Stories of Innovation

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

SOLVIS

PIONEERING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MEASUREMENT FROM ‘PSST’ TO TOUCHSCREEN

Solvis provides customized devices, kiosks, and a customer feedback and experience management platform. Solvis’ story has a unique start: In the late 90s, a customer voiced dissatisfaction with a toy shop in Curitiba. Initially dismissed as gossip, the complaint prompted the CEO of Solvis, Leonardo Vilas Boas Badotti, the former...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

THE RED & YELLOW SUCCESS STORY

THE RED & YELLOW SUCCESS STORY- INSPIRING THE FUTURE OF SOUTH AFRICA’S BUSINESS LANDSCAPE THROUGH CREATIVITY

INSPIRING THE FUTURE OF SOUTH AFRICA’S BUSINESS LANDSCAPE THROUGH CREATIVITY

As industry leaders in the South African marketing landscape, Red & Yellow Creative School of Business has been producing some of the most creative thinkers in advertising, communications, and design for the past 28 years. Driven by a commitment to deliver industry-ready graduates who can meet complex problems and challenges...

INNOVATE® Puerto Rico

INVEST PUERTO RICO

WHY PUERTO RICO?

“ARMED WITH AN AMBITIOUS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, PUERTO RICO IS GIVING GAME-CHANGERS FROM MYRIAD FIELDS THE SUPPORT AND RESOURCES THEY NEED TO MAKE “IT” HAPPEN.” – ELLA WOGER-NIEVES – CEO, INVEST PUERTO RICO The day began like any other: a morning power-walk along the beach under a rising 7:00 a.m....

INNOVATE® South Carolina

DIG SOUTH

BUILDING THE SOUTH’S TECH FUTURE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION

In 2012, with two young children at home and a bold vision for the South’s untapped potential, Stanfield Gray and his wife, Sunny Gray, launched DIG SOUTH in Charleston, South Carolina. They were driven by a simple question: Why should a child from the South have fewer opportunities than a...

INNOVATE® Nashville

Nashville State Community College

From Classroom to Career: Nashville State Powers Progress Through Education and Partnerships

A Good Fit. A Great Future. That’s how Nashville State Community College defines itself—serving diverse students from Nashville’s urban core to rural counties, each bringing unique backgrounds and experiences. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to how Nashville State serves its students and communities. In fact, with Vision 2030 – its...

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...

INNOVATION Quebec

MECANIUM

CCTT IN MECHATRONICS AND INDUSTRIAL MECHANICS

Our mission at MECANIUM is to support Quebec manufacturing SMEs by designing and achieving mechatronic solutions to help them increase their knowledge, productivity and competitiveness and optimize their products and processes. We are also committed to promoting knowledge dissemination through training and knowledge transfer. As an innovation centre for mechatronics...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

METTĀ CREATIVE

GATHERING INTENTIONALLY IN THE PRESENT TO CO-CREATE A BETTER FUTURE

Born out of a desire for an alternative to unfulfilling college night-life, Mettā Creative has existed on the fringes of DMV culture since November 2016. Mettā, which means “loving-kindness” in Sanskrit, is a bonding agent, a glue between people, their community, and the public good. In the early days, Creative...

INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

FREESTYLE TRAMPOLINE ASSOCIATION

WORLD’S FIRST 3D TRAMPOLINE SIMULATOR TRAMPOLINE AND GYMNASTICS ‘JUMP’ INTO ESPORTS FOR THE FIRST TIME!

GRT Pro Flipper is a brand-new Mobile Trampoline Simulator that takes trampoline to the next level. All other trampoline-based apps on the App stores are based on simpler 2D gameplay that does not truly match what a trampolinist actually does in the air at the Olympics. Developed by the Freestyle...

