Stories of Innovation

Founded in Nashville in 1890 by Susan Heron and Ida B. Hood–two female school teachers–Belmont University has been defying conventional expectations of higher education and serving as an incubator of innovation ever since. Today, the University is comprised of nearly 9,000 students from every U.S. state and 33 countries. Nationally...

The world is woke… going back to our roots. The new buzzword is #gogreen in terms of health and wellness.   And we’ve been fortunate and blessed with the opportunity of being a part of this new era, introducing and promoting Le Afrika sustainably sourced 100% natural products with their...

CHALLENGEGlobally, grain and pulse crops are classified to determine the grade of a crop. This grade determines the financial return to the seller / farmer. The classification process currently consists of approximately 53% subjective and 47% objective testing. Subjective testing leads to disputes and a lack of confidence in the...

ELEVATOR PITCHOUR STORYIn 2006, Brian Breslin saw untapped potential in South Florida’s fledgling startup ecosystem and quickly realized there lacked a support system for the tech and startup community. From this idea, Refresh Miami was founded. Its mission: to educate, inspire, connect, and grow South Florida’s tech and startup ecosystem....

THE WORLD IS RUNNING OUT OF DATA PROCESSING POWER…GAIMIN has developed a PC-based app that utilizes, in the background, the processing power of the GPU in a gaming PC to create a decentralized data processing network with the power of a supercomputer. GAIMIN utilizes this processing power for a number...

Founded in 2013 as a non-profit organization, Code on the Beach continues to be North Florida’s premier software development conference. Over the course of 7 years, we have featured hundreds of speakers from around the globe. We have covered everything from programming languages to product management to UI/UX design principles...

HUMAN LED, AI POWERED. Founded in 2021, Fusion Cyber has grown from a small start-up to are cognized leader in cybersecurity education. It has partnerships with fourw ell-known universities: the University of South Carolina, the University of Kentucky, Florida International University, and Denmark Technical College. Fusion Cyber offers cutting-edge courses...

Public-private partnership Launch Tennessee has spent more than a decade creating a unique statewide startup ecosystem, supporting entrepreneurs in all 95 counties across the Volunteer State by providing capital, commercialization support, and connections. “It’s a great privilege to work on behalf of the entire state to boost innovation and entrepreneurship,”...

Attention entrepreneurs, CEO’s, and high-performance leaders who want to get ahead! The way we’re working is not working, it’s a crisis. Burnout is costing the global economy trillions of dollars in lost productivity and innovation. Not to mention, rising health care costs. Burnout feels like emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced...

Since 2020, Quebec has been a pioneer in innovative agricultural technologies and plant bioproducts thanks to the development of Zone Agtech, a localized innovation ecosystem near the city of Montreal in the MRC of L’Assomption. Its mission? It is to intensify the development of clean, efficient and viable innovative technologies...

Where do brands and marketers look to understand middle-class consumers go to find actionable, realistic, useful data? That was the question the team at WhyFive Insights asked almost a decade ago when they launched a unique annual survey and data set called BrandMapp. “We were working in media at the...

“Vital envisions a future where AI and human expertise unite to empower personal growth, creating a seamless path to complete well-being.” In today’s fast-paced world, individuals face constant pressures that can lead to stress, burnout, and a sense of overwhelm. Vital was created to address these challenges head-on, offering AI-driven...

LOCAL TECH BANKING VETERANS BRING CANADIAN INFLUENCE TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST Since its founding in early 2018, CIBC Innovation Banking has been rapidly building its presence in key innovation clusters across the U.S. and Europe.In 2022, its Seattle team began serving the vibrant innovation economy of the Pacific Northwest. John...

Mason EnterpriseTM is a George Mason University-based economic development division that focuses the energy, skills, and intellectual capital of Virginians on new company creation and small business expansion. Through 24 intertwined, complementary programs that include business counseling, workshops, training, and connection to university assets (research, class projects, interns), Mason Enterprise...

It was late 2011 when Nashville Software School (NSS) Founder and CEO, John Wark set out to find a solution to a challenge he frequently heard about in Nashville’s business community – the persistent shortage of trained tech talent such as software developers. The tech skills gap was (and is)...

We were never just advertising people wanting to do big TV ads, we were entrepreneurs wanting to build brands and businesses. We were also very inexperienced and naïve and while that made things much more challenging in the early years, it has made us more effective the more time has...

If you’re serious about building a startup in Nashville, meet your secret weapon: the Nashville Entrepreneur Center (EC). Founded in 2010, EC is a nonprofit built by business leaders to be—literally—Nashville’s “home to entrepreneurship.” What sets it apart? It’s not just talk: EC has helped over 14,000 entrepreneurs, including more...

SeriouslyCreative is an innovation, strategy and experience by design firm. They believe the most valuable asset in an organization is its humans. That is why their mission is to empower people with the mindset, confidence, skills and tools they need to become agents of change for organizations, communities and the...

Transforming how healthcare organizations connect, convert, and grow. In the heart of Nashville’s thriving healthcare innovation scene, Care Sherpa is making a measurable difference—both in patient access and in how healthcare organizations grow. Founded by CEO Jessica Walker, Care Sherpa was built to solve one of the industry’s most persistent...

The University of Antwerp plays a central role in driving innovation in Flanders. Located in the heart of Europe, Antwerp is a prime economic hub, powered by its second largest port, and the largest chemical cluster in Europe. As a result, its university is uniquely positioned to provide well-trained professionals...

In an industry often defined by numbers, Searcy Financial Services stands apart by focusing on people. Founded in 1976 and independently owned by second-generation leaders Jessica Kmetty, Marc Shaffer, John Fales, and Ryan Brooke, the firm has built a reputation not just for managing wealth, but for helping people make...

Hotmilk is the innovation ecosystem of the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR), considered the most innovative university in the country. Regarded as the primary innovation ecosystem in Paraná (and positioned among the largest in Brazil), Hotmilk operates on multiple fronts: accelerating over 100 resident startups, opening new business opportunities...

WOOF Project is a dynamic ‘pop–up’ mobile dog adoption initiative by Oscars Arc, a NPO born to inspire dog adoption and to save dogs’ lives. It was founded by Joanne Lefson in honour of Oscar, the adopted dog with whom she travelled around the world, visiting 43 countries across 5...

THE HOUSE OF INNOVATION (HOI) AT THE STOCKHOLM SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS (SSE) IS AN INTERDISCIPLINARY INNOVATION ENVIRONMENT COMBINING RESEARCH, EDUCATION, OUTREACH, AND VENTURING. BUILDING ON THE RICH HISTORY OF THE STOCKHOLM SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, THE RESEARCH HOUSE AIMS TO TAKE THE SCHOOL’S BEST-IN-CLASS INTERACTION WITH BUSINESS AND SOCIETY INTO THE...