Stories of Innovation
INNOVATE® Jacksonville
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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, 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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,...