Stories of Innovation

Committed to Growth and Innovation Since 1935At William Blair, growth and innovation are in our DNA. As an independent, private partnership, we are committed to providing the world’s leading venture firms with the expert guidance and creative solutions required to unlock value for investors and their portfolio companies. We are...

We’ve taken the lessons learned from our extensive experience in working with professional players to teach gamers of every level how to play while simultaneously reducing risk of injury. Everyone plays better when they play pain-free and we want to help them achieve that.   I started Respawn Therapy in...

In the 1990s, Howard Schultz built Starbucks into one of the world’s most iconic consumer businesses. In 1998, after taking Starbucks public, Dan Levitan and Howard founded Maveron. They recognized that digital technologies would integrate into people’s lives in unprecedented ways and that great teams attacking consumer-focused problems would require...

Montréal InVivo est un réseau d’échanges, de mobilisation et de collaborations dans l’écosystème des sciences de la vie et technologies de la santé (SVTS). Fondé en 2007 et dirigé par Frank Béraud depuis 2015, la mission de cet organisme à but non lucratif est de faire avancer et progresser la...

LoggerHead Tools’ mission is to create innovative hand tools manufactured in America. The company’s flagship product is the Bionic Wrench™, a tool that combines the convenience of pliers with the performance of a wrench. The company launched the Bionic Wrench at the National Hardware Show in 2005 and has since...

“Companies want to use more data and AI. But they want to do it responsibly in a compliant way. And in away that builds trust.” — Kabir Barday, OneTrust founder and CEO Here’s the text spaced correctly: At the forefront of a digital revolution where data, privacy, and artificial intelligence...

Innovation ecosystems have always grown around shared physical places, from university labs and coworking spaces to startup districts, demo days, accelerators, and global conferences. These places still matter because people build trust faster when they can meet, listen, and exchange ideas in the same room.  Yet they are no longer...

United Nations Migration Agency Established in 1951, with 175 Member States, IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It does so by providing support to migrants across the world, developing effective responses to the shifting dynamics of migration and providing advice on migration...

TERA-print is a nanotechnology company that is unlocking the power of ultrahigh precision prototyping with their innovative desktop nanoprinters. This technology is disrupting the way next-generation come to life, such as miniaturized sensors 1/100th the size of your fingernail, highly accurate diagnostic tests for diseases from cancer to Alzheimer’s, and...

In an industry often viewed as a basic necessity rather than a specialized service, All American Sitters has emerged as a true innovator in the world of childcare. Founded by Mrs. Teresa Bowens, a professional with more than two decades of hands-on experience, the company has transformed the way families...

Created in 1994, the Hydrogen Research Institute (HRI) of the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières is one of the most experienced and recognized centers in the field of research and development of hydrogen technologies. The HRI’s mission is to respond to the climate emergency through education, research and innovation in...

A good adult game night is not a miniature festival. It needs one dependable start time, food that survives neglect, a primary activity, and permission to change course when the room’s energy shifts. Overplanning creates the exact problem the host hoped to avoid: guests begin performing enjoyment while watching the...

University Hospitals (UH) is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading academic health systems. Across Northeast Ohio, it is known for delivering exceptional care while building one of the region’s most comprehensive healthcare innovation ecosystems. By integrating research, entrepreneurship, technology and clinical expertise, UH is shaping the future of...

The Centres for Manufacturing and Energy Innovation collaborate with business and industry clients to help them reach their goals. “Every innovation starts with a challenge, but that challenge is not always coming up with a new idea. Sometimes the biggest challenge entrepreneurs face is overcoming barriers to accessing the technology...

Fresh City is an award-winning urban farm and omnichannel retailer. With the recent addition of Mama Earth to our family of brands that includes Mabel’s Bakery and The Healthy Butcher, Fresh City is now the largest organic online retailer in Ontario. After a decade, the impact and belief in our...

At MountX we build a safe and simple marketplace that eliminates the inaccessibility and bureaucracy of traditional investments by making real estate investments accessible to everyone, without a large financial investment or previous experience.   MountX Real Estate Capital Corp. is creating the next generation of digital financial products to...

PLATFORM CALGARY BRINGS TOGETHER THE RESOURCES OF CALGARY’S TECH ECOSYSTEM TO HELP STARTUPS LAUNCH AND GROW AT EVERY STEP OF THEIR JOURNEY – FROM IDEATION THROUGH TO SCALE. Calgary has what it takes to be a global innovation hub: affordability, liveability, high levels of investable wealth, and a population that...

Centrepolis Accelerator @ LTU is committed to strengthening supply chain resiliency to drive economic growth and innovation in Michigan. It offers hardtech startups and small to medium-sized manufacturers access to product development services and tailored funding solutions, ensuring they have the resources needed to scale and succeed. Centrepolis Accelerator @LTU’s...

Since 2013, Ecopia AI has been on a mission to create a digital twin of the world using artificial intelligence (AI). Originally spun out of a Ph.D project at the University of Waterloo, Ecopia’s maps have grown from detailing a single small city to mapping entire continents while evolving from...

About usGERAD is an interuniversity research centre working at the heart of digital intelligence. It aims to be a reference point in the area of decision mathematics and its applications to complex systems, by bringing together university and industry researchers to carry out large-scale R&D projects. Its contributions can be...

HONEY ISLAND CAPITAL -IN THE VIBRANT CITY OF CURITIBA, HONEY ISLAND CAPITAL EMERGES AS A PIVOTAL FORCE IN SHAPING THE REGION’S STARTUP ECOSYSTEM. Established in 2015 by the co-founders of EBANX, a cross-border payments startup that achieved unicorn status with presence in more than 20 countries in less than a...

Through an approach that is as innovative as the projects it manages and supports, SourceFuse builds digital ideas, processes, and products tailored to help its clients realize their ideas in the truest sense of the word. SourceFuse, a technological jack-of-all-trades (and master of all of them), uses its own innovative...

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...

Howard University: A Catalyst for Change Howard University is a bastion of excellence and a catalyst for change. This historically Black College and University (HBCU) has long been at the forefront of educating and empowering diverse minds, and its latest venture, the Howard University & PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship,...