Stories of Innovation

Global Innovation Spotlight

Transforming B2B IT Procurement: Markit’s New Approach to Transparency

Transparency unlocks true value in IT procurement.

In today’s competitive IT procurement landscape, transparency is crucial for optimizing purchasing processes. Markit stands out as a leading platform that champions transparency, simplifying the B2B IT channel for businesses worldwide. With over 10,000 companies—including more than 400 from the Forbes 2000 list—relying on Markit daily, it has become a trusted partner...

INNOVATE™ Flanders

University of Antwerp

A driver for innovation ecosystems.

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...

INNOVATION Quebec

Pharmabio Développement

Since 1999, Pharmabio Développement, a sectoral committee for Québec’s pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, has been proudly carrying out its mission to actively contribute to the workforce and employment development of companies in the sector

To support its mission, the mandate of Pharmabio Développement is as follows: According to recent estimates, Québec’s pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry consists of some 280 companies and employs over 16,000 people. Vacancies in the industry are estimated at 1,325 currently and at more than 4,000 over a three-year projection. As...

INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1

INSTASHIELD

INSTASHIELD-Invention and Entrepreneurship Run in the Family

Invention and Entrepreneurship Run in the Family

INSTASHIELD FILLS PPE SHORTAGE, DONATES 1 MILLION SHIELDS TO PEOPLE IN NEED InstaShield™ is a new kind of face shield that ships flat and is folded to fit over a cap or visor. The company was founded in March 2020 by Dan Brown Jr. to help fill the nation’s PPE...

INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2

ANGELSPAN

ANGELSPAN-Investing in a Better Way to Invest

Investing in a Better Way to Invest, AngelSpan is Changing the Way Innovation is Funded

AngelSpan provides the tools and information for investors to invest better and startups to perform better. AngelSpan offers a tech-enabled service for early stage entrepreneurs who want to get their Investor Relations done right. The company-specific analytics and platform avails Wall St.-like analytics on their client companies to help investors...

INNOVATE® Georgia

R2 LABS

SOLUTIONS ALLOW ANY MODERN SOFTWARE ENGINEER TO CONTROL EQUIPMENT THROUGH CODE ALONE.

R2 Labs builds robotic control and monitoring systems to help companies address skilled worker shortages, increase operational efficiency, and decrease time-to-market for newly introduced equipment. Their disruptive technology and tailor-made turnkey solution development services empower businesses to solve the most demanding robotics applications. HISTORY R2 was founded in 2021 by...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

Matidor.com

Matidor.com- “Matidor.com is the All-In-One Project Management Platform On a Live Map”

“Matidor.com is the All-In-One Project Management Platform On a Live Map”

How Matidor.com StartedVincent and Sean are Vancouver-based serial entrepreneurs who come from very different backgrounds but share one vision. Vincent’s previous experience at Google Earth and as a product manager at Dassault Systèmes revealed a gap in how people in the field managed projects. When Sean moved back to town...

INNOVATION Quebec

CRITM

CRITM-An essential resource in promoting innovation in metal transformation

An essential resource in promoting innovation in metal transformation

The metal transformation industry holds a leading role in Quebec’s economy. Enterprises need to establish a clear edge and constantly innovate to overcome the numerous labour force, productivity, energy, and environmental footprint challenges they are faced with. Hence, it is on these grounds that the Metal Transformation and Innovation Consortium...

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® Puerto Rico

PILOTOMAIL

PILOTOMAIL-REVOLUTIONIZING THE WAY WE ALL ACCESS AND MANAGE OUR POSTAL MAIL

REVOLUTIONIZING THE WAY WE ALL ACCESS AND MANAGE OUR POSTAL MAIL

PilotoMail was born in a high traffic mailroom at Piloto 151 coworking spaces in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Stolberg siblings, Sofia and Juan Carlos, had been running the first and largest coworking operation on the Island for 6 years, and, as more entrepreneurs, freelancers, professionals and corporates joined their membership...

