Stories of Innovation
INNOVATE® South Carolina
Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)
From Ideas to Impact: MUSC’s Culture of Innovation.
Founded in 1824 in Charleston, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) serves as the state’s only comprehensive academic health system, dedicated to preserving and optimizing human life in South Carolina through education, research, and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates more than 3,200 students across six colleges—Dental Medicine, Graduate...
INNOVATE™ Bristol & Bath
Caleño
The Story SO FAR!
About UsCaleño is a range of distilled non-alcoholic spirits inspired by the sun-drenched spirit of Colombia that take you seamlessly from day to night. Light & Zesty is a tropical blend of Inca berry, citrus and spice botanicals and Dark & Spicy, a warming infusion of dark tropical pineapple notes...
INNOVATE™ Alberta
INCEPTIONU
The Un-School challenging Calgarians to think and build differently
Have you ever thought about the difference between being future proof or future fit? InceptionU co-founders Margo Purcell and Greg Hart certainly have. In fact, the two Calgary professionals have built a business around it. InceptionU is a place of meaningful learning where individuals, businesses and organizations go to learn...
INNOVATE® Georgia
SCIENTIFIC GAMES
THE WORLD’S LARGEST LOTTERY GAMES COMPANY ATLANTA-BASED INNOVATOR POWERS THE GLOBAL GOVERNMENT-REGULATED LOTTERY INDUSTRY
More than 50 years of relentless innovation. Legendary performance. Unwavering security. And trusted partnerships. All built on a foundation of science. Since 1973, Scientific Games has integrated science into everything the company does. Its founders – a mathematician and an engineer – developed the world’s first secure lottery instant “scratch”...
INNOVATE® Jacksonville
Beeline
A story of true innovation, perseverance, and grit
Ours is a story of true innovation, perseverance, and grit, which eventually led the company to be one of the two dominant forces in workforce management. , Beeline is a Jacksonville-based company just exiting its teenage years. Beeline isn’t a household name; in fact, most of the Jacksonville...
INNOVATE® Georgia
REPAY
ATLANTA’S REPAY REVAMPS PAYMENT TECHNOLOGY TO PROVIDE ADVANTAGES FOR CONSUMERS & BUSINESSES
History & PurposeREPAY was founded in 2006 by John Morris and Shaler Alias with the goal of providing fast, frictionless, and fail-safe integrated payment processing solutions for consumers and businesses. Morris serves as REPAY’s CEO to this day, and Alias co-leads as president from the company’s headquarters in Atlanta. REPAY’s...
INNOVATE™ Estonia
TOOMAS ALTNURME
BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN ART, INNOVATION, AND SUSTAINABILITY
Few artists can claim to move as fluidly between continents, disciplines, and cultures as Dr. Toomas Altnurme. An Estonian sculptor, painter, designer, educator, and cultural ambassador, his creative life is a testament to how art can transcend geography and time. “I’ve always believed art is a universal language,” says Dr....
INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1
SONGFINCH
Is a Platform to Discover and Collaborate With Thousands of Musicians to Create Personalized, One-of-a-Kind Songs
Since launching, Songfinch has grown into the leading creator marketplace for musicians touting some of the most influential names in music and tech as investors, including music icon Quincy Jones, current music superstars Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye and Amala ‘Doja Cat’ Dlamini, Atlantic Records CEO Craig Kallman, School of Rock...
INNOVATE® Milwaukee
ROCKWELL AUTOMATION
EXPANDING HUMAN POSSIBILITY
The Allen-Bradley® Clock Tower, part of the Rockwell Automation headquarters, is an iconic piece of the Milwaukee skyline and a symbol of the city’s rich industrial and technological heritage. For 120 years, Rockwell Automation has been innovating and engineering solutions that advance industrial automation – allowing manufacturers around the globe...
INNOVATE™ Stockholm
HEARTRUNNER
THE POWER OF VOLUNTEERS: COLLECTIVE ACTION WHEN EVERY MINUTE COUNTS
Heartrunner Sweden is a small and expanding company founded in Stockholm, driven by the conviction that volunteers have the power to make a difference. With this core belief, they have pioneered technology for time-critical emergencies, alerting volunteer responders to provide swift cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) before...
INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition
EIS (Early Intervention Systems)
CREATING A MORE ATTENTIVE LEVEL OF CARE FOR MEMORY CARE RESIDENTS
EIS (Early Intervention Systems) was founded by two graduates of George Washington University, Nathalya Ramirez as CEO, Krishan Shah as CFO, and current GWU Medical Student Rohan Patil as CTO. The team was motivated to create a digital well-being software platform that could tangibly improve the tracking of Activities of...
INNOVATION Quebec
AXELYS
AN ESSENTIAL MISSION FOR THE FUTURE OF QUÉBEC Axelys integrates innovations from Quebec’s public research into the mainstream of society. Our mission is at the heart of the new 2022 2027 Québec strategy to support research and investment in innovation, launched in May 2022 by the Quebec government. At Axelys,...
INNOVATE® Nashville
SwitchPoint Ventures
We build companies around pioneering technologies.
Our journey began a decade ago, here in Nashville – a city known for creativity and reinvention. That same spirit shaped how we approach innovation: with collaboration, grit, and a builder’s mindset. At SwitchPoint Ventures, we build companies around pioneering technologies – particularly in AI, data science, and digital innovation...
INNOVATE® Jacksonville
Kamana
Travel Healthcare Accelerated
Kamana brings workflow efficiency and security to an antiquated industry, connecting healthcare employers with qualified professionals to fill contract staffing needs. The contract healthcare staffing industry is fundamentally flawed. Travel healthcare professionals, who change locations (and employers) every three months, consistently complain about the lack of continuity across the industry....
INNOVATION Quebec
Montréal InVivo
Au cœur de l’écosystème des sciences de la vie et des technologies de la santé du Grand Montréal
Montréal InVivo est un réseau d’échanges, de mobilisation et de collaborations dans l’écosystème des sciences de la vie et technologies de la santé (SVTS). Fondé en 2007 et dirigé par Frank Béraud depuis 2015, la mission de cet organisme à but non lucratif est de faire avancer et progresser la...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
SHOUT-IT-NOW
TACKLING HIV THROUGH INNOVATIVE, TECH-ENABLED, COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAMMING
Shout-It-Now (Shout) is an innovative social enterprise, empowering youth to own their sexuality. We concentrate on hard to reach communities; we go to the places where they are, provide services they want, in such a way that they choose to keep coming back. We are a local South African organisation...
INNOVATE® Philadelphia: 250 Years of Innovation
Ensemble
Long-Term Capital, Real Assets, and Regional Growth: Ensemble’s Development Strategy in Philadelphia
Philadelphia’s real estate landscape is rapidly evolving. Shifts in work patterns, the growth of life sciences and advanced manufacturing, and increased expectations for sustainability, affordability, and community impact are reshaping demand. In this environment, successful development requires more than opportunistic execution—it demands patient capital, long-term planning, and the ability to...
INNOVATE™ Estonia
STARTUP DAY
A COMMUNITY-POWERED FESTIVAL FOR BOLD INNOVATORS
sTARTUp Has ‘Tartu’ in its name – and that’s no coincidence. sTARTUp Day, Northern Europe’s most startup-minded business festival, is a unique event that thrives on the power of its community. Born from a shared vision in a sauna in 2015, it has evolved into a world-class gathering in Tartu,...
INNOVATE™ Alberta
PLUG AND PLAY
DRIVING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION THROUGH A GLOBAL INNOVATION PLATFORM
At Plug and Play we believe that innovation should be open to anyone, anywhere. Plug and Play is building the leading innovation platform in the world focused on bringing Fortune 1000 corporations, innovative technology startups, and institutional investors together to develop and implement the technologies of tomorrow. Our innovation platform...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
MYSOCIALIFE
IS AN EDTECH TRAINING PROGRAM THAT TRAINS PRE-TEENS AND TEENS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ABOUT ONLINE SAFETY, DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP AND MEDIA LITERACY, IN ORDER TO FIRST MAKE THEM CONSCIOUS AND AWARE OF SAFETY ONLINE, WHICH WILL ULTIMATELY ALLOW THEM TO EXPLORE INTELLIGENTLY AND LATER EXCEL IN A COMPETITIVE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
In order to ensure this is successful, the South African-based educators also teach learners’ parents and their teachers too, as well as mental health professionals, helping to bridge the technological divide and provide the much-needed insights and tools to navigate a complex social landscape. “The more we do that,...
