Stories of Innovation

INNOVATE™ Toronto

FRESH CITY

FRESH CITY- CONNECTING TORONTONIANS WITH SUSTAINABLE FARMING & QUALITY FOOD

CONNECTING TORONTONIANS WITH SUSTAINABLE FARMING & QUALITY FOOD

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...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

TIGER BRANDS

TIGER BRANDS- KEEPING UP WITH THE CONSUMER THROUGH INNOVATIVE PRODUCT OFFERINGS

KEEPING UP WITH THE CONSUMER THROUGH INNOVATIVE PRODUCT OFFERINGS

For more than 100 years, Tiger Brands has produced some of South Africa’s most loved quality brands from culinary favourites like Jungle Oats, All Gold Tomato Sauce and Black Cat Peanut Butter, to personal care products. But as much as these have become staples in local homes, which we are...

INNOVATE® Georgia

SCIENTIFIC GAMES

THE WORLD’S LARGEST LOTTERY GAMES COMPANY ATLANTA-BASED INNOVATOR POWERS THE GLOBAL GOVERNMENT-REGULATED LOTTERY INDUSTRY

More than 50 years of relentless innovation. Legendary performance. Unwavering security. And trusted partnerships. All built on a foundation of science. Since 1973, Scientific Games has integrated science into everything the company does. Its founders – a mathematician and an engineer – developed the world’s first secure lottery instant “scratch”...

INNOVATION Quebec

MERINOV

À LA TÊTE DE L’ÉCONOMIE BLEUE DANS L’EST DU CANADA

Merinov est un chef de file de l’économie bleue dans l’est du Canada. En fait, il est le plus important centre intégré de recherche appliquée au pays en pêches, aquaculture, transformation et valorisation des produits aquatiques. Depuis sa création en 2010, le centre de recherche vise à incarner le département...

INNOVATION Quebec

SYNTHÈSE

A KEY PLAYER IN RESOLVING WORKFORCE CHALLENGES IN DIGITAL CREATION

The founding of SYNTHÈSESYNTHÈSE was founded in 2018 by ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur du Québec (the province’s ministry of education and higher learning) following discussions among digital-creation companies, colleges, universities, associations, and representatives from ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation and ministère de la Culture et des...

INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2

SPLASH

A RIPPLE IN INNOVATION, A WAVE OF COMMUNITY.

A sustainably minded hub for entrepreneurship, start-up life, innovation, and community – leading the start-up world – that is Splash. Splash Coworking (Splash) the model of a shared work space and business resource center where entrepreneurs, independent professionals and creatives connect, collaborate and make business happen. Located in downtown San...

INNOVATE™ Estonia

ESTONIAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

A UNIVERSITY BORN OF A VISION

When Estonia regained independence in the early 1990s, its economy was in flux. The country was moving rapidly from a socialist system into the unpredictable, high-speed world of open markets. At that critical juncture, one man – Ülo Pärnits – saw a gap that urgently needed filling. Estonia had bright...

INNOVATION Quebec

CHAUDIÈRES-APPALACHES ÉCONOMIQUE

BUSINESS ACCELERATOR AND INCUBATOR

For nearly 15 years, our mission at ChaudièresAppalaches Économique (CAE) has been to stimulate economic development by pooling our members’ assets and services, as well as those of our economic development partners. CAE’s services include business mentoring, entrepreneurship outreach, and support for eco-friendly businesses and eco-innovation. Since 2018, CAE has...

INNOVATE® Blockchain

ENLEDGER

ENLEDGER-

Is a story of fortuitous serendipity and strange coincidence, a random meeting of minds and a coming together of disparate expertise, chasing wild breakthrough ideas in data science and blockchain incentives engineering

Jason Dispenza, an energy exec running a solar energy and building performance company in D.C., meets Ryan Molecke, cryptocurrency exchange technical officer, on a tour bus taking the Icelandic Southern coastal tour, Jan 2016. By the next year, they are paired up with a new blockchain energy applications company, pitching...

INNOVATE® Detroit

Newlab

Building the Future of Sustainable Mobility at Michigan Central

Newlab is a global network of purpose-built innovation hubs that accelerates climate and deep tech time-to-market. Newlab provides startups with physical infrastructure, direct investment opportunities, and pilot partnerships to drive meaningful commercialization outcomes and economic development in energy, materials, and mobility. Newlab established its Detroit home in 2023 to enable...

INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

DYNAMIK FOCUS

DYNAMIK FOCUS-Creating local and digital activations at events or on streaming platforms to help promote your product or service

Creating local and digital activations at events or on streaming platforms to help promote your product or service

Dynamik Focus was Founded in October 2016 By Aziza Brown. After varying experiences with previous esports teams, and seeing a need for representation and structure in the growing esports space, she partnered with former teammate Devin Harris, and Dynamik Focus was born. Soon after the organization was founded, Dynamik Focus...