INNOVATE® Nashville

Hackathons International

Where ideas are put into action!

Many of us have ideas, but how many of us have actually tried to make their ideas a reality? While often seen as tech events for coders, Hackathons offers tremendous value – more than meets the eye. Hackathons are a framework used by CEOs, educators, community leaders, and marketers across...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

PROXY FOODS INC.

Feeding the Future

Washington, D.C., is a bustling food and beverage innovation hub. Proxy Foods Inc. stands out for its groundbreaking technology and profound mission to reshape how we think about and create food. Founded by Panos Kostopoulos, a visionary who migrated from Athens, Greece, with a dream to revolutionize food systems through...

INNOVATE™ Oeiras

OEIRAS

OEIRAS- The Municipality

The Municipality

Today, Oeiras is a municipality of reference, the result of four decades of detailed, thoughtful, avant-garde planning based on the unique and broad vision of Isaltino Morais. A man who became Mayor in 1985 and who, from the first moment, outlined a strategy that extended beyond the four years of...

Global Innovation Spotlight

Why Brand Protection Is Becoming a Competitive Advantage for Modern Consumer Brands

For years, brand protection was viewed primarily as a defensive function. Companies invested in trademarks, monitored counterfeit activity, and occasionally addressed unauthorized sellers when issues became impossible to ignore. Most leadership teams considered brand protection a necessary but largely reactive part of doing business. That mindset is changing. As ecommerce...

INNOVATE® South Florida

SEAWORTHY COLLECTIVE

EMPOWERING SEA CHANGE MAKERS & GROWING SOUTH FLORIDA’S BLUE ECONOMY

EMPOWERING SEA CHANGE MAKERS & GROWING SOUTH FLORIDA’S BLUE ECONOMY Seaworthy Collective is a 501c3 nonprofit that supports current, aspiring, and underrepresented entrepreneurs driving innovation for ocean and climate impact (AKA BlueTech). Our mission is to make BlueTech accessible and inclusive; bringing all hands on deck via programs to co-create...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

SAGE

CREATING A SMARTER FUTURE, BETTER WORLD

SAGE is a specialist industrial digitalisation services provider, combining the best thinking with world-leading technology to deliver the best outcome. SAGE’s specialist businesses – SAGE Automation, Nukon, Skills Lab and Embedded Expertise – work with organisations to deliver strategy and horizon phasing, automation of industrial operations, data-driven business transformation, training...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

EVERYDAY SPEAK

EVERYDAY SPEAK CREATIVITY WILL MAKE THE 21ST CENTURY AFRICA’S CENTURY

CREATIVITY WILL MAKE THE 21ST CENTURY AFRICA’S CENTURY

Founded in 2017, by Melusi Tshabalala (creative professional, entrepreneur, author, speaker, humourist, language & culture activist), Everyday Speak is a culture, dialogue, language activism, advertising and design company. Driven by the ethos – Creativity can make the 21st century Africa’s century – Everyday Speak develops ideas and solutions that touch...

INNOVATE® New Jersey Vol.2

STORIED DATA

STORIED DATA

THE STORY OF MEANINGFUL TRANSFORMATIONS: Data. Information. Intelligent Presentation. Action

Storied data is a next generation publishing platform for the digital world. It allows users to combine visuals, data, and interactivity in a single document that provides an app-like experience and reduces information overload. In Storied data, you can produce any document – reports, dashboards, infographics, catalogs, and more in...

INNOVATE™ Flanders

THE UNIVERSITY OF ANTWERP

GATEWAY FOR FUTURE INNOVATIONS

The University of Antwerp serves as a gateway for future innovations, playing a pivotal role within Antwerp’s thriving innovation ecosystem and beyond. It contributes significantly to driving innovation and fostering societal and economic impact, further solidifying its position as a pioneer in cutting-edge research and innovation. A key driver in...

