Stories of Innovation
INNOVATE® South Carolina
MASC
Celebrating 100 Years of Excellence: The Maritime Association of South Carolina’s Journey into the Future.
The Maritime Association of South Carolina (MASC) is proud to celebrate a century of service to the maritime community in 2026. For almost 100 years, MASC has been at the heart of South Carolina’s dynamic maritime industry, forging strong connections, advancing critical issues & paving the way for a prosperous...
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...
INNOVATE™ Stockholm
VOIMA VENTURES
SCALING SCIENCE: HOW VOIMA VENTURES POWERS DEEP TECH INNOVATION IN THE NORDICS
Voima Ventures has emerged as one of the Nordic region’s most distinctive venture capital firms, focusing on the commercialization and scaling of science-based innovation. Founded in 2019, with offices in Helsinki and Stockholm, the firm invests in early-stage companies developing breakthrough technologies with the potential to address global challenges and...
INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2
VOSSCHEMIE
BECOMES V-SURE -A CHEMISTRY WITH NATURE
OUR STORY BEGAN IN 1968. THAT IS WHEN OUR FOUNDER REMI DE MOOR ENTERED INTO A PARTNERSHIP WITH KLAUS WILLEM VOSS, OWNER OF THE GERMAN COMPANY VOSSCHEMIE. MARC AND CLAUDIA, REMI’S CHILDREN, TOOK OVER IN 2009. TO THIS DAY, WE ARE STILL A GENUINE AND SOLID FAMILY BUSINESS. Our DNA:...
INNOVATE™ Alberta
CANADIAN BLOCKCHAIN CONSORTIUM
ADVOCATING FOR THE BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY AND DIGITAL ASSETS SECTOR
Uniting diverse companies, individuals, and organizations from across the national innovation ecosystem, the Canadian Blockchain Consortium is the country’s advocate for the blockchain technology and cryptocurrency sector. The Consortium was launched in 2016 as the Alberta Blockchain Consortium by the late energy and technology pioneer Suzanne West, who had a...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
THIRD-i MARKETING INTELLIGENCE
NO MORE MYSTERY SHOPPERS – THIRD-i SMART POINT OF SALE DISPLAYS – A RETAIL INNOVATION FROM SOUTH AFRICA
The third eye represents intuition and insight—an inner vision and enlightenment beyond what the physical eye can see. Modern shoppers are increasingly time-starved and brand-agnostic. It is therefore imperative for brands to understand as much as they can about the people who are buying their products and how they feel...
INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1
Freeborn & Peters LLP
Is A Chambers-Ranked, Leading Mid-Size Law Firm With Global Capabilities And A Vast Array Of Practice Areas
Freeborn is proud to deliver sector-specific legal advice that stems from decades of experience and a rich understanding of business and industry perspectives. Along with providing exceptional legal services, each Freeborn attorney embodies the firm’s five Core Values, integrity, caring, effectiveness, teamwork, and commitment, through high standards of client service...
INNOVATE® Tampa Bay Vol.3
Sourcetoad – Designing Software For Cruise Lines
Let’s Solve It Together
Sourcetoad is a technology and innovation company that specialises in delivering software and development services for the cruise industry. Their flagship product is Cruise Director, a platform for synchronizing and managing guest and crew systems. Designing software for cruise lines can be tricky. Cruise ships are strange beasts; they have...
INNOVATE™ Bristol & Bath
BRISTOL ROBOTICS LABORATORY
THE PRIMARY MISSION OF BRL IS TO UNDERSTAND THE SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND SOCIAL ROLE OF ROBOTICS AND EMBEDDED INTELLIGENCE
Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) is the most comprehensive academic centre for multi-disciplinary robotics research in the UK, and one of the largest co-located robotics research centres in Europe. It is a partnership between the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) and the University of Bristol and home to...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
CARBON1
PIONEERING SOUTH AFRICA’S DIGITAL MARKETING TRANSFORMATION
Let’s start at the beginningBack in 2009, Programmatic ad buying was in its infancy locally, despite its success being celebrated internationally. This spurred on the birth of Mark1, a company that would go on to pioneer technology and data-driven media buying in the South African market. Fast forward to 2020,...