INNOVATE® Philadelphia

FSH Technologies

People need to believe their government can meet their needs, and trust that it will happen.

Philadelphia served as the catalyst city for dreaming about a new form of government during the American Revolution. The status quo was monarchs. People were being taxed to fund foreign wars, not public services. Philadelphians believed, and built, a better government for the people. 250 years later, FSH Technologies and...

INNOVATE® Philadelphia

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOR GREATER PHILADELPHIA

BUILT ON LEGACY. DRIVEN BY WHAT’S NEXT.

For 225 years, the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia has championed the idea that Philadelphia is where ambition can find footing. Where infrastructure, relationships, and the shared belief in what’s possible can align in a way that turns ideas into industry. When a company is weighing a major location...

INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2

ATHOMA

ATHOMA -STANDS FOR “AT HOME IN ANTWERP”

STANDS FOR “AT HOME IN ANTWERP”

ATHOMA is the name of the building where Antwerpen Zuid Kliniek is located. It is a new construction project with a central location in a very visible place due to its distinctive architectural design. It is easy to reach by car, bike, train, tram, bus and even Antwerp airport is...

INNOVATE® Miami

Refresh Miami

Its mission—to educate, inspire, connect and grow South Florida’s tech and startup ecosystem

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....

INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1

BOTSWANA DIGITAL AND INNOVATION HUB

THE MANDATE OF THE BDIH IS TO CATALYSE THE DIVERSIFICATION OF BOTSWANA’S ECONOMY, TOWARDS A KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY

The Hub works closely with innovation ecosystem players to commercialise innovative and tech driven solutions. The Hub does this by: The BDIH owns two subsidiary companies, the first being the Botswana Innovation Hub Property (Pty) Ltd (BIHP). BIHP leverages the strategic infrastructure that includes the Science and Technology Park and...

INNOVATE® Detroit

MUSIC HALL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Shaping Detroit’s Cultural and Educational Future

For nearly a century, the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts has been a cornerstone of Detroit’s artistic and cultural community. Founded in 1928 by visionary philanthropist Matilda Rausch Dodge Wilson, Music Hall has played a pivotal role in enriching Detroit with performances and educational programs that reflect the...

INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2

TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY

REVOLUTIONIZING HIGHER EDUCATION THROUGH A TOP-TIER RESEARCH ENTERPRISE

TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY A KEY PLAYER IN AUSTIN’S INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMDriving from San Marcos to Austin, you can’t help but notice all the growth taking place along the I-35 corridor. With a population boom in Central Texas concentrated around the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan, and well on its way to merging...

INNOVATE™ Toronto

SPECIFIC BIOLOGICS

SPECIFIC BIOLOGICS-DEVELOPING A NEXT-GENERATION GENE EDITING TECHNOLOGY TO TREAT SERIOUS GENETIC DISEASES

DEVELOPING A NEXT-GENERATION GENE EDITING TECHNOLOGY TO TREAT SERIOUS GENETIC DISEASES

Gene editing holds the potential to cure a wide range of genetic diseases by altering DNA in the genome inside cells – but today’s gene editors have limitations. To better realize the significant opportunity of this therapeutic approach, and allow for its application to new therapeutic areas, Specific Biologics (“Specific”)...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

FLOW TRAVEL

FLOW TRAVEL- A BOUTIQUE OFFERING OUT OF AFRICA THAT’S GOING PLACES

A BOUTIQUE OFFERING OUT OF AFRICA THAT’S GOING PLACES

When Tara Turkington, CEO of marketing agency Flow Communications, was asked to arrange a visit for a few people to South Africa, nobody realised it was the genesis of something remarkable. Flow Travel organises exciting, immersive trips for small groups to wherever our guests lead us. We like to do...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

Local Initiatives Support Corporation DC (LISC)

Catalysts for Community Change

Catalysts for Community Change For over four decades, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) has been a transformative force in the Washington, D.C., area, empowering underinvested communities and fostering innovative solutions to complex urban challenges. As Executive Director Ramon Jacobson eloquently puts it: “Our mission is to help people uncover...

INNOVATE® Blockchain

ACQUIRE

The last time we had a technology this versatile, it changed and improved every element of nearly every business

People used to wonder whether blockchain technology would survive. Then the question transitioned to “It’s not a matter of if, but when it will take hold?” Now the key question being asked is “who is using it and how?” To answer that question, you must understand that Web2 and Web3...

INNOVATE® Seattle

SEATTLEU

INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTER AT SEATTLE UNIVERSITY

INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTER AT SEATTLE UNIVERSITY. ACCELERATING ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERS FOR THE COMMON GOOD As uncertainty across environmental and social changes becomes the norm, we need innovative leaders who are prepared to take on those challenges. That is why Seattle University’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (IEC) is where innovation meets...