INNOVATE® Maryland

ION

Powering the Next Generation of Batteries

Every year, the devices people rely on ask more from the batteries inside them. Smartphones have become more powerful, electric vehicles continue to push for greater range, and defense systems must operate in increasingly demanding environments. Meeting those expectations has forced researchers and manufacturers to rethink technologies many assumed had...

INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

ULTRA

ULTRA-GAMERS HAVE WANTED TO DO MORE WHILE GAMING. NOW THEY CAN.

GAMERS HAVE WANTED TO DO MORE WHILE GAMING. NOW THEY CAN.

READY PLAYER ONE“What if I actually owned my digital games and in-game items?” That’s been the question on most gamers’ minds.   With limited solutions and some gamers resorting to the shady secondhand grey market to make use of their content outside of the game, David Hanson and Nicolas Gilot,...

Global Innovation Spotlight

CABIFY

CABIFY-10 Years Transforming Urban Mobility

10 Years Transforming Urban Mobility

We were founded in 2011 with a clear mission – to make cities better places to live. Today, ten years have passed in which we have managed to enter the streets of more than 40 cities in Spain and Latin America, all thanks to a team of passion and commitment....

INNOVATE™ South Africa

OSCARS ARC

OSCARS ARC- DOG ADOPTION. INSPIRED ADOPTION RATES IN SOUTH AFRICA ARE LESS THAN 10%. WOOF PROJECT IS CHANGING THE STATUS QUO

DOG ADOPTION. INSPIRED ADOPTION RATES IN SOUTH AFRICA ARE LESS THAN 10%. WOOF PROJECT IS CHANGING THE STATUS QUO

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...

INNOVATION Quebec

Aliments Santé

Aliments Santé-Health Foods Niche of Excellence-Le Créneau d’excellence Aliments Santé is a group of food manufacturers and industry stakeholders who work closely together to foster innovation. Their goal is to develop and market healthy, innovative, and value added food products

Aliments Santé is supported by the ACCORD arm of Québec’s Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie and by the City of Québec. The organization helps food processors implement collaborative knowledge building projects and facilitates networking activities to create business opportunities and promote industry expertise. In June 2021, through...

Global Innovation Spotlight

Transforming B2B IT Procurement: Markit’s New Approach to Transparency

Transparency unlocks true value in IT procurement.

In today’s competitive IT procurement landscape, transparency is crucial for optimizing purchasing processes. Markit stands out as a leading platform that champions transparency, simplifying the B2B IT channel for businesses worldwide. With over 10,000 companies—including more than 400 from the Forbes 2000 list—relying on Markit daily, it has become a trusted partner...

INNOVATE™ Flanders

University of Antwerp

A driver for innovation ecosystems.

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...

INNOVATION Quebec

Pharmabio Développement

Since 1999, Pharmabio Développement, a sectoral committee for Québec’s pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, has been proudly carrying out its mission to actively contribute to the workforce and employment development of companies in the sector

To support its mission, the mandate of Pharmabio Développement is as follows: According to recent estimates, Québec’s pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry consists of some 280 companies and employs over 16,000 people. Vacancies in the industry are estimated at 1,325 currently and at more than 4,000 over a three-year projection. As...

INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1

INSTASHIELD

INSTASHIELD-Invention and Entrepreneurship Run in the Family

Invention and Entrepreneurship Run in the Family

INSTASHIELD FILLS PPE SHORTAGE, DONATES 1 MILLION SHIELDS TO PEOPLE IN NEED InstaShield™ is a new kind of face shield that ships flat and is folded to fit over a cap or visor. The company was founded in March 2020 by Dan Brown Jr. to help fill the nation’s PPE...

INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2

ANGELSPAN

ANGELSPAN-Investing in a Better Way to Invest

Investing in a Better Way to Invest, AngelSpan is Changing the Way Innovation is Funded

AngelSpan provides the tools and information for investors to invest better and startups to perform better. AngelSpan offers a tech-enabled service for early stage entrepreneurs who want to get their Investor Relations done right. The company-specific analytics and platform avails Wall St.-like analytics on their client companies to help investors...