INNOVATE™ Oeiras
The GDI Hub Brand
In 2019 GDI Hub Is Born With Its Own Identity, Located In The Building That Was Grundig’s Headquarters In Portugal. A Project Developed “in Loco” With A Technological Startup Concept And Completely Out Of The Box When Talking About “Real Estate”.
The initials GDI comes from the concept “Ground Digital Interface”, not dropping the story, keeping three letters of the company “GrunDIg”. Founded by three people and with the support of Corex Web, a technology startup, was the embarkment of a project without any investment capital. Something that would certainly...
INNOVATION Quebec
ZÚ
SUPPORTS AND PROPELS ENTREPRENEURS WHO CREATE INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES
ZÚ SUPPORTS AND PROPELS ENTREPRENEURS WHO CREATE INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES TO REVOLUTIONIZE CREATIVE ZÚ INDUSTRIES AND GENERATE WORLD-CLASS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES. Incubator initiated by Guy Laliberté in 2018, Zú offers programs for startups, open innovation services for SMEs and large companies, expertise in financing, including privileged access to a venture capital fund,...
INNOVATE® Nashville
Pathway Lending
Innovation with Purpose: Transforming How Communities Access Capital
In Middle Tennessee’s fast-growing economy, small businesses are driving innovation, creating jobs, and shaping the future of communities. But too often, promising businesses and catalytic projects can’t access traditional financing. That’s where Pathway Lending steps in. As a mission-driven Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) based in Nashville, Pathway strengthens communities...
INNOVATION Quebec
VECTOR INSTITUTE
CONNECTING ACADEMIA AND INDUSTRY TO ADVANCE RESEARCH AND ACCELERATE RESPONSIBLE ADOPTION OF AI
As the city where Geoffrey Hinton pioneered deep learning, Toronto has deep roots in artificial intelligence research. The Vector Institute amplifies and leverages this strength in fundamental research for Ontario’s economic benefit by smoothing the path from lab discovery to commercial use. With marquee facilities for collaboration, Vector hosts...
INNOVATION Quebec
L’AQT
AU CŒUR DE L’INNOVATION TECHNO-NUMÉRIQUE DU QUÉBEC
Transformatrice, innovatrice et perturbatrice. L’industrie techno est devenue un moteur stratégique de l’économie, une partie intégrante du mode de fonctionnement de notre société. Avec l’essor de l’intelligence artificielle, de la 5G, des appareils intelligents, des mégadonnées, des modes de travail asynchrones, entre autres technologies émergentes, on peut s’attendre à une...
INNOVATE™ Toronto
REAL VENTURES
CANADA’S MOST ACTIVE EARLY-STAGE VENTURE CAPITAL FIRM
Real Ventures is one of Canada’s most active early-stage venture capital firms, dedicated to serving entrepreneurs and nurturing the communities in which they thrive. In 2007, we questioned why brilliant Canadian founders should have to fly to San Francisco to raise seed capital. Since then, we have dedicated ourselves to...
INNOVATE™ Adelaide
THE CIRCLE
FIRST NATIONS ENTREPRENEUR HUB AT THE CENTRE OF SA’S INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM
Located within the Lot Fourteen innovation district in the heart of Adelaide, is a vibrant and welcoming First Nations entrepreneur hub called The Circle. A partnership between the Australian and South Australian Governments, and funded by the National Indigenous Australians Agency, The Circle is positioned at the centre of the...
INNOVATION Quebec
LE CENTRE DE GÉOMATIQUE DU QUÉBEC (CGQ)
CCTT IN GEOMATICS
The Centre de géomatique du Québec (CGQ) is a college centre for the transfer of technology (CCTT) affiliated with the Cégep de Chicoutimi. Our centre is part of Tech-Access Canada’s network of technology access centres (TACs). Our mission is to promote the development of businesses and organizations through innovation, research...