INNOVATE™ Flanders
THE UNIVERSITY OF ANTWERP
GATEWAY FOR FUTURE INNOVATIONS
The University of Antwerp serves as a gateway for future innovations, playing a pivotal role within Antwerp’s thriving innovation ecosystem and beyond. It contributes significantly to driving innovation and fostering societal and economic impact, further solidifying its position as a pioneer in cutting-edge research and innovation. A key driver in...
INNOVATE® Ohio
University Hospitals (UH)
Beyond Patient Care: How University Hospitals Is Building a Healthcare Innovation Economy
University Hospitals (UH) is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading academic health systems. Across Northeast Ohio, it is known for delivering exceptional care while building one of the region’s most comprehensive healthcare innovation ecosystems. By integrating research, entrepreneurship, technology and clinical expertise, UH is shaping the future of...
INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2
BEDENK
INNOVATE FROM WITHIN LET YOUR EMPLOYEES BECOME THE ENGINE OF INNOVATION
Why?The world around us is changing ever faster. At the same time innovation is no longer just about products or technology. It’s also about services, internal structure and processes, business models, and customer experience… Every aspect of how you do business, must be scrutinized. Organizations have to keep up...
INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2
OPERTO
A WORLD-LEADING PROPERTY AUTOMATION PLATFORM FOR THE SHORT-TERM, MULTIFAMILY AND HOTEL INDUSTRIES
By bringing together innovative software and best-in-class hardware solutions, Operto enables property owners/managers to efficiently run, scale and monetize their business, while eliminating common friction points associated with the guest journey. Operto has built a huge global footprint in the accommodation industry, with customers ranging from single Airbnb operators, up...
INNOVATE® South Carolina
Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)
From Ideas to Impact: MUSC’s Culture of Innovation.
Founded in 1824 in Charleston, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) serves as the state’s only comprehensive academic health system, dedicated to preserving and optimizing human life in South Carolina through education, research, and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates more than 3,200 students across six colleges—Dental Medicine, Graduate...
INNOVATE™ Bristol & Bath
Caleño
The Story SO FAR!
About UsCaleño is a range of distilled non-alcoholic spirits inspired by the sun-drenched spirit of Colombia that take you seamlessly from day to night. Light & Zesty is a tropical blend of Inca berry, citrus and spice botanicals and Dark & Spicy, a warming infusion of dark tropical pineapple notes...
INNOVATE™ Alberta
INCEPTIONU
The Un-School challenging Calgarians to think and build differently
Have you ever thought about the difference between being future proof or future fit? InceptionU co-founders Margo Purcell and Greg Hart certainly have. In fact, the two Calgary professionals have built a business around it. InceptionU is a place of meaningful learning where individuals, businesses and organizations go to learn...
INNOVATE® Georgia
SCIENTIFIC GAMES
THE WORLD’S LARGEST LOTTERY GAMES COMPANY ATLANTA-BASED INNOVATOR POWERS THE GLOBAL GOVERNMENT-REGULATED LOTTERY INDUSTRY
More than 50 years of relentless innovation. Legendary performance. Unwavering security. And trusted partnerships. All built on a foundation of science. Since 1973, Scientific Games has integrated science into everything the company does. Its founders – a mathematician and an engineer – developed the world’s first secure lottery instant “scratch”...
INNOVATE® Jacksonville
Beeline
A story of true innovation, perseverance, and grit
Ours is a story of true innovation, perseverance, and grit, which eventually led the company to be one of the two dominant forces in workforce management. , Beeline is a Jacksonville-based company just exiting its teenage years. Beeline isn’t a household name; in fact, most of the Jacksonville...