INNOVATE® Georgia

R2 LABS

SOLUTIONS ALLOW ANY MODERN SOFTWARE ENGINEER TO CONTROL EQUIPMENT THROUGH CODE ALONE.

R2 Labs builds robotic control and monitoring systems to help companies address skilled worker shortages, increase operational efficiency, and decrease time-to-market for newly introduced equipment. Their disruptive technology and tailor-made turnkey solution development services empower businesses to solve the most demanding robotics applications. HISTORY R2 was founded in 2021 by...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

Matidor.com

Matidor.com- “Matidor.com is the All-In-One Project Management Platform On a Live Map”

“Matidor.com is the All-In-One Project Management Platform On a Live Map”

How Matidor.com StartedVincent and Sean are Vancouver-based serial entrepreneurs who come from very different backgrounds but share one vision. Vincent’s previous experience at Google Earth and as a product manager at Dassault Systèmes revealed a gap in how people in the field managed projects. When Sean moved back to town...

INNOVATION Quebec

CRITM

CRITM-An essential resource in promoting innovation in metal transformation

An essential resource in promoting innovation in metal transformation

The metal transformation industry holds a leading role in Quebec’s economy. Enterprises need to establish a clear edge and constantly innovate to overcome the numerous labour force, productivity, energy, and environmental footprint challenges they are faced with. Hence, it is on these grounds that the Metal Transformation and Innovation Consortium...

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® Puerto Rico

PILOTOMAIL

PILOTOMAIL-REVOLUTIONIZING THE WAY WE ALL ACCESS AND MANAGE OUR POSTAL MAIL

REVOLUTIONIZING THE WAY WE ALL ACCESS AND MANAGE OUR POSTAL MAIL

PilotoMail was born in a high traffic mailroom at Piloto 151 coworking spaces in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Stolberg siblings, Sofia and Juan Carlos, had been running the first and largest coworking operation on the Island for 6 years, and, as more entrepreneurs, freelancers, professionals and corporates joined their membership...

INNOVATE® Nashville

Hackathons International

Where ideas are put into action!

Many of us have ideas, but how many of us have actually tried to make their ideas a reality? While often seen as tech events for coders, Hackathons offers tremendous value – more than meets the eye. Hackathons are a framework used by CEOs, educators, community leaders, and marketers across...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

PROXY FOODS INC.

Feeding the Future

Washington, D.C., is a bustling food and beverage innovation hub. Proxy Foods Inc. stands out for its groundbreaking technology and profound mission to reshape how we think about and create food. Founded by Panos Kostopoulos, a visionary who migrated from Athens, Greece, with a dream to revolutionize food systems through...

INNOVATE™ Oeiras

OEIRAS

OEIRAS- The Municipality

The Municipality

Today, Oeiras is a municipality of reference, the result of four decades of detailed, thoughtful, avant-garde planning based on the unique and broad vision of Isaltino Morais. A man who became Mayor in 1985 and who, from the first moment, outlined a strategy that extended beyond the four years of...

Global Innovation Spotlight

Why Brand Protection Is Becoming a Competitive Advantage for Modern Consumer Brands

For years, brand protection was viewed primarily as a defensive function. Companies invested in trademarks, monitored counterfeit activity, and occasionally addressed unauthorized sellers when issues became impossible to ignore. Most leadership teams considered brand protection a necessary but largely reactive part of doing business. That mindset is changing. As ecommerce...

INNOVATE® South Florida

SEAWORTHY COLLECTIVE

EMPOWERING SEA CHANGE MAKERS & GROWING SOUTH FLORIDA’S BLUE ECONOMY

EMPOWERING SEA CHANGE MAKERS & GROWING SOUTH FLORIDA’S BLUE ECONOMY Seaworthy Collective is a 501c3 nonprofit that supports current, aspiring, and underrepresented entrepreneurs driving innovation for ocean and climate impact (AKA BlueTech). Our mission is to make BlueTech accessible and inclusive; bringing all hands on deck via programs to co-create...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

