Stories of Innovation
INNOVATE® Seattle
Northeastern University Seattle
NORTHEASTERN BRINGS OVER 100 YEARS OF EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION TO PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
NORTHEASTERN BRINGS OVER 100 YEARS OF EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION TO PACIFIC NORTHWEST. Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is a global research university with 13 campuses and the recognized leader in lifelong, experiential learning. Our emphasis on experience empowers our students, faculty, alumni, and partners to make an impact in their communities,...
INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition
Union Kitchen
HOW A FOOD BUSINESS ACCELERATOR IN WASHINGTON,DC IS PAVING THE WAY FOR THE NEXT BIG CPG BRANDS
Cullen Gilchrist founded Union Kitchen in 2012 to partner with food businesses of all sizes to grow and scale their success. Cullen got his start in the food industry with his sister and friends when they opened the Blind Dog Cafe. Faced with the challenge of increased demand and not...
INNOVATE™ Oeiras
Grant Thornton
A Truly Global Organisation
Grant Thornton is one of the world’s leading organisations of independent assurance, tax and advisory firms. These firms help dynamic organisations unlock their potential for growth by providing meaningful, actionable advice through a broad range of services. Proactive teams, led by approachable partners in these firms, use insights, experience and...
INNOVATE™ Toronto
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
Achieving Excellence — At Scale
U of T consistently ranks as one of the world’s Top 25 universities, and it’s the hub of Toronto’s innovation ecosystem. For nearly 200 years, some of society’s most daring thinkers have gathered here to unlock human potential and bring about positive change. It’s where Frederick Banting, Charles Best, James...
INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1
FARMERS FRIDGE
IS ON A MISSION TO MAKE IT SIMPLE FOR EVERYONE TO EAT WELL
A former traveling salesman driving more than 3,000 miles each week, Farmer’s Fridge Founder and CEO Luke Saunders was frustrated with the lack of healthy, 24/7 options available on the road. Determined to solve this challenge, he built a high-tech smart Fridge that dispenses fresh meals within seconds. Despite facing...
Global Innovation Spotlight
Explainable Is Too Soft:
in 2026 We Need Forensic Audit Trails in Medical AI
The epiphany didn’t come from a breakthrough in model architecture or a surge in accuracy metrics. It came from watching a physiotherapist from Lviv stare blankly at a screen. Dmytro Grybeniuk and Oleh Ivchenko, specialists in machine learning infrastructure, were attending the MedAI hackathon at Odesa National Polytechnic University not...
INNOVATE™ Toronto
AMPLIFY CAPITAL
TARGETING QUANTITATIVE IMPACT OUTCOMES; DELIVERING DOUBLE BOTTOM LINE RETURNS
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™ Antwerp Vol.2
SHOWPIECE VACCINOPOLIS
OPENS ITS DOORS
A container village on Campus Drie Eiken, in which 30 volunteers took up residence to test polio vaccines, that was the setup for Poliopolis, a study at UAntwerpen conducted within a closed container village on campus, in 2017. To ensure proper follow-up, participants remained in quarantine for 28 days. The...
INNOVATION Quebec
ÉCONOMIE DU SAVOIR MAURICIE (ESM)
STIMULATING INNOVATION IN THE MAURICIE: THE HEART OF OUR MISSION
In 2011, economic development actors in the Mauricie region were visionary in creating an organization dedicated to innovation. Claude Bourassa, General Manager “Innovation is no longer optional, but rather a mandatory management method for business sustainability and growth!”– Claude Bourassa, General Manager of ESM and ERAC Mauricie Over the years, Économie...
INNOVATE™ Stockholm
LIFESEEDS
BUILDING THE NORDIC BRIDGE TO PERSONALIZED LONGEVITY
Aging is the single greatest risk factor for every major chronic disease — yet the global wellness and supplement market still treats human biology as if one size fits all. Consumers spend billions on generic products, vague claims and underdosed formulas — yet see little measurable impact. At the same...
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® New Jersey Vol.2
VERASONI
CEOs and CMOs are demanding more clarity, efficiency, performance and efficacy from their marketing enterprises. As marketing gets noisier, brands turn to Verasoni as a guiding light of calm and for measured strategies, and they have since 2005. Recognized for innovation and strategic guidance to clients ranging from Fortune 500...
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...
INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2
MINIONE
INTRODUCED IN 2014, MINIONE® SYSTEMS IS A BRAND OF EDUCATIONAL LIFE SCIENCE PRODUCTS DEVELOPED BY THE COMPANY EMBI TEC®, WHICH HAS FOR YEARS MANUFACTURED BIOTECH EQUIPMENT AND REAGENTS USED BY TOP RESEARCH FACILITIES ALL OVER THE WORLD
When its founders, Richard Chan and Winston Walker, learned that educators were purchasing their research-grade equipment to help students get hands-on experience with electrophoresis in their classrooms, they sought to develop a teacher and student-friendly electrophoresis system that was safe, compact, fast, and affordable, making it possible to complete inquiry...