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™ Toronto

FRESH CITY

FRESH CITY- CONNECTING TORONTONIANS WITH SUSTAINABLE FARMING & QUALITY FOOD

CONNECTING TORONTONIANS WITH SUSTAINABLE FARMING & QUALITY FOOD

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...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

TIGER BRANDS

TIGER BRANDS- KEEPING UP WITH THE CONSUMER THROUGH INNOVATIVE PRODUCT OFFERINGS

KEEPING UP WITH THE CONSUMER THROUGH INNOVATIVE PRODUCT OFFERINGS

For more than 100 years, Tiger Brands has produced some of South Africa’s most loved quality brands from culinary favourites like Jungle Oats, All Gold Tomato Sauce and Black Cat Peanut Butter, to personal care products. But as much as these have become staples in local homes, which we are...

INNOVATE® Georgia

SCIENTIFIC GAMES

THE WORLD’S LARGEST LOTTERY GAMES COMPANY ATLANTA-BASED INNOVATOR POWERS THE GLOBAL GOVERNMENT-REGULATED LOTTERY INDUSTRY

More than 50 years of relentless innovation. Legendary performance. Unwavering security. And trusted partnerships. All built on a foundation of science. Since 1973, Scientific Games has integrated science into everything the company does. Its founders – a mathematician and an engineer – developed the world’s first secure lottery instant “scratch”...

INNOVATION Quebec

MERINOV

À LA TÊTE DE L’ÉCONOMIE BLEUE DANS L’EST DU CANADA

Merinov est un chef de file de l’économie bleue dans l’est du Canada. En fait, il est le plus important centre intégré de recherche appliquée au pays en pêches, aquaculture, transformation et valorisation des produits aquatiques. Depuis sa création en 2010, le centre de recherche vise à incarner le département...

INNOVATION Quebec

SYNTHÈSE

A KEY PLAYER IN RESOLVING WORKFORCE CHALLENGES IN DIGITAL CREATION

The founding of SYNTHÈSESYNTHÈSE was founded in 2018 by ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur du Québec (the province’s ministry of education and higher learning) following discussions among digital-creation companies, colleges, universities, associations, and representatives from ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation and ministère de la Culture et des...

INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2

SPLASH

A RIPPLE IN INNOVATION, A WAVE OF COMMUNITY.

A sustainably minded hub for entrepreneurship, start-up life, innovation, and community – leading the start-up world – that is Splash. Splash Coworking (Splash) the model of a shared work space and business resource center where entrepreneurs, independent professionals and creatives connect, collaborate and make business happen. Located in downtown San...

INNOVATE™ Estonia

ESTONIAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

A UNIVERSITY BORN OF A VISION

When Estonia regained independence in the early 1990s, its economy was in flux. The country was moving rapidly from a socialist system into the unpredictable, high-speed world of open markets. At that critical juncture, one man – Ülo Pärnits – saw a gap that urgently needed filling. Estonia had bright...

INNOVATION Quebec

CHAUDIÈRES-APPALACHES ÉCONOMIQUE

BUSINESS ACCELERATOR AND INCUBATOR

For nearly 15 years, our mission at ChaudièresAppalaches Économique (CAE) has been to stimulate economic development by pooling our members’ assets and services, as well as those of our economic development partners. CAE’s services include business mentoring, entrepreneurship outreach, and support for eco-friendly businesses and eco-innovation. Since 2018, CAE has...

INNOVATE® Blockchain

ENLEDGER

ENLEDGER-

Is a story of fortuitous serendipity and strange coincidence, a random meeting of minds and a coming together of disparate expertise, chasing wild breakthrough ideas in data science and blockchain incentives engineering

Jason Dispenza, an energy exec running a solar energy and building performance company in D.C., meets Ryan Molecke, cryptocurrency exchange technical officer, on a tour bus taking the Icelandic Southern coastal tour, Jan 2016. By the next year, they are paired up with a new blockchain energy applications company, pitching...

INNOVATE® Detroit

Newlab

Building the Future of Sustainable Mobility at Michigan Central

Newlab is a global network of purpose-built innovation hubs that accelerates climate and deep tech time-to-market. Newlab provides startups with physical infrastructure, direct investment opportunities, and pilot partnerships to drive meaningful commercialization outcomes and economic development in energy, materials, and mobility. Newlab established its Detroit home in 2023 to enable...

INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

DYNAMIK FOCUS

DYNAMIK FOCUS-Creating local and digital activations at events or on streaming platforms to help promote your product or service

Creating local and digital activations at events or on streaming platforms to help promote your product or service

Dynamik Focus was Founded in October 2016 By Aziza Brown. After varying experiences with previous esports teams, and seeing a need for representation and structure in the growing esports space, she partnered with former teammate Devin Harris, and Dynamik Focus was born. Soon after the organization was founded, Dynamik Focus...

