Stories of Innovation

INNOVATE® Jacksonville

The UNF Step Lab - A Major Contributor To The STEM Education Ecosystem

The UNF Step Lab - A Major Contributor To The STEM Education Ecosystem

The UNF Step Lab, housed in the UNF College of Education and Human Services, positions UNF to continue to be a major contributor to the STEM Education ecosystem in the Northeast Florida community. It is a place where regional preK-12 students, teachers, university faculty and students, and community/business partners can...

INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1

YMCA OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO

YMCA OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO-WELCOME TO THE WORLD’S OLDEST INCUBATOR. THE YMCA OF METRO CHICAGO IS INNOVATING FROM THE INSIDE

WELCOME TO THE WORLD’S OLDEST INCUBATOR. THE YMCA OF METRO CHICAGO IS INNOVATING FROM THE INSIDE

In 2022, the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago celebrated its 164th birthday. There are only a handful of organizations in the country with that kind of history. But all those candles on the cake are not merely a reminder of accomplishments passed. It’s also a light leading the way forward, illuminating...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

upace™

Revolutionizing How Members Engage with Recreation Centers

Revolutionizing How Members Engage with Recreation Centers In 2014, Rachel Koretsky founded Upace, which has since skyrocketed to become the top mobile app engagement and reservation platform, supporting over one million members of community recreation centers across the US and Canada. Her journey started at American University, driven by a...

INNOVATE® Nashville

Parallel Entrepreneur

How Mark Cleveland Is Redefining Entrepreneurship in Music City

In a city known for breakout artists and bold founders, Mark Cleveland is building something less obvious but no less revolutionary. Through his Parallel Entrepreneur brand – anchored by a podcast, a growing network, and a forthcoming book – Cleveland is giving voice to a specific kind of business leader:...

INNOVATE® Jacksonville

Closing Bear

Closing Bear - A fast-paced company that offers title insurance and closings

A fast-paced company that offers title insurance and closings

Closing Bear is a fast-paced title company that offers title insurance and closings for anyone buying or selling real estate. Simply put, Closing Bear does all the paperwork when someone buys or sells property … but they do it better than anyone else. , Closing Bear launched in June 2019...

INNOVATE® Northern Virginia

CrossCountry Consulting

Where Expertise, Technology, and Human Insight Converge

Northern Virginia is a region defined by motion: technological, economic, and organizational change shape its daily rhythm. For the companies that power it, transformation is no longer a future goal but a present demand. Finance leaders must modernize operations, manage enterprise complexity, and adopt emerging technologies quickly. They must achieve...

United Nations Lesotho

UNITED NATIONS LESOTHO

MESSAGE BY THE RESIDENT COORDINATOR

Ka lebelo la Ntšoekhe – With the speed of Ntšoekhe and aligned to the call by UN Member States to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, this Cooperation Framework (CF) calls for accelerated pace in decision making, delivering and coordinating of development priorities, while leveraging all available resources,...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

NUMEDICO

THIS ADELAIDE-BASED MEDTECH START-UP HAS FOUND GLOBAL RECOGNITION

THIS ADELAIDE-BASED MEDTECH START-UP HAS FOUND GLOBAL RECOGNITION WITH MORE EFFICIENT, SAFER AND AFFORDABLE DRUG DELIVERY METHODS. SPACE RESEARCH FOR REAL-WORLD PROBLEMSPushing the boundaries of medical research all the way into orbit, Numedico’s latest business venture is a partnership with satellite infrastructure provider ResearchSat to explore newmethods to administer medication....

INNOVATE® Detroit

HEXAGON CREATIVE

ELEVATING DIGITAL PRESENCE -Hexagon Creative’s Web Design and Branding Services

Hexagon Creative, a visionary in digital product development, extends its prowess to offer exceptional web design and branding services. Recognizing the pivotal role of an impactful online presence in today’s digital landscape, Hexagon Creative brings innovation, creativity, and a commitment to excellence to the realms of web design and branding....

INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1

JELLYVISION

JELLYVISION-CELEBRATING THREE DECADES IN CHICAGO TECH

CELEBRATING THREE DECADES IN CHICAGO TECH

WHO IS JELLYVISION?Jellyvision is the benefits engagement platform trusted by companies large and small, including many of the Fortune 500. We’re committed to reinventing how employees choose and use benefits, and our sophisticated technology delights and guides employees to make better decisions — leading them and our customers to more...

INNOVATE™ Toronto

TORONTO BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

TORONTO BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTRE- Is One Of Toronto’s Premier Start-Up Incubators And Accelerators With A Rich History Dating Back Three Decades

Is One Of Toronto’s Premier Start-Up Incubators And Accelerators With A Rich History Dating Back Three Decades

Since its inception, TBDC has worked with thousands of entrepreneurs by helping them build and grow their ideas. TBDC helps international entrepreneurs aggressively scale up and choose Canada to grow their businesses. To date, TBDC has helped over 9,000 domestic and international entrepreneurial businesses establish themselves in Toronto and Ontario...

INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2

MOBILE LOAVES & FISHES

MOBILE LOAVES & FISHES-FOOD

FOOD, HOPE, DIGNITY … AND THE MOST TALKED ABOUT NEIGHBORHOOD IN AUSTIN, TEXAS

What started as five men in Austin, Texas answering God’s call to “love your neighbor” by serving meals out of the back of a green minivan has turned into one of the country’s most innovative approaches for mitigating homelessness. In 1998, the seed of the idea for Mobile Loaves &...

INNOVATE® Georgia

SOUTHWIRE

MORE THAN SEVEN DECADESOF INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP

Southwire’s roots extend back to 1937, when Roy Richards, Sr. started Richards & Associates (R&A) to erect power poles with the ultimate purpose of bringing electric light to his grandmother’s home. During its first two and a half years, R&A strung 3,500 miles of cable, becoming the nation’s second-largest Rural...

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® 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® Maryland

Maryland Sports Commission

Our focus is ensuring that every event we pursue, leaves a lasting legacy.

When the Maryland Stadium Authority and Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (now the Maryland Department of Commerce) partnered in 2008 to create the Office of Sports Marketing, their goal was bold and unmistakable: position Maryland as an elite destination for sports and a national leader in sports tourism....

INNOVATE® South Carolina

QUERRI

CHARLESTON-BASED AI SOFTWARE COMPANY DISRUPTING DATA CULTURE

In an era where artificial intelligence is reshaping industries at an unprecedented pace, businesses face a crucial dilemma – either harness the power of AI-driven insights or risk being left behind. For too long, the world of data has been dominated by complexity, requiring specialized technical skills that keep decision-makers...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

ENGEFOTO

COMPANY SPECIALIZED IN INFRASTRUCTURE AND GEOTECHNOLOGY, OPERATING IN BRAZIL SINCE 1980.

Through the years, the company has not only established itself as a leader in the sector but has also actively shaped the field of territory mapping and modeling with a series of groundbreaking technologies. In 1990, Engefoto began developing software for georeferencing, aiming to master new geolocation technologies such as...

INNOVATE™ Alberta

ALBERTA IoT

Supporting an ever-growing ecosystem at Alberta IoT

Alberta IoT is a non-profit member-based association supporting organizations with a vested interest in internet of things (IoT) and emerging technologies. Members, ranging in size from solo entrepreneurs to large enterprise, collaborate to provide a common voice to advance the knowledge, adoption, and growth of emerging tech in Alberta and...

INNOVATE™ Alberta

AVATAR

THERE IS A NEW ENERGY FUTURE. LET’S GO BUILD IT.