INNOVATION Quebec
CMC MICROSYSTEMS
ACCELERATING INNOVATION AND RESEARCH
“CMC provides access to leading-edge platforms for innovators to design, prototype, and test their ideas. From early-stage researchers to emerging entrepreneurs, CMC has tools and expertise to accelerate your R&D.” – Gordon Harling, President and CEO, CMC Microsystems CMC Microsystems is a not-for-profit organization accelerating research and innovation in advanced...
INNOVATE® Maryland
NEU-ION
Reimagining Water Purification From Maryland to the World
In 1991, Lee Heikkinen and Bob Housaman founded Neu-Ion on a simple conviction: clients should be able to focus entirely on their own work, not on their water system. They built the company around great service first, taking full ownership of a client’s water quality so hospitals, laboratories, and manufacturers...
INNOVATE® Detroit
Menace Media
A Movement of Creativity, Community, and Change
Menace Media was born in the heart of Detroit, a city built on resilience, creativity, and cultural revolution. More than just a media company, Menace Media is a movement—a platform designed to uplift, empower, and unite creatives, entrepreneurs, and visionaries. What started as a passion project among friends has grown...
INNOVATE™ Estonia
7SENSE
TELEHAPTIC TECHNOLOGY: REDEFINING SIGHT THROUGH A REMOTE SENSE OF TOUCH
7Sense is a deep-tech and life science start-up developing telehaptic technology for the blind. It allows users to feel their surrounding environment through a sense of touch on the forehead. In simple words, the user feels surrounding objects—their shape, size, motion, speed, and distance. Traditionally, haptics has meant small vibrating...
INNOVATE™ Toronto
eLeapPower
REIMAGINING POWERTRAIN TECHNOLOGY TO ACCELERATE ADOPTION OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES
The transportation industry is amid one of the most important revolutions since 1886, when Karl Benz invented the first automobile powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE). 135 years later, electric vehicles (EV) are now the leading focus of automotive engineering and innovation around the world. As with any new...
INNOVATE® South Carolina
MASC
Celebrating 100 Years of Excellence: The Maritime Association of South Carolina’s Journey into the Future.
The Maritime Association of South Carolina (MASC) is proud to celebrate a century of service to the maritime community in 2026. For almost 100 years, MASC has been at the heart of South Carolina’s dynamic maritime industry, forging strong connections, advancing critical issues & paving the way for a prosperous...
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...
INNOVATE™ Stockholm
VOIMA VENTURES
SCALING SCIENCE: HOW VOIMA VENTURES POWERS DEEP TECH INNOVATION IN THE NORDICS
Voima Ventures has emerged as one of the Nordic region’s most distinctive venture capital firms, focusing on the commercialization and scaling of science-based innovation. Founded in 2019, with offices in Helsinki and Stockholm, the firm invests in early-stage companies developing breakthrough technologies with the potential to address global challenges and...
INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2
VOSSCHEMIE
BECOMES V-SURE -A CHEMISTRY WITH NATURE
OUR STORY BEGAN IN 1968. THAT IS WHEN OUR FOUNDER REMI DE MOOR ENTERED INTO A PARTNERSHIP WITH KLAUS WILLEM VOSS, OWNER OF THE GERMAN COMPANY VOSSCHEMIE. MARC AND CLAUDIA, REMI’S CHILDREN, TOOK OVER IN 2009. TO THIS DAY, WE ARE STILL A GENUINE AND SOLID FAMILY BUSINESS. Our DNA:...
INNOVATE™ Alberta
CANADIAN BLOCKCHAIN CONSORTIUM
ADVOCATING FOR THE BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY AND DIGITAL ASSETS SECTOR
Uniting diverse companies, individuals, and organizations from across the national innovation ecosystem, the Canadian Blockchain Consortium is the country’s advocate for the blockchain technology and cryptocurrency sector. The Consortium was launched in 2016 as the Alberta Blockchain Consortium by the late energy and technology pioneer Suzanne West, who had a...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
THIRD-i MARKETING INTELLIGENCE
NO MORE MYSTERY SHOPPERS – THIRD-i SMART POINT OF SALE DISPLAYS – A RETAIL INNOVATION FROM SOUTH AFRICA
The third eye represents intuition and insight—an inner vision and enlightenment beyond what the physical eye can see. Modern shoppers are increasingly time-starved and brand-agnostic. It is therefore imperative for brands to understand as much as they can about the people who are buying their products and how they feel...
INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1
Freeborn & Peters LLP
Is A Chambers-Ranked, Leading Mid-Size Law Firm With Global Capabilities And A Vast Array Of Practice Areas
Freeborn is proud to deliver sector-specific legal advice that stems from decades of experience and a rich understanding of business and industry perspectives. Along with providing exceptional legal services, each Freeborn attorney embodies the firm’s five Core Values, integrity, caring, effectiveness, teamwork, and commitment, through high standards of client service...
INNOVATE® Tampa Bay Vol.3
Sourcetoad – Designing Software For Cruise Lines
Let’s Solve It Together
Sourcetoad is a technology and innovation company that specialises in delivering software and development services for the cruise industry. Their flagship product is Cruise Director, a platform for synchronizing and managing guest and crew systems. Designing software for cruise lines can be tricky. Cruise ships are strange beasts; they have...
INNOVATE™ Bristol & Bath
BRISTOL ROBOTICS LABORATORY
THE PRIMARY MISSION OF BRL IS TO UNDERSTAND THE SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND SOCIAL ROLE OF ROBOTICS AND EMBEDDED INTELLIGENCE
Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) is the most comprehensive academic centre for multi-disciplinary robotics research in the UK, and one of the largest co-located robotics research centres in Europe. It is a partnership between the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) and the University of Bristol and home to...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
CARBON1
PIONEERING SOUTH AFRICA’S DIGITAL MARKETING TRANSFORMATION
Let’s start at the beginningBack in 2009, Programmatic ad buying was in its infancy locally, despite its success being celebrated internationally. This spurred on the birth of Mark1, a company that would go on to pioneer technology and data-driven media buying in the South African market. Fast forward to 2020,...
INNOVATE™ Oeiras
The GDI Hub Brand
In 2019 GDI Hub Is Born With Its Own Identity, Located In The Building That Was Grundig’s Headquarters In Portugal. A Project Developed “in Loco” With A Technological Startup Concept And Completely Out Of The Box When Talking About “Real Estate”.
The initials GDI comes from the concept “Ground Digital Interface”, not dropping the story, keeping three letters of the company “GrunDIg”. Founded by three people and with the support of Corex Web, a technology startup, was the embarkment of a project without any investment capital. Something that would certainly...
INNOVATION Quebec
ZÚ
SUPPORTS AND PROPELS ENTREPRENEURS WHO CREATE INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES
ZÚ SUPPORTS AND PROPELS ENTREPRENEURS WHO CREATE INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES TO REVOLUTIONIZE CREATIVE ZÚ INDUSTRIES AND GENERATE WORLD-CLASS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES. Incubator initiated by Guy Laliberté in 2018, Zú offers programs for startups, open innovation services for SMEs and large companies, expertise in financing, including privileged access to a venture capital fund,...
INNOVATE® Nashville
Pathway Lending
Innovation with Purpose: Transforming How Communities Access Capital
In Middle Tennessee’s fast-growing economy, small businesses are driving innovation, creating jobs, and shaping the future of communities. But too often, promising businesses and catalytic projects can’t access traditional financing. That’s where Pathway Lending steps in. As a mission-driven Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) based in Nashville, Pathway strengthens communities...
INNOVATION Quebec
VECTOR INSTITUTE
CONNECTING ACADEMIA AND INDUSTRY TO ADVANCE RESEARCH AND ACCELERATE RESPONSIBLE ADOPTION OF AI
As the city where Geoffrey Hinton pioneered deep learning, Toronto has deep roots in artificial intelligence research. The Vector Institute amplifies and leverages this strength in fundamental research for Ontario’s economic benefit by smoothing the path from lab discovery to commercial use. With marquee facilities for collaboration, Vector hosts...