INNOVATE® Philadelphia
United Bank of Philadelphia
So Much More than Banking
Since opening in 1992 under founder Dr. Emma C. Chappell, United Bank of Philadelphia (“the Bank”) has upheld its mission: driving economic inclusion and opportunity in urban communities. Philadelphia has always been a city of visionaries and entrepreneurs, but vision does not turn into a successful business without capital. As...
INNOVATE® Milwaukee
SUMMERFEST TECH
UNVEILING INNOVATION, CONNECTING COMMUNITIES
Technology’s power to drive collaboration is transformative. Summerfest Tech was created in 2018 to showcase the impactful influence of technology in Milwaukee and the Midwest, and provide a platform to network, educate, and celebrate the evolution of technology. Today, Summerfest Tech continues to leverage the world-class music festival Summerfest, while...
INNOVATE® Georgia
REPAY
ATLANTA’S REPAY REVAMPS PAYMENT TECHNOLOGY TO PROVIDE ADVANTAGES FOR CONSUMERS & BUSINESSES
History & PurposeREPAY was founded in 2006 by John Morris and Shaler Alias with the goal of providing fast, frictionless, and fail-safe integrated payment processing solutions for consumers and businesses. Morris serves as REPAY’s CEO to this day, and Alias co-leads as president from the company’s headquarters in Atlanta. REPAY’s...
INNOVATION Quebec
NJBIA
NJBIA-RECLAIMING NEW JERSEY’S STATURE AS THE INNOVATION STATE TO RESHAPE THE ECONOMY, GROW BUSINESSES, CREATE JOBS, AND INVEST IN OUR FUTURE New Jersey has been synonymous with innovation throughout its history. The state was the workplace of Thomas Edison – universally lauded as the greatest inventor ever. It is the...
INNOVATE® Philadelphia
Econsult Solutions, Inc.
Where Innovation Takes Root: The Economics of What Comes Next
Economic impact has a standard playbook: count jobs, measure spending, calculate activity, and produce a number. Oftentimes this approach defines how cities, institutions, and developers tell their economic story, but it can leave out the most important part—the context of the place and the tangible day-to-day impacts on the community....
INNOVATE® Northern Virginia
KPMG
TURNING COMPLEXITY INTO OPPORTUNITY
Across Northern Virginia, progress rarely follows a straight line. Breakthrough technologies emerge alongside evolving regulations, new markets develop beside established industries, and organizations are expected to move quickly while continuing to deliver results. In this environment, complexity is not an obstacle: it’s the starting point. KPMG helps organizations across the...
INNOVATE™ Kitchener Waterloo
UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO CO-OP
SINCE THE BEGINNING, WATERLOO’S CO-OPERATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM HAS BEEN LAUNCHING SUCCESSFUL CAREERS
Many students dream of landing a job that aligns with their passions, inspires real-world impact or even motivates them to launch their own business. For thousands of University of Waterloo students, that dream has become a reality thanks to co-operative education (co-op), which combines paid work experience with earning a...
INNOVATE® Seattle
Northeastern University Seattle
NORTHEASTERN BRINGS OVER 100 YEARS OF EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION TO PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
NORTHEASTERN BRINGS OVER 100 YEARS OF EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION TO PACIFIC NORTHWEST. Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is a global research university with 13 campuses and the recognized leader in lifelong, experiential learning. Our emphasis on experience empowers our students, faculty, alumni, and partners to make an impact in their communities,...
INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition
Union Kitchen
HOW A FOOD BUSINESS ACCELERATOR IN WASHINGTON,DC IS PAVING THE WAY FOR THE NEXT BIG CPG BRANDS
Cullen Gilchrist founded Union Kitchen in 2012 to partner with food businesses of all sizes to grow and scale their success. Cullen got his start in the food industry with his sister and friends when they opened the Blind Dog Cafe. Faced with the challenge of increased demand and not...
INNOVATE™ Oeiras
Grant Thornton
A Truly Global Organisation
Grant Thornton is one of the world’s leading organisations of independent assurance, tax and advisory firms. These firms help dynamic organisations unlock their potential for growth by providing meaningful, actionable advice through a broad range of services. Proactive teams, led by approachable partners in these firms, use insights, experience and...
INNOVATE™ Toronto
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
Achieving Excellence — At Scale
U of T consistently ranks as one of the world’s Top 25 universities, and it’s the hub of Toronto’s innovation ecosystem. For nearly 200 years, some of society’s most daring thinkers have gathered here to unlock human potential and bring about positive change. It’s where Frederick Banting, Charles Best, James...
INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1
FARMERS FRIDGE
IS ON A MISSION TO MAKE IT SIMPLE FOR EVERYONE TO EAT WELL
A former traveling salesman driving more than 3,000 miles each week, Farmer’s Fridge Founder and CEO Luke Saunders was frustrated with the lack of healthy, 24/7 options available on the road. Determined to solve this challenge, he built a high-tech smart Fridge that dispenses fresh meals within seconds. Despite facing...
Global Innovation Spotlight
Explainable Is Too Soft:
in 2026 We Need Forensic Audit Trails in Medical AI
The epiphany didn’t come from a breakthrough in model architecture or a surge in accuracy metrics. It came from watching a physiotherapist from Lviv stare blankly at a screen. Dmytro Grybeniuk and Oleh Ivchenko, specialists in machine learning infrastructure, were attending the MedAI hackathon at Odesa National Polytechnic University not...
INNOVATE™ Toronto
AMPLIFY CAPITAL
TARGETING QUANTITATIVE IMPACT OUTCOMES; DELIVERING DOUBLE BOTTOM LINE RETURNS
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™ Antwerp Vol.2
SHOWPIECE VACCINOPOLIS
OPENS ITS DOORS
A container village on Campus Drie Eiken, in which 30 volunteers took up residence to test polio vaccines, that was the setup for Poliopolis, a study at UAntwerpen conducted within a closed container village on campus, in 2017. To ensure proper follow-up, participants remained in quarantine for 28 days. The...
INNOVATION Quebec
ÉCONOMIE DU SAVOIR MAURICIE (ESM)
STIMULATING INNOVATION IN THE MAURICIE: THE HEART OF OUR MISSION
In 2011, economic development actors in the Mauricie region were visionary in creating an organization dedicated to innovation. Claude Bourassa, General Manager “Innovation is no longer optional, but rather a mandatory management method for business sustainability and growth!”– Claude Bourassa, General Manager of ESM and ERAC Mauricie Over the years, Économie...
INNOVATE™ Stockholm
LIFESEEDS
BUILDING THE NORDIC BRIDGE TO PERSONALIZED LONGEVITY
Aging is the single greatest risk factor for every major chronic disease — yet the global wellness and supplement market still treats human biology as if one size fits all. Consumers spend billions on generic products, vague claims and underdosed formulas — yet see little measurable impact. At the same...
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® New Jersey Vol.2
VERASONI
CEOs and CMOs are demanding more clarity, efficiency, performance and efficacy from their marketing enterprises. As marketing gets noisier, brands turn to Verasoni as a guiding light of calm and for measured strategies, and they have since 2005. Recognized for innovation and strategic guidance to clients ranging from Fortune 500...
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...
INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2
MINIONE
INTRODUCED IN 2014, MINIONE® SYSTEMS IS A BRAND OF EDUCATIONAL LIFE SCIENCE PRODUCTS DEVELOPED BY THE COMPANY EMBI TEC®, WHICH HAS FOR YEARS MANUFACTURED BIOTECH EQUIPMENT AND REAGENTS USED BY TOP RESEARCH FACILITIES ALL OVER THE WORLD
When its founders, Richard Chan and Winston Walker, learned that educators were purchasing their research-grade equipment to help students get hands-on experience with electrophoresis in their classrooms, they sought to develop a teacher and student-friendly electrophoresis system that was safe, compact, fast, and affordable, making it possible to complete inquiry...
INNOVATE® Philadelphia
United Bank of Philadelphia
So Much More than Banking
Since opening in 1992 under founder Dr. Emma C. Chappell, United Bank of Philadelphia (“the Bank”) has upheld its mission: driving economic inclusion and opportunity in urban communities. Philadelphia has always been a city of visionaries and entrepreneurs, but vision does not turn into a successful business without capital. As...
INNOVATE® Milwaukee
SUMMERFEST TECH
UNVEILING INNOVATION, CONNECTING COMMUNITIES
Technology’s power to drive collaboration is transformative. Summerfest Tech was created in 2018 to showcase the impactful influence of technology in Milwaukee and the Midwest, and provide a platform to network, educate, and celebrate the evolution of technology. Today, Summerfest Tech continues to leverage the world-class music festival Summerfest, while...
INNOVATE® Georgia
REPAY
ATLANTA’S REPAY REVAMPS PAYMENT TECHNOLOGY TO PROVIDE ADVANTAGES FOR CONSUMERS & BUSINESSES
History & PurposeREPAY was founded in 2006 by John Morris and Shaler Alias with the goal of providing fast, frictionless, and fail-safe integrated payment processing solutions for consumers and businesses. Morris serves as REPAY’s CEO to this day, and Alias co-leads as president from the company’s headquarters in Atlanta. REPAY’