INNOVATE® Georgia
REPAY
ATLANTA’S REPAY REVAMPS PAYMENT TECHNOLOGY TO PROVIDE ADVANTAGES FOR CONSUMERS & BUSINESSES
History & PurposeREPAY was founded in 2006 by John Morris and Shaler Alias with the goal of providing fast, frictionless, and fail-safe integrated payment processing solutions for consumers and businesses. Morris serves as REPAY’s CEO to this day, and Alias co-leads as president from the company’s headquarters in Atlanta. REPAY’s...
INNOVATE™ Estonia
TOOMAS ALTNURME
BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN ART, INNOVATION, AND SUSTAINABILITY
Few artists can claim to move as fluidly between continents, disciplines, and cultures as Dr. Toomas Altnurme. An Estonian sculptor, painter, designer, educator, and cultural ambassador, his creative life is a testament to how art can transcend geography and time. “I’ve always believed art is a universal language,” says Dr....
INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1
SONGFINCH
Is a Platform to Discover and Collaborate With Thousands of Musicians to Create Personalized, One-of-a-Kind Songs
Since launching, Songfinch has grown into the leading creator marketplace for musicians touting some of the most influential names in music and tech as investors, including music icon Quincy Jones, current music superstars Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye and Amala ‘Doja Cat’ Dlamini, Atlantic Records CEO Craig Kallman, School of Rock...
INNOVATE® Milwaukee
ROCKWELL AUTOMATION
EXPANDING HUMAN POSSIBILITY
The Allen-Bradley® Clock Tower, part of the Rockwell Automation headquarters, is an iconic piece of the Milwaukee skyline and a symbol of the city’s rich industrial and technological heritage. For 120 years, Rockwell Automation has been innovating and engineering solutions that advance industrial automation – allowing manufacturers around the globe...
INNOVATE™ Stockholm
HEARTRUNNER
THE POWER OF VOLUNTEERS: COLLECTIVE ACTION WHEN EVERY MINUTE COUNTS
Heartrunner Sweden is a small and expanding company founded in Stockholm, driven by the conviction that volunteers have the power to make a difference. With this core belief, they have pioneered technology for time-critical emergencies, alerting volunteer responders to provide swift cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) before...
INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition
EIS (Early Intervention Systems)
CREATING A MORE ATTENTIVE LEVEL OF CARE FOR MEMORY CARE RESIDENTS
EIS (Early Intervention Systems) was founded by two graduates of George Washington University, Nathalya Ramirez as CEO, Krishan Shah as CFO, and current GWU Medical Student Rohan Patil as CTO. The team was motivated to create a digital well-being software platform that could tangibly improve the tracking of Activities of...
INNOVATION Quebec
AXELYS
AN ESSENTIAL MISSION FOR THE FUTURE OF QUÉBEC Axelys integrates innovations from Quebec’s public research into the mainstream of society. Our mission is at the heart of the new 2022 2027 Québec strategy to support research and investment in innovation, launched in May 2022 by the Quebec government. At Axelys,...
INNOVATE® Nashville
SwitchPoint Ventures
We build companies around pioneering technologies.
Our journey began a decade ago, here in Nashville – a city known for creativity and reinvention. That same spirit shaped how we approach innovation: with collaboration, grit, and a builder’s mindset. At SwitchPoint Ventures, we build companies around pioneering technologies – particularly in AI, data science, and digital innovation...
INNOVATE® Jacksonville
Kamana
Travel Healthcare Accelerated
Kamana brings workflow efficiency and security to an antiquated industry, connecting healthcare employers with qualified professionals to fill contract staffing needs. The contract healthcare staffing industry is fundamentally flawed. Travel healthcare professionals, who change locations (and employers) every three months, consistently complain about the lack of continuity across the industry....
INNOVATION Quebec
Montréal InVivo
Au cœur de l’écosystème des sciences de la vie et des technologies de la santé du Grand Montréal
Montréal InVivo est un réseau d’échanges, de mobilisation et de collaborations dans l’écosystème des sciences de la vie et technologies de la santé (SVTS). Fondé en 2007 et dirigé par Frank Béraud depuis 2015, la mission de cet organisme à but non lucratif est de faire avancer et progresser la...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
SHOUT-IT-NOW
TACKLING HIV THROUGH INNOVATIVE, TECH-ENABLED, COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAMMING
Shout-It-Now (Shout) is an innovative social enterprise, empowering youth to own their sexuality. We concentrate on hard to reach communities; we go to the places where they are, provide services they want, in such a way that they choose to keep coming back. We are a local South African organisation...
INNOVATE® Philadelphia: 250 Years of Innovation
Ensemble
Long-Term Capital, Real Assets, and Regional Growth: Ensemble’s Development Strategy in Philadelphia
Philadelphia’s real estate landscape is rapidly evolving. Shifts in work patterns, the growth of life sciences and advanced manufacturing, and increased expectations for sustainability, affordability, and community impact are reshaping demand. In this environment, successful development requires more than opportunistic execution—it demands patient capital, long-term planning, and the ability to...
INNOVATE™ Estonia
STARTUP DAY
A COMMUNITY-POWERED FESTIVAL FOR BOLD INNOVATORS
sTARTUp Has ‘Tartu’ in its name – and that’s no coincidence. sTARTUp Day, Northern Europe’s most startup-minded business festival, is a unique event that thrives on the power of its community. Born from a shared vision in a sauna in 2015, it has evolved into a world-class gathering in Tartu,...
INNOVATE™ Alberta
PLUG AND PLAY
DRIVING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION THROUGH A GLOBAL INNOVATION PLATFORM
At Plug and Play we believe that innovation should be open to anyone, anywhere. Plug and Play is building the leading innovation platform in the world focused on bringing Fortune 1000 corporations, innovative technology startups, and institutional investors together to develop and implement the technologies of tomorrow. Our innovation platform...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
MYSOCIALIFE
IS AN EDTECH TRAINING PROGRAM THAT TRAINS PRE-TEENS AND TEENS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ABOUT ONLINE SAFETY, DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP AND MEDIA LITERACY, IN ORDER TO FIRST MAKE THEM CONSCIOUS AND AWARE OF SAFETY ONLINE, WHICH WILL ULTIMATELY ALLOW THEM TO EXPLORE INTELLIGENTLY AND LATER EXCEL IN A COMPETITIVE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
In order to ensure this is successful, the South African-based educators also teach learners’ parents and their teachers too, as well as mental health professionals, helping to bridge the technological divide and provide the much-needed insights and tools to navigate a complex social landscape. “The more we do that,...
INNOVATE™ Flanders
THE UNIVERSITY OF ANTWERP
GATEWAY FOR FUTURE INNOVATIONS
The University of Antwerp serves as a gateway for future innovations, playing a pivotal role within Antwerp’s thriving innovation ecosystem and beyond. It contributes significantly to driving innovation and fostering societal and economic impact, further solidifying its position as a pioneer in cutting-edge research and innovation. A key driver in...
INNOVATE® Ohio
University Hospitals (UH)
Beyond Patient Care: How University Hospitals Is Building a Healthcare Innovation Economy
University Hospitals (UH) is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading academic health systems. Across Northeast Ohio, it is known for delivering exceptional care while building one of the region’s most comprehensive healthcare innovation ecosystems. By integrating research, entrepreneurship, technology and clinical expertise, UH is shaping the future of...
INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2
BEDENK
INNOVATE FROM WITHIN LET YOUR EMPLOYEES BECOME THE ENGINE OF INNOVATION
Why?The world around us is changing ever faster. At the same time innovation is no longer just about products or technology. It’s also about services, internal structure and processes, business models, and customer experience… Every aspect of how you do business, must be scrutinized. Organizations have to keep up...
INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2
OPERTO
A WORLD-LEADING PROPERTY AUTOMATION PLATFORM FOR THE SHORT-TERM, MULTIFAMILY AND HOTEL INDUSTRIES
By bringing together innovative software and best-in-class hardware solutions, Operto enables property owners/managers to efficiently run, scale and monetize their business, while eliminating common friction points associated with the guest journey. Operto has built a huge global footprint in the accommodation industry, with customers ranging from single Airbnb operators, up...