LEADERSHIP. COLLABORATION. CAPITAL. IT’S HOW WE’RE TURNING ENERGY TRANSITION INTO A MASSIVE OPPORTUNITY.Avatar was born from the simple premise that solutions to the complex challenges of climate change and energy transition must come from within the energy industry. By working inside incumbent heavy industry, Avatar Innovations unlocks industry validated solutions...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

M&C SAATCHI ABEL

M&C SAATCHI ABEL-SINCE ITS INCEPTION

SINCE ITS INCEPTION, THE M&C SAATCHI ABEL STORY IS ONE OF AUDACITY, TENACITY AND AN UNWAVERING BELIEF THAT ALL PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED WITH HOT CREATIVITY

What began as an unfurnished open space on the fourth floor of The Hudson Building in De Waterkant, Cape Town, with 13 people in 2010, is today a growing agency with over 250 talented, creative and diverse people, across a Cape Town and Johannesburg campus, and an agency that has...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

PERSONIFY CARE

INNOVATIVE HEALTH TECH PLATFORM ENABLES PATIENTS TO ACCESS THE BEST POSSIBLE CARE

Personify Care is a flexible and scalable health tech platform that accelerates health services to transform their patient experience whilst simultaneously reducing the administrative and cognitive burden on our frontline staff. Led by South Australian CEO Ken Saman, Personify Care’s approach is to support healthcare teams to rapidly adapt and...

INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1

MATTER

MATTER-At MATTER

At MATTER, We Help People And Organizations Transform Ideas Into Solutions That Improve The Healthcare Experience

At MATTER — a global innovation hub headquartered in Chicago — entrepreneurs come together with industry leaders, scientists and clinicians from across the globe to collaborate on developing next-generation healthcare technologies. We believe that collaboration between entrepreneurs and industry leaders is the fastest, most effective way to accelerate innovation, advance...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

SPIRAL DATA

MEET THE AI TECHNOLOGISTS: Creating Decision Advantage for Water and Defence Organisations

In today’s fast-paced and data-driven business landscape, organisations are constantly seeking innovative solutions to unlock the true potential of their data. Enter Spiral Data, a leading player in Adelaide, Australia, revolutionising the way organisations extract insights from complex datasets. With a team of dedicated data scientists, machine learning engineers,and technologists,...

INNOVATE® Jacksonville

The UNF Step Lab - A Major Contributor To The STEM Education Ecosystem

The UNF Step Lab - A Major Contributor To The STEM Education Ecosystem

The UNF Step Lab, housed in the UNF College of Education and Human Services, positions UNF to continue to be a major contributor to the STEM Education ecosystem in the Northeast Florida community. It is a place where regional preK-12 students, teachers, university faculty and students, and community/business partners can...

INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1

YMCA OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO

YMCA OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO-WELCOME TO THE WORLD’S OLDEST INCUBATOR. THE YMCA OF METRO CHICAGO IS INNOVATING FROM THE INSIDE

WELCOME TO THE WORLD’S OLDEST INCUBATOR. THE YMCA OF METRO CHICAGO IS INNOVATING FROM THE INSIDE

In 2022, the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago celebrated its 164th birthday. There are only a handful of organizations in the country with that kind of history. But all those candles on the cake are not merely a reminder of accomplishments passed. It’s also a light leading the way forward, illuminating...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

upace™

Revolutionizing How Members Engage with Recreation Centers

Revolutionizing How Members Engage with Recreation Centers In 2014, Rachel Koretsky founded Upace, which has since skyrocketed to become the top mobile app engagement and reservation platform, supporting over one million members of community recreation centers across the US and Canada. Her journey started at American University, driven by a...

INNOVATE® Nashville

Parallel Entrepreneur

How Mark Cleveland Is Redefining Entrepreneurship in Music City

In a city known for breakout artists and bold founders, Mark Cleveland is building something less obvious but no less revolutionary. Through his Parallel Entrepreneur brand – anchored by a podcast, a growing network, and a forthcoming book – Cleveland is giving voice to a specific kind of business leader:...

INNOVATE® Jacksonville

Closing Bear

Closing Bear - A fast-paced company that offers title insurance and closings

A fast-paced company that offers title insurance and closings

Closing Bear is a fast-paced title company that offers title insurance and closings for anyone buying or selling real estate. Simply put, Closing Bear does all the paperwork when someone buys or sells property … but they do it better than anyone else. , Closing Bear launched in June 2019...

