Stories of Innovation
INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1
POWER REVIEWS
ENABLING BRANDS AND RETAILERS TO DRIVE MORE REVENUE WITH RATINGS AND REVIEWS
PowerReviews works with more than 1,000 global brands and retailers to help them collect, display and analyze user-generated content – Ratings and Reviews, Questions and Answers, and images and videos – on their websites. As more consumers flocked online as a result of Covid, this content actually became significantly more...
INNOVATE® Nashville
CAPITOL VIEW DENTAL
DENTISTRY WITH A CLASSICAL TOUCH, WHERE NASHVILLE COMES TO SMILE!
When I started college in 2005 at Indiana University, if you would have told me I’d be opening the first black owned dental practice in the North Gulch in Nashville by 2025, I would have been totally shocked. I would be trying to figure out how a musician studying classical...
INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports
LEARN2ESPORT'S
MISSION IS TO HELP YOUTH LEARN VALUABLE LIFE SKILLS THROUGH ESPORTS
Their core product, Gameplan, helps players of all ages acquire real-world skills that aid professional development, cognitive abilities, promote healthy habits, and more. Rasmus Sandstöm and Dan Andreasson started Learn2Esport in 2016 with the vision of engaging students through esports, and teaching them valuable life skills to prepare them...
Global Innovation Spotlight
Agricultural Software Trends Transforming Industry in 2025 and Beyond
Agtech is changing farming in exciting ways by using smart digital tools and machines to solve old problems. Farmers today face higher costs, fewer workers, and more pressure to farm in ways that protect the environment. To handle these challenges, more farms are using agtech than ever before. At the...
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® Miami
Penpal Schools
Helping teachers connect their students to learn with penpals around the world and from different backgrounds
PenPal Schools PenPal Schools is the world’s largest project-based learning community, with over a quarter million students in 150 countries. Students collaborate through online projects ranging from human rights and the environment to fake news and robotics, all while practicing literacy, technology, and social-emotional skills. PenPal Schools was recognized by...
INNOVATE™ Adelaide
CITY OF SALISBURY
THE ECONOMIC HEART OF NORTHERN ADELAIDE
The City of Salisbury covers 158km2 and stretches from Valley View in the south to Edinburgh in the north, St Kilda in the west and Salisbury Heights in the east. It contributes $8.65 billion to the State economy and nearly 61,994 jobs. Significant employment hubs are located in: • Vicinity...
INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2
PORT OF ANTWERP-BRUGES
BUILDING THE PORT OF THE FUTURE
Major challenges on energy transition, climate, mobility, and digital transformation are ahead of us and are closely linked to the activities of Port of Antwerp-Bruges, being the 2nd largest port in Europe and the 2nd largest integrated chemical cluster in the world. The recent merger between the ports of Antwerp...
INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports
JUST ESPORTS
BUILDING A BETTER WORLD FOR EACH AND EVERY GAMER
Just Esports is an organization that is dedicated to working on justice initiatives in the esports and gaming space. Much of their work focuses on educational programs aimed at empowering others to promote justice in their respective groups and providing individuals with the best tools to build out esports communities...
INNOVATE® Jacksonville
SORBOTICS
Market Leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) Software Technology Startup
SORBOTICS is a market leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) software technology startup. They have developed the industry’s 1st AI operating system IIoT software platform that solves industrial enterprises biggest pain points. SORBA is the world’s most Advanced, Enterprise, Industrial IoT platform that enables engineers, data scientists, operators, and maintenance teams to...
INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports
GUARDIANGAMER
GAMING FROM A DIFFERENT VIEW
Heidi is an entrepreneur and computer scientist who anticipates the needs of businesses and society as they’re transformed by digital technology. She earned her Master’s in Computer Science at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. She is constantly seeking the edge of change and where she finds it, she...
INNOVATION Quebec
TOPMED
CCTT FOR HEALTH INNOVATION
TOPMED assists organizations involved in healthcare, adaptation, rehabilitation and mobility. We develop, customize, optimize and validate devices, equipment and technologies for vulnerable populations and athletes. TOPMED develops and conducts applied research projects focused on innovation and technological improvement, working in collaboration with laboratories—public or private—and businesses to provide social, mechanical...
INNOVATE® Detroit
Duolingo
Duolingo's Detroit Journey: From Gunner to Hobbes and Animated Innovation.
In Detroit, two motion design studios were making waves in the animation world: Gunner, known for its bold illustration and character animation, and Hobbes, a leader in product-driven animation. The companies earned reputations for creativity and emotional intelligence, collaborating with high-profile clients for years. However, everything changed when Duolingo—the world’s...
INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition
COLDS Collective
LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AGE
COLDS Collective is a creator collective and digital native organisation helping people of African descent navigate and harness Web3 and other emerging technologies. United by the mission to educate, grow and innovate collectively, COLDS Collective is harnessing the power of bits (technology) to make tangible, positive changes in atoms (real...
INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2
ECOMsquare
COWORKING SPACE AND COMMUNITY FOR ECOMMERCE IN VANCOUVER
A community project since day one.You might think of ECOMsquare as a place. To its founder, Steve Krueger, the distinctive blue building on West 8th Ave represents the latest evolution of a community he’s been building since June 12, 2014. Krueger hosted an Ecommerce Town Hall to connect with professionals...
INNOVATION Quebec
ÉCOBES
UN CCTT DÉDIÉ À RÉSOUDRE LES INÉGALITÉS SOCIALES EN ÉDUCATION ET EN SANTÉ
UN CCTT DÉDIÉ À RÉSOUDRE LES INÉGALITÉS SOCIALES EN ÉDUCATION ET EN SANTÉ AU MOYEN DE LA RECHERCHE APPLIQUÉE ET PARTENARIALE COMPRENDRE, COCONSTRUIRE, AGIR Le Centre d’Étude sur les COnditions de vie et BESoins de la population (ÉCOBES) s’affirme en tant que chef de file dans le domaine de l’innovation...
INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1
ACCLAIM EXPRESS
IS A TECH START-UP THAT IS FOCUSING ON REVOLUTIONIZING AND TRANSFORMING THE TECH INDUSTRY WITH ITS VIRTUAL MARKETPLACE - ACCLAIM
Acclaim will serve as a Virtual Business Environment (VBE) for all small businesses globally. The idea is to take small businesses to the internet and be able to create virtual offices, stalls, and markets which are manageable. This innovation was inspired by the digital transformation of the economy and the...
INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports
DREAMCRAFT
We Are Hands-On Venture Engineers Who Support Dreamers And Crafters Building Legendary Companies
At Dreamcraft, we invest in European tech-driven companies from pre-seed to Series A. We are generalists with a proven track record in iGaming, gaming, esports, D2C, B2B SaaS, and decarbonization. We believe success is created by a team of dreamers and crafters – and we are venture engineers who help...
INNOVATE™ Bristol & Bath
Bristol’s City of Film
A UNESCO Creative City
Bristol: a globally celebrated City of Film Since 2017, Bristol has been a UNESCO City of Film, one of 18 cities to hold this permanent global status recognising world-leading achievement in the field of film and the moving image. It is also a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network,...
INNOVATE® Nashville
CELERO COMMERCE
WAS FOUNDED WITH ONE PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVE: TO HELP SMALL AND MID-SIZED BUSINESSES WIN
We know that we can deliver that by leveraging our investment in FinTech and our commitment to partnerships with community /regional banks. It is this combination that truly empowers local businesses in a way that enables them to compete and win in this ever more complex and competitive market. ...
INNOVATION Quebec
IRIPII
CCTT SUR L’IMMIGRATION ET SUR LES PRATIQUES INTERCULTURELLES ET INCLUSIVES
Créée en 2009 au Collège de Maisonneuve, l’institut de recherche sur l’immigration et sur les pratiques interculturelles et inclusives IRIPII est l’un des rares organismes au Québec qui, dans le domaine de l’immigration, de par sa position d’interface entre les milieux de recherche et les différents milieux de pratiques, a...
INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition
USCREEN
BUILDING A MORE CONNECTED CREATOR FUTURE THROUGH THE POWER OF MEMBERSHIPS
USCREEN IS AN ALL-IN-ONE MEMBERSHIP PLATFORM BUILT FOR VIDEO CREATORS. Uscreen started as a bootstrapped company in 2014 with just an idea to start streaming DVDs and quickly pivoted to helping their customers sell video on demand subscriptions. Early customers include Yoga with Adriene and Sarah Beth Yoga, two highly...
INNOVATE® Jacksonville
Essential Culture Podcast Network
Podcast-based media platform for Northeast Florida
The Essential Culture Podcast Network (ECPN) is a podcast-based media platform for Northeast Florida. Through strategic collaborations with Jacksonville-based media institutions, our network provides a series of cultural programs available to be downloaded on multiple streaming platforms. Listeners can subscribe to shows dedicated to subjects centered around business, advocacy, entertainment,...
INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1
POWER REVIEWS
ENABLING BRANDS AND RETAILERS TO DRIVE MORE REVENUE WITH RATINGS AND REVIEWS
PowerReviews works with more than 1,000 global brands and retailers to help them collect, display and analyze user-generated content – Ratings and Reviews, Questions and Answers, and images and videos – on their websites. As more consumers flocked online as a result of Covid, this content actually became significantly more...
INNOVATE® Nashville
CAPITOL VIEW DENTAL
DENTISTRY WITH A CLASSICAL TOUCH, WHERE NASHVILLE COMES TO SMILE!
When I started college in 2005 at Indiana University, if you would have told me I’d be opening the first black owned dental practice in the North Gulch in Nashville by 2025, I would have been totally shocked. I would be trying to figure out how a musician studying classical...
INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports
LEARN2ESPORT'S
MISSION IS TO HELP YOUTH LEARN VALUABLE LIFE SKILLS THROUGH ESPORTS
Their core product, Gameplan, helps players of all ages acquire real-world skills that aid professional development, cognitive abilities, promote healthy habits, and more. Rasmus Sandstöm and Dan Andreasson started Learn2Esport in 2016 with the vision of engaging students through esports, and teaching them valuable life skills to prepare them...
Global Innovation Spotlight
Agricultural Software Trends Transforming Industry in 2025 and Beyond
Agtech is changing farming in exciting ways by using smart digital tools and machines to solve old problems. Farmers today face higher costs, fewer workers, and more pressure to farm in ways that protect the environment. To handle these challenges, more farms are using agtech than ever before. At the...
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® Miami
Penpal Schools
Helping teachers connect their students to learn with penpals around the world and from different backgrounds
PenPal Schools PenPal Schools is the world’s largest project-based learning community, with over a quarter million students in 150 countries. Students collaborate through online projects ranging from human rights and the environment to fake news and robotics, all while practicing literacy, technology, and social-emotional skills. PenPal Schools was recognized by...
INNOVATE™ Adelaide
CITY OF SALISBURY
THE ECONOMIC HEART OF NORTHERN ADELAIDE
The City of Salisbury covers 158km2 and stretches from Valley View in the south to Edinburgh in the north, St Kilda in the west and Salisbury Heights in the east. It contributes $8.65 billion to the State economy and nearly 61,994 jobs. Significant employment hubs are located in: • Vicinity...
INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2
PORT OF ANTWERP-BRUGES
BUILDING THE PORT OF THE FUTURE
Major challenges on energy transition, climate, mobility, and digital transformation are ahead of us and are closely linked to the activities of Port of Antwerp-Bruges, being the 2nd largest port in Europe and the 2nd largest integrated chemical cluster in the world. The recent merger between the ports of Antwerp...
INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports
JUST ESPORTS
BUILDING A BETTER WORLD FOR EACH AND EVERY GAMER
Just Esports is an organization that is dedicated to working on justice initiatives in the esports and gaming space. Much of their work focuses on educational programs aimed at empowering others to promote justice in their respective groups and providing individuals with the best tools to build out esports communities...
INNOVATE® Jacksonville
SORBOTICS
Market Leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) Software Technology Startup
SORBOTICS is a market leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) software technology startup. They have developed the industry’s 1st AI operating system IIoT software platform that solves industrial enterprises biggest pain points. SORBA is the world’s most Advanced, Enterprise, Industrial IoT platform that enables engineers, data scientists, operators, and maintenance teams to...
INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports
GUARDIANGAMER
GAMING FROM A DIFFERENT VIEW
Heidi is an entrepreneur and computer scientist who anticipates the needs of businesses and society as they’re transformed by digital technology. She earned her Master’s in Computer Science at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. She is constantly seeking the edge of change and where she finds it, she...
INNOVATION Quebec
TOPMED
CCTT FOR HEALTH INNOVATION
TOPMED assists organizations involved in healthcare, adaptation, rehabilitation and mobility. We develop, customize, optimize and validate devices, equipment and technologies for vulnerable populations and athletes. TOPMED develops and conducts applied research projects focused on innovation and technological improvement, working in collaboration with laboratories—public or private—and businesses to provide social, mechanical...
INNOVATE® Detroit
Duolingo
Duolingo's Detroit Journey: From Gunner to Hobbes and Animated Innovation.
In Detroit, two motion design studios were making waves in the animation world: Gunner, known for its bold illustration and character animation, and Hobbes, a leader in product-driven animation. The companies earned reputations for creativity and emotional intelligence, collaborating with high-profile clients for years. However, everything changed when Duolingo—the world’s...
INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition
COLDS Collective
LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AGE
COLDS Collective is a creator collective and digital native organisation helping people of African descent navigate and harness Web3 and other emerging technologies. United by the mission to educate, grow and innovate collectively, COLDS Collective is harnessing the power of bits (technology) to make tangible, positive changes in atoms (real...
INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2
ECOMsquare
COWORKING SPACE AND COMMUNITY FOR ECOMMERCE IN VANCOUVER
A community project since day one.You might think of ECOMsquare as a place. To its founder, Steve Krueger, the distinctive blue building on West 8th Ave represents the latest evolution of a community he’s been building since June 12, 2014. Krueger hosted an Ecommerce Town Hall to connect with professionals...
INNOVATION Quebec
ÉCOBES
UN CCTT DÉDIÉ À RÉSOUDRE LES INÉGALITÉS SOCIALES EN ÉDUCATION ET EN SANTÉ
UN CCTT DÉDIÉ À RÉSOUDRE LES INÉGALITÉS SOCIALES EN ÉDUCATION ET EN SANTÉ AU MOYEN DE LA RECHERCHE APPLIQUÉE ET PARTENARIALE COMPRENDRE, COCONSTRUIRE, AGIR Le Centre d’Étude sur les COnditions de vie et BESoins de la population (ÉCOBES) s’affirme en tant que chef de file dans le domaine de l’innovation...
INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1
ACCLAIM EXPRESS
IS A TECH START-UP THAT IS FOCUSING ON REVOLUTIONIZING AND TRANSFORMING THE TECH INDUSTRY WITH ITS VIRTUAL MARKETPLACE - ACCLAIM
Acclaim will serve as a Virtual Business Environment (VBE) for all small businesses globally. The idea is to take small businesses to the internet and be able to create virtual offices, stalls, and markets which are manageable. This innovation was inspired by the digital transformation of the economy and the...
INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports
DREAMCRAFT
We Are Hands-On Venture Engineers Who Support Dreamers And Crafters Building Legendary Companies
At Dreamcraft, we invest in European tech-driven companies from pre-seed to Series A. We are generalists with a proven track record in iGaming, gaming, esports, D2C, B2B SaaS, and decarbonization. We believe success is created by a team of dreamers and crafters – and we are venture engineers who help...
INNOVATE™ Bristol & Bath
Bristol’s City of Film
A UNESCO Creative City
Bristol: a globally celebrated City of Film Since 2017, Bristol has been a UNESCO City of Film, one of 18 cities to hold this permanent global status recognising world-leading achievement in the field of film and the moving image. It is also a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network,...
INNOVATE® Nashville
CELERO COMMERCE
WAS FOUNDED WITH ONE PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVE: TO HELP SMALL AND MID-SIZED BUSINESSES WIN
We know that we can deliver that by leveraging our investment in FinTech and our commitment to partnerships with community /regional banks. It is this combination that truly empowers local businesses in a way that enables them to compete and win in this ever more complex and competitive market. ...
INNOVATION Quebec
IRIPII
CCTT SUR L’IMMIGRATION ET SUR LES PRATIQUES INTERCULTURELLES ET INCLUSIVES
Créée en 2009 au Collège de Maisonneuve, l’institut de recherche sur l’immigration et sur les pratiques interculturelles et inclusives IRIPII est l’un des rares organismes au Québec qui, dans le domaine de l’immigration, de par sa position d’interface entre les milieux de recherche et les différents milieux de pratiques, a...
INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition
USCREEN
BUILDING A MORE CONNECTED CREATOR FUTURE THROUGH THE POWER OF MEMBERSHIPS
USCREEN IS AN ALL-IN-ONE MEMBERSHIP PLATFORM BUILT FOR VIDEO CREATORS. Uscreen started as a bootstrapped company in 2014 with just an idea to start streaming DVDs and quickly pivoted to helping their customers sell video on demand subscriptions. Early customers include Yoga with Adriene and Sarah Beth Yoga, two highly...
INNOVATE® Jacksonville
Essential Culture Podcast Network
Podcast-based media platform for Northeast Florida
The Essential Culture Podcast Network (ECPN) is a podcast-based media platform for Northeast Florida. Through strategic collaborations with Jacksonville-based media institutions, our network provides a series of cultural programs available to be downloaded on multiple streaming platforms. Listeners can subscribe to shows dedicated to subjects centered around business, advocacy, entertainment,...