SAGE

CREATING A SMARTER FUTURE, BETTER WORLD

SAGE is a specialist industrial digitalisation services provider, combining the best thinking with world-leading technology to deliver the best outcome. SAGE’s specialist businesses – SAGE Automation, Nukon, Skills Lab and Embedded Expertise – work with organisations to deliver strategy and horizon phasing, automation of industrial operations, data-driven business transformation, training...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

EVERYDAY SPEAK

EVERYDAY SPEAK CREATIVITY WILL MAKE THE 21ST CENTURY AFRICA’S CENTURY

CREATIVITY WILL MAKE THE 21ST CENTURY AFRICA’S CENTURY

Founded in 2017, by Melusi Tshabalala (creative professional, entrepreneur, author, speaker, humourist, language & culture activist), Everyday Speak is a culture, dialogue, language activism, advertising and design company. Driven by the ethos – Creativity can make the 21st century Africa’s century – Everyday Speak develops ideas and solutions that touch...

INNOVATE® New Jersey Vol.2

STORIED DATA

STORIED DATA

THE STORY OF MEANINGFUL TRANSFORMATIONS: Data. Information. Intelligent Presentation. Action

Storied data is a next generation publishing platform for the digital world. It allows users to combine visuals, data, and interactivity in a single document that provides an app-like experience and reduces information overload. In Storied data, you can produce any document – reports, dashboards, infographics, catalogs, and more in...

INNOVATE™ Flanders

THE UNIVERSITY OF ANTWERP

GATEWAY FOR FUTURE INNOVATIONS

The University of Antwerp serves as a gateway for future innovations, playing a pivotal role within Antwerp’s thriving innovation ecosystem and beyond. It contributes significantly to driving innovation and fostering societal and economic impact, further solidifying its position as a pioneer in cutting-edge research and innovation. A key driver in...

INNOVATE® Maryland

ION

Powering the Next Generation of Batteries

Every year, the devices people rely on ask more from the batteries inside them. Smartphones have become more powerful, electric vehicles continue to push for greater range, and defense systems must operate in increasingly demanding environments. Meeting those expectations has forced researchers and manufacturers to rethink technologies many assumed had...

INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

ULTRA

ULTRA-GAMERS HAVE WANTED TO DO MORE WHILE GAMING. NOW THEY CAN.

GAMERS HAVE WANTED TO DO MORE WHILE GAMING. NOW THEY CAN.

READY PLAYER ONE“What if I actually owned my digital games and in-game items?” That’s been the question on most gamers’ minds.   With limited solutions and some gamers resorting to the shady secondhand grey market to make use of their content outside of the game, David Hanson and Nicolas Gilot,...

Global Innovation Spotlight

CABIFY

CABIFY-10 Years Transforming Urban Mobility

10 Years Transforming Urban Mobility

We were founded in 2011 with a clear mission – to make cities better places to live. Today, ten years have passed in which we have managed to enter the streets of more than 40 cities in Spain and Latin America, all thanks to a team of passion and commitment....

INNOVATE™ South Africa

OSCARS ARC

OSCARS ARC- DOG ADOPTION. INSPIRED ADOPTION RATES IN SOUTH AFRICA ARE LESS THAN 10%. WOOF PROJECT IS CHANGING THE STATUS QUO

DOG ADOPTION. INSPIRED ADOPTION RATES IN SOUTH AFRICA ARE LESS THAN 10%. WOOF PROJECT IS CHANGING THE STATUS QUO

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...

INNOVATION Quebec

Aliments Santé

Aliments Santé-Health Foods Niche of Excellence-Le Créneau d’excellence Aliments Santé is a group of food manufacturers and industry stakeholders who work closely together to foster innovation. Their goal is to develop and market healthy, innovative, and value added food products

Aliments Santé is supported by the ACCORD arm of Québec’s Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie and by the City of Québec. The organization helps food processors implement collaborative knowledge building projects and facilitates networking activities to create business opportunities and promote industry expertise. In June 2021, through...

Ecosystems