INNOVATE® Northern Virginia

CrossCountry Consulting

Where Expertise, Technology, and Human Insight Converge

Northern Virginia is a region defined by motion: technological, economic, and organizational change shape its daily rhythm. For the companies that power it, transformation is no longer a future goal but a present demand. Finance leaders must modernize operations, manage enterprise complexity, and adopt emerging technologies quickly. They must achieve...

United Nations Lesotho

UNITED NATIONS LESOTHO

MESSAGE BY THE RESIDENT COORDINATOR

Ka lebelo la Ntšoekhe – With the speed of Ntšoekhe and aligned to the call by UN Member States to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, this Cooperation Framework (CF) calls for accelerated pace in decision making, delivering and coordinating of development priorities, while leveraging all available resources,...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

NUMEDICO

THIS ADELAIDE-BASED MEDTECH START-UP HAS FOUND GLOBAL RECOGNITION

THIS ADELAIDE-BASED MEDTECH START-UP HAS FOUND GLOBAL RECOGNITION WITH MORE EFFICIENT, SAFER AND AFFORDABLE DRUG DELIVERY METHODS. SPACE RESEARCH FOR REAL-WORLD PROBLEMSPushing the boundaries of medical research all the way into orbit, Numedico’s latest business venture is a partnership with satellite infrastructure provider ResearchSat to explore newmethods to administer medication....

INNOVATE® Detroit

HEXAGON CREATIVE

ELEVATING DIGITAL PRESENCE -Hexagon Creative’s Web Design and Branding Services

Hexagon Creative, a visionary in digital product development, extends its prowess to offer exceptional web design and branding services. Recognizing the pivotal role of an impactful online presence in today’s digital landscape, Hexagon Creative brings innovation, creativity, and a commitment to excellence to the realms of web design and branding....

INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1

JELLYVISION

JELLYVISION-CELEBRATING THREE DECADES IN CHICAGO TECH

CELEBRATING THREE DECADES IN CHICAGO TECH

WHO IS JELLYVISION?Jellyvision is the benefits engagement platform trusted by companies large and small, including many of the Fortune 500. We’re committed to reinventing how employees choose and use benefits, and our sophisticated technology delights and guides employees to make better decisions — leading them and our customers to more...

INNOVATE™ Toronto

TORONTO BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

TORONTO BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTRE- Is One Of Toronto’s Premier Start-Up Incubators And Accelerators With A Rich History Dating Back Three Decades

Is One Of Toronto’s Premier Start-Up Incubators And Accelerators With A Rich History Dating Back Three Decades

Since its inception, TBDC has worked with thousands of entrepreneurs by helping them build and grow their ideas. TBDC helps international entrepreneurs aggressively scale up and choose Canada to grow their businesses. To date, TBDC has helped over 9,000 domestic and international entrepreneurial businesses establish themselves in Toronto and Ontario...

INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2

MOBILE LOAVES & FISHES

MOBILE LOAVES & FISHES-FOOD

FOOD, HOPE, DIGNITY … AND THE MOST TALKED ABOUT NEIGHBORHOOD IN AUSTIN, TEXAS

What started as five men in Austin, Texas answering God’s call to “love your neighbor” by serving meals out of the back of a green minivan has turned into one of the country’s most innovative approaches for mitigating homelessness. In 1998, the seed of the idea for Mobile Loaves &...

INNOVATE® Georgia

SOUTHWIRE

MORE THAN SEVEN DECADESOF INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP

Southwire’s roots extend back to 1937, when Roy Richards, Sr. started Richards & Associates (R&A) to erect power poles with the ultimate purpose of bringing electric light to his grandmother’s home. During its first two and a half years, R&A strung 3,500 miles of cable, becoming the nation’s second-largest Rural...