INNOVATE® Milwaukee

NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL

INNOVATING IN FINANCIAL SERVICES FOR MORE THAN 165 YEARS

INNOVATING IN FINANCIAL SERVICES FOR MORE THAN 165 YEARS Founded in 1857, Northwestern Mutual, a FORTUNE 500® financial services company, embodies a unique culture dedicated to helping people achieve financial security. As a mutual company, Northwestern Mutual answers to its policy owners — not Wall Street. Through a comprehensive planning...

INNOVATION Quebec

NGTC

YOUR GO-TO PARTNER FOR MORE RESPONSIBLE USE OF ENERGY

Founded in 1992, NGTC is a non-profit research and development center that specializes in energy technologies. Although the use of natural gas is at the origin of its raison d’être, NGTC has been actively working, since 2007, on integrating new energy sources, notably renewable natural gas, hydrogen, aerothermal and solar...

INNOVATE® Nashville

CATWALK CONSULTING

GROUNDED IN RESEARCH, EXPERIENCE AND CULTURAL FLUENCY

Catwalk Consulting Group is a strategic marketing and communications firm specializing in the entertainment industry. We are known for innovative, future-focused approaches to positioning artists, executives, brands and organizations for what’s next. Our work centers on customized positioning and intentional audience development designed to elevate visibility, relevance and long-term impact....

INNOVATE® Georgia

ACKERMAN & CO

A BOLD APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT

Just two miles southwest of Downtown Atlanta is a sprawling collection of buildings formerly known as “Warehouse Row.” In the 1950s and 1960s, the warehouse buildings were developed to serve as a distribution hub for area grocery stores. Today, the buildings have been transformed into something much different. In the...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

SFU’s CHARLES CHANG INSTITUTE FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP

INNOVATING ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

World-Class Spirit & InnovationAs the World’s #1 university for Entrepreneurial Spirit and #1 in Canada for Innovation*, Simon Fraser University is recognized as one of Canada’s most supportive post-secondary ecosystems for innovative research and education across disciplines. The heart of its entrepreneurship education pillar beats in the Charles Chang Institute...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

TECNOFIT

HELPING FITNESS BUSINESSES IMPROVE MANAGEMENT THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

Tecnofit, the leading software company in the health and fitness industry since 2017, distinguishes itself by offering cutting-edge solutions for managing gyms and other fitness businesses and professionals. Founded by Anderson Cichon, the current CTO, and fueled by the visionary outlook of Antonio Maganhotte Junior, the present CEO, the company...

INNOVATE® Nashville

UnityAI

The Future of Smarter, More Efficient Healthcare Operations

Hospitals are some of the most profound institutions in America — places where nearly everyone begins and ends their lives. The complexity of these institutions, operationally and administratively, is immense. While no individual or team can optimize this complexity, UnityAI believes AI can. UnityAI didn’t start with a grand vision...

INNOVATE™ Flanders

Antwerp City

Antwerp is a city in full change, once again, as it has been so many times over the past centuries.

Antwerp is a city in full change, once again, as it has been so many times over the past centuries. Now it is mobility shaping the future of the city, in the form of the Oosterweel works. For about two decades, the plans for the completion of the ring road...

INNOVATE™ Stockholm

HOUSE OF INNOVATION

STOCKHOLM SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS

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...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

VELORIC CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP

American University’s Kogod School of Business breeds the spirit of changemakers at the Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship. It’s more than just an academic unit; it’s a thriving ecosystem where entrepreneurial dreams are developed, challenged, and nurtured. Entrepreneurship is a worldview. Entrepreneurs are risk-taking, resilient, innovative problem-solvers and dreamers with the...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

M&C SAATCHI ABEL

M&C SAATCHI ABEL-SINCE ITS INCEPTION

SINCE ITS INCEPTION, THE M&C SAATCHI ABEL STORY IS ONE OF AUDACITY, TENACITY AND AN UNWAVERING BELIEF THAT ALL PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED WITH HOT CREATIVITY

What began as an unfurnished open space on the fourth floor of The Hudson Building in De Waterkant, Cape Town, with 13 people in 2010, is today a growing agency with over 250 talented, creative and diverse people, across a Cape Town and Johannesburg campus, and an agency that has...