INNOVATION Quebec
L’AQT
AU CŒUR DE L’INNOVATION TECHNO-NUMÉRIQUE DU QUÉBEC
Transformatrice, innovatrice et perturbatrice. L’industrie techno est devenue un moteur stratégique de l’économie, une partie intégrante du mode de fonctionnement de notre société. Avec l’essor de l’intelligence artificielle, de la 5G, des appareils intelligents, des mégadonnées, des modes de travail asynchrones, entre autres technologies émergentes, on peut s’attendre à une...
INNOVATE™ Toronto
REAL VENTURES
CANADA’S MOST ACTIVE EARLY-STAGE VENTURE CAPITAL FIRM
Real Ventures is one of Canada’s most active early-stage venture capital firms, dedicated to serving entrepreneurs and nurturing the communities in which they thrive. In 2007, we questioned why brilliant Canadian founders should have to fly to San Francisco to raise seed capital. Since then, we have dedicated ourselves to...
INNOVATE™ Adelaide
THE CIRCLE
FIRST NATIONS ENTREPRENEUR HUB AT THE CENTRE OF SA’S INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM
Located within the Lot Fourteen innovation district in the heart of Adelaide, is a vibrant and welcoming First Nations entrepreneur hub called The Circle. A partnership between the Australian and South Australian Governments, and funded by the National Indigenous Australians Agency, The Circle is positioned at the centre of the...
INNOVATION Quebec
LE CENTRE DE GÉOMATIQUE DU QUÉBEC (CGQ)
CCTT IN GEOMATICS
The Centre de géomatique du Québec (CGQ) is a college centre for the transfer of technology (CCTT) affiliated with the Cégep de Chicoutimi. Our centre is part of Tech-Access Canada’s network of technology access centres (TACs). Our mission is to promote the development of businesses and organizations through innovation, research...
INNOVATION Quebec
CMC MICROSYSTEMS
ACCELERATING INNOVATION AND RESEARCH
“CMC provides access to leading-edge platforms for innovators to design, prototype, and test their ideas. From early-stage researchers to emerging entrepreneurs, CMC has tools and expertise to accelerate your R&D.” – Gordon Harling, President and CEO, CMC Microsystems CMC Microsystems is a not-for-profit organization accelerating research and innovation in advanced...
INNOVATE® Maryland
NEU-ION
Reimagining Water Purification From Maryland to the World
In 1991, Lee Heikkinen and Bob Housaman founded Neu-Ion on a simple conviction: clients should be able to focus entirely on their own work, not on their water system. They built the company around great service first, taking full ownership of a client’s water quality so hospitals, laboratories, and manufacturers...
INNOVATE® Detroit
Menace Media
A Movement of Creativity, Community, and Change
Menace Media was born in the heart of Detroit, a city built on resilience, creativity, and cultural revolution. More than just a media company, Menace Media is a movement—a platform designed to uplift, empower, and unite creatives, entrepreneurs, and visionaries. What started as a passion project among friends has grown...
INNOVATE™ Estonia
7SENSE
TELEHAPTIC TECHNOLOGY: REDEFINING SIGHT THROUGH A REMOTE SENSE OF TOUCH
7Sense is a deep-tech and life science start-up developing telehaptic technology for the blind. It allows users to feel their surrounding environment through a sense of touch on the forehead. In simple words, the user feels surrounding objects—their shape, size, motion, speed, and distance. Traditionally, haptics has meant small vibrating...
INNOVATE™ Toronto
eLeapPower
REIMAGINING POWERTRAIN TECHNOLOGY TO ACCELERATE ADOPTION OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES
The transportation industry is amid one of the most important revolutions since 1886, when Karl Benz invented the first automobile powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE). 135 years later, electric vehicles (EV) are now the leading focus of automotive engineering and innovation around the world. As with any new...