZESTY STORY-AN INNOVATOR SHAPING THE NARRATIVE OF D.C.

A Visionary Among D.C.’s Top 100 InnovatorsRemon Henes stands out as one of the District of Columbia’s 100 leading innovators, offering the world a fresh perspective on Washington through his groundbreaking project, DC Zesty Story. An award-winning producer and filmmaker from Cairo, Remon’s dynamic vision led to the inception of...

Ecosystems