INNOVATE™ Alberta

BUOYANCY

Empowering employment agencies to scale their impact through technology-enabled behaviour change

Buoyancy Works is a Calgary, Alberta-based wellness tech and behavioural insights company that empowers employment agencies to scale their impact through technology-enabled behaviour change techniques. The Buoyancy platform helps organizations scale programs, measure engagement, and support their clients through the emotional and motivational challenges of the job search. Buoyancy’s tools...

AI Québec

IA QUÉBEC

RETAIL INNOVATION LAB- AT THE BENSADOUN SCHOOL OF RETAIL MANAGEMENT

LE LABORATOIRE D’INNOVATION EN COMMERCE AU DÉTAIL À L’ÉCOLE BENSADOUN DE COMMERCE AU DÉTAIL DE L’UNIVERSITÉ MCGILL

L’École Bensadoun de commerce au détail de l’Université McGill a récemment lancé un laboratoire d’innovation en commerce au détail, fruit d’une collaboration entre l’Université McGill et Alimentation Couche-Tard inc. (ACT). Situé sur le campus de l’Université McGill, le laboratoire est à la fois un dépanneur et un laboratoire vivant, et...

INNOVATE™ Atlantic Canada

Imagine Chaleur

Driving Innovation in the Chaleur Region

Something exciting is happening in northeastern New Brunswick. A new wave of economic development is taking shape, blending the region’s traditional strengths with fresh, forward-thinking initiatives. At the heart of this transformation is Imagine Chaleur, the regional economic development agency for the Chaleur Region, working to create a thriving business...

INNOVATION Quebec

CCEG

CCTT IN GERONTOLOGY

The CCEG, Canada’s one and only college centre on aging: a leader, a partner and an ambassador. The Centre collégial d’expertise en gérontologie (CCEG) examines the multiple aspects of population aging and is committed to advancing the understanding of seniors’ challenges, demystifying them and bringing them to the public. Our...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

SOLVIS

PIONEERING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MEASUREMENT FROM ‘PSST’ TO TOUCHSCREEN

Solvis provides customized devices, kiosks, and a customer feedback and experience management platform. Solvis’ story has a unique start: In the late 90s, a customer voiced dissatisfaction with a toy shop in Curitiba. Initially dismissed as gossip, the complaint prompted the CEO of Solvis, Leonardo Vilas Boas Badotti, the former...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

THE RED & YELLOW SUCCESS STORY

THE RED & YELLOW SUCCESS STORY- INSPIRING THE FUTURE OF SOUTH AFRICA’S BUSINESS LANDSCAPE THROUGH CREATIVITY

INSPIRING THE FUTURE OF SOUTH AFRICA’S BUSINESS LANDSCAPE THROUGH CREATIVITY

As industry leaders in the South African marketing landscape, Red & Yellow Creative School of Business has been producing some of the most creative thinkers in advertising, communications, and design for the past 28 years. Driven by a commitment to deliver industry-ready graduates who can meet complex problems and challenges...

INNOVATE® Puerto Rico

INVEST PUERTO RICO

WHY PUERTO RICO?

“ARMED WITH AN AMBITIOUS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, PUERTO RICO IS GIVING GAME-CHANGERS FROM MYRIAD FIELDS THE SUPPORT AND RESOURCES THEY NEED TO MAKE “IT” HAPPEN.” – ELLA WOGER-NIEVES – CEO, INVEST PUERTO RICO The day began like any other: a morning power-walk along the beach under a rising 7:00 a.m....

INNOVATE® South Carolina

DIG SOUTH

BUILDING THE SOUTH’S TECH FUTURE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION

In 2012, with two young children at home and a bold vision for the South’s untapped potential, Stanfield Gray and his wife, Sunny Gray, launched DIG SOUTH in Charleston, South Carolina. They were driven by a simple question: Why should a child from the South have fewer opportunities than a...