INNOVATE® Philadelphia

FSH Technologies

People need to believe their government can meet their needs, and trust that it will happen.

Philadelphia served as the catalyst city for dreaming about a new form of government during the American Revolution. The status quo was monarchs. People were being taxed to fund foreign wars, not public services. Philadelphians believed, and built, a better government for the people. 250 years later, FSH Technologies and...

INNOVATE® Philadelphia

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOR GREATER PHILADELPHIA

BUILT ON LEGACY. DRIVEN BY WHAT’S NEXT.

For 225 years, the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia has championed the idea that Philadelphia is where ambition can find footing. Where infrastructure, relationships, and the shared belief in what’s possible can align in a way that turns ideas into industry. When a company is weighing a major location...

INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2

ATHOMA

ATHOMA -STANDS FOR “AT HOME IN ANTWERP”

STANDS FOR “AT HOME IN ANTWERP”

ATHOMA is the name of the building where Antwerpen Zuid Kliniek is located. It is a new construction project with a central location in a very visible place due to its distinctive architectural design. It is easy to reach by car, bike, train, tram, bus and even Antwerp airport is...

INNOVATE® Miami

Refresh Miami

Its mission—to educate, inspire, connect and grow South Florida’s tech and startup ecosystem

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....

INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1

BOTSWANA DIGITAL AND INNOVATION HUB

THE MANDATE OF THE BDIH IS TO CATALYSE THE DIVERSIFICATION OF BOTSWANA’S ECONOMY, TOWARDS A KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY

The Hub works closely with innovation ecosystem players to commercialise innovative and tech driven solutions. The Hub does this by: The BDIH owns two subsidiary companies, the first being the Botswana Innovation Hub Property (Pty) Ltd (BIHP). BIHP leverages the strategic infrastructure that includes the Science and Technology Park and...

INNOVATE® Detroit

MUSIC HALL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Shaping Detroit’s Cultural and Educational Future

For nearly a century, the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts has been a cornerstone of Detroit’s artistic and cultural community. Founded in 1928 by visionary philanthropist Matilda Rausch Dodge Wilson, Music Hall has played a pivotal role in enriching Detroit with performances and educational programs that reflect the...

INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2

TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY

REVOLUTIONIZING HIGHER EDUCATION THROUGH A TOP-TIER RESEARCH ENTERPRISE

TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY A KEY PLAYER IN AUSTIN’S INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMDriving from San Marcos to Austin, you can’t help but notice all the growth taking place along the I-35 corridor. With a population boom in Central Texas concentrated around the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan, and well on its way to merging...

INNOVATE™ Toronto

SPECIFIC BIOLOGICS

SPECIFIC BIOLOGICS-DEVELOPING A NEXT-GENERATION GENE EDITING TECHNOLOGY TO TREAT SERIOUS GENETIC DISEASES

DEVELOPING A NEXT-GENERATION GENE EDITING TECHNOLOGY TO TREAT SERIOUS GENETIC DISEASES

Gene editing holds the potential to cure a wide range of genetic diseases by altering DNA in the genome inside cells – but today’s gene editors have limitations. To better realize the significant opportunity of this therapeutic approach, and allow for its application to new therapeutic areas, Specific Biologics (“Specific”)...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

FLOW TRAVEL

FLOW TRAVEL- A BOUTIQUE OFFERING OUT OF AFRICA THAT’S GOING PLACES

A BOUTIQUE OFFERING OUT OF AFRICA THAT’S GOING PLACES

When Tara Turkington, CEO of marketing agency Flow Communications, was asked to arrange a visit for a few people to South Africa, nobody realised it was the genesis of something remarkable. Flow Travel organises exciting, immersive trips for small groups to wherever our guests lead us. We like to do...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

Local Initiatives Support Corporation DC (LISC)

Catalysts for Community Change

Catalysts for Community Change For over four decades, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) has been a transformative force in the Washington, D.C., area, empowering underinvested communities and fostering innovative solutions to complex urban challenges. As Executive Director Ramon Jacobson eloquently puts it: “Our mission is to help people uncover...

INNOVATE® Blockchain

ACQUIRE

The last time we had a technology this versatile, it changed and improved every element of nearly every business

People used to wonder whether blockchain technology would survive. Then the question transitioned to “It’s not a matter of if, but when it will take hold?” Now the key question being asked is “who is using it and how?” To answer that question, you must understand that Web2 and Web3...

INNOVATE® Seattle

SEATTLEU

INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTER AT SEATTLE UNIVERSITY

INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTER AT SEATTLE UNIVERSITY. ACCELERATING ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERS FOR THE COMMON GOOD As uncertainty across environmental and social changes becomes the norm, we need innovative leaders who are prepared to take on those challenges. That is why Seattle University’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (IEC) is where innovation meets...

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...

Ecosystems