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® 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® Maryland

Maryland Sports Commission

Our focus is ensuring that every event we pursue, leaves a lasting legacy.

When the Maryland Stadium Authority and Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (now the Maryland Department of Commerce) partnered in 2008 to create the Office of Sports Marketing, their goal was bold and unmistakable: position Maryland as an elite destination for sports and a national leader in sports tourism....

INNOVATE® South Carolina

QUERRI

CHARLESTON-BASED AI SOFTWARE COMPANY DISRUPTING DATA CULTURE

In an era where artificial intelligence is reshaping industries at an unprecedented pace, businesses face a crucial dilemma – either harness the power of AI-driven insights or risk being left behind. For too long, the world of data has been dominated by complexity, requiring specialized technical skills that keep decision-makers...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

ENGEFOTO

COMPANY SPECIALIZED IN INFRASTRUCTURE AND GEOTECHNOLOGY, OPERATING IN BRAZIL SINCE 1980.

Through the years, the company has not only established itself as a leader in the sector but has also actively shaped the field of territory mapping and modeling with a series of groundbreaking technologies. In 1990, Engefoto began developing software for georeferencing, aiming to master new geolocation technologies such as...

INNOVATE™ Alberta

ALBERTA IoT

Supporting an ever-growing ecosystem at Alberta IoT

Alberta IoT is a non-profit member-based association supporting organizations with a vested interest in internet of things (IoT) and emerging technologies. Members, ranging in size from solo entrepreneurs to large enterprise, collaborate to provide a common voice to advance the knowledge, adoption, and growth of emerging tech in Alberta and...

INNOVATE™ Alberta

AVATAR

THERE IS A NEW ENERGY FUTURE. LET’S GO BUILD IT.

LEADERSHIP. COLLABORATION. CAPITAL. IT’S HOW WE’RE TURNING ENERGY TRANSITION INTO A MASSIVE OPPORTUNITY.Avatar was born from the simple premise that solutions to the complex challenges of climate change and energy transition must come from within the energy industry. By working inside incumbent heavy industry, Avatar Innovations unlocks industry validated solutions...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

M&C SAATCHI ABEL

M&C SAATCHI ABEL-SINCE ITS INCEPTION

SINCE ITS INCEPTION, THE M&C SAATCHI ABEL STORY IS ONE OF AUDACITY, TENACITY AND AN UNWAVERING BELIEF THAT ALL PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED WITH HOT CREATIVITY

What began as an unfurnished open space on the fourth floor of The Hudson Building in De Waterkant, Cape Town, with 13 people in 2010, is today a growing agency with over 250 talented, creative and diverse people, across a Cape Town and Johannesburg campus, and an agency that has...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

PERSONIFY CARE

INNOVATIVE HEALTH TECH PLATFORM ENABLES PATIENTS TO ACCESS THE BEST POSSIBLE CARE

Personify Care is a flexible and scalable health tech platform that accelerates health services to transform their patient experience whilst simultaneously reducing the administrative and cognitive burden on our frontline staff. Led by South Australian CEO Ken Saman, Personify Care’s approach is to support healthcare teams to rapidly adapt and...

INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1

MATTER

MATTER-At MATTER

At MATTER, We Help People And Organizations Transform Ideas Into Solutions That Improve The Healthcare Experience

At MATTER — a global innovation hub headquartered in Chicago — entrepreneurs come together with industry leaders, scientists and clinicians from across the globe to collaborate on developing next-generation healthcare technologies. We believe that collaboration between entrepreneurs and industry leaders is the fastest, most effective way to accelerate innovation, advance...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

SPIRAL DATA

MEET THE AI TECHNOLOGISTS: Creating Decision Advantage for Water and Defence Organisations

In today’s fast-paced and data-driven business landscape, organisations are constantly seeking innovative solutions to unlock the true potential of their data. Enter Spiral Data, a leading player in Adelaide, Australia, revolutionising the way organisations extract insights from complex datasets. With a team of dedicated data scientists, machine learning engineers,and technologists,...

Ecosystems