INNOVATE® Nashville

Nashville State Community College

From Classroom to Career: Nashville State Powers Progress Through Education and Partnerships

A Good Fit. A Great Future. That’s how Nashville State Community College defines itself—serving diverse students from Nashville’s urban core to rural counties, each bringing unique backgrounds and experiences. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to how Nashville State serves its students and communities. In fact, with Vision 2030 – its...

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...

INNOVATION Quebec

MECANIUM

CCTT IN MECHATRONICS AND INDUSTRIAL MECHANICS

Our mission at MECANIUM is to support Quebec manufacturing SMEs by designing and achieving mechatronic solutions to help them increase their knowledge, productivity and competitiveness and optimize their products and processes. We are also committed to promoting knowledge dissemination through training and knowledge transfer. As an innovation centre for mechatronics...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

METTĀ CREATIVE

GATHERING INTENTIONALLY IN THE PRESENT TO CO-CREATE A BETTER FUTURE

Born out of a desire for an alternative to unfulfilling college night-life, Mettā Creative has existed on the fringes of DMV culture since November 2016. Mettā, which means “loving-kindness” in Sanskrit, is a bonding agent, a glue between people, their community, and the public good. In the early days, Creative...

INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

FREESTYLE TRAMPOLINE ASSOCIATION

WORLD’S FIRST 3D TRAMPOLINE SIMULATOR TRAMPOLINE AND GYMNASTICS ‘JUMP’ INTO ESPORTS FOR THE FIRST TIME!

GRT Pro Flipper is a brand-new Mobile Trampoline Simulator that takes trampoline to the next level. All other trampoline-based apps on the App stores are based on simpler 2D gameplay that does not truly match what a trampolinist actually does in the air at the Olympics. Developed by the Freestyle...

INNOVATE® Milwaukee

NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL

INNOVATING IN FINANCIAL SERVICES FOR MORE THAN 165 YEARS

INNOVATING IN FINANCIAL SERVICES FOR MORE THAN 165 YEARS Founded in 1857, Northwestern Mutual, a FORTUNE 500® financial services company, embodies a unique culture dedicated to helping people achieve financial security. As a mutual company, Northwestern Mutual answers to its policy owners — not Wall Street. Through a comprehensive planning...

INNOVATION Quebec

NGTC

YOUR GO-TO PARTNER FOR MORE RESPONSIBLE USE OF ENERGY

Founded in 1992, NGTC is a non-profit research and development center that specializes in energy technologies. Although the use of natural gas is at the origin of its raison d’être, NGTC has been actively working, since 2007, on integrating new energy sources, notably renewable natural gas, hydrogen, aerothermal and solar...

INNOVATE® Nashville

CATWALK CONSULTING

GROUNDED IN RESEARCH, EXPERIENCE AND CULTURAL FLUENCY

Catwalk Consulting Group is a strategic marketing and communications firm specializing in the entertainment industry. We are known for innovative, future-focused approaches to positioning artists, executives, brands and organizations for what’s next. Our work centers on customized positioning and intentional audience development designed to elevate visibility, relevance and long-term impact....

INNOVATE® Georgia

ACKERMAN & CO

A BOLD APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT

Just two miles southwest of Downtown Atlanta is a sprawling collection of buildings formerly known as “Warehouse Row.” In the 1950s and 1960s, the warehouse buildings were developed to serve as a distribution hub for area grocery stores. Today, the buildings have been transformed into something much different. In the...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

SFU’s CHARLES CHANG INSTITUTE FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP

INNOVATING ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

World-Class Spirit & InnovationAs the World’s #1 university for Entrepreneurial Spirit and #1 in Canada for Innovation*, Simon Fraser University is recognized as one of Canada’s most supportive post-secondary ecosystems for innovative research and education across disciplines. The heart of its entrepreneurship education pillar beats in the Charles Chang Institute...

INNOVATE™ Curitiba

TECNOFIT

HELPING FITNESS BUSINESSES IMPROVE MANAGEMENT THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

Tecnofit, the leading software company in the health and fitness industry since 2017, distinguishes itself by offering cutting-edge solutions for managing gyms and other fitness businesses and professionals. Founded by Anderson Cichon, the current CTO, and fueled by the visionary outlook of Antonio Maganhotte Junior, the present CEO, the company...

INNOVATE® Nashville

UnityAI

The Future of Smarter, More Efficient Healthcare Operations

Hospitals are some of the most profound institutions in America — places where nearly everyone begins and ends their lives. The complexity of these institutions, operationally and administratively, is immense. While no individual or team can optimize this complexity, UnityAI believes AI can. UnityAI didn’t start with a grand vision...

INNOVATE™ Flanders

Antwerp City

Antwerp is a city in full change, once again, as it has been so many times over the past centuries.

Antwerp is a city in full change, once again, as it has been so many times over the past centuries. Now it is mobility shaping the future of the city, in the form of the Oosterweel works. For about two decades, the plans for the completion of the ring road...

INNOVATE™ Stockholm

HOUSE OF INNOVATION

STOCKHOLM SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS

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...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

VELORIC CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP

American University’s Kogod School of Business breeds the spirit of changemakers at the Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship. It’s more than just an academic unit; it’s a thriving ecosystem where entrepreneurial dreams are developed, challenged, and nurtured. Entrepreneurship is a worldview. Entrepreneurs are risk-taking, resilient, innovative problem-solvers and dreamers with the...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

M&C SAATCHI ABEL

M&C SAATCHI ABEL-SINCE ITS INCEPTION

SINCE ITS INCEPTION, THE M&C SAATCHI ABEL STORY IS ONE OF AUDACITY, TENACITY AND AN UNWAVERING BELIEF THAT ALL PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED WITH HOT CREATIVITY

What began as an unfurnished open space on the fourth floor of The Hudson Building in De Waterkant, Cape Town, with 13 people in 2010, is today a growing agency with over 250 talented, creative and diverse people, across a Cape Town and Johannesburg campus, and an agency that has...

INNOVATE™ Alberta

BUOYANCY

Empowering employment agencies to scale their impact through technology-enabled behaviour change

Buoyancy Works is a Calgary, Alberta-based wellness tech and behavioural insights company that empowers employment agencies to scale their impact through technology-enabled behaviour change techniques. The Buoyancy platform helps organizations scale programs, measure engagement, and support their clients through the emotional and motivational challenges of the job search. Buoyancy’s tools...

AI Québec

IA QUÉBEC

RETAIL INNOVATION LAB- AT THE BENSADOUN SCHOOL OF RETAIL MANAGEMENT

LE LABORATOIRE D’INNOVATION EN COMMERCE AU DÉTAIL À L’ÉCOLE BENSADOUN DE COMMERCE AU DÉTAIL DE L’UNIVERSITÉ MCGILL

L’École Bensadoun de commerce au détail de l’Université McGill a récemment lancé un laboratoire d’innovation en commerce au détail, fruit d’une collaboration entre l’Université McGill et Alimentation Couche-Tard inc. (ACT). Situé sur le campus de l’Université McGill, le laboratoire est à la fois un dépanneur et un laboratoire vivant, et...

INNOVATE™ Atlantic Canada

Imagine Chaleur

Driving Innovation in the Chaleur Region

Something exciting is happening in northeastern New Brunswick. A new wave of economic development is taking shape, blending the region’s traditional strengths with fresh, forward-thinking initiatives. At the heart of this transformation is Imagine Chaleur, the regional economic development agency for the Chaleur Region, working to create a thriving business...

INNOVATION Quebec

CCEG

CCTT IN GERONTOLOGY

The CCEG, Canada’s one and only college centre on aging: a leader, a partner and an ambassador. The Centre collégial d’expertise en gérontologie (CCEG) examines the multiple aspects of population aging and is committed to advancing the understanding of seniors’ challenges, demystifying them and bringing them to the public. Our...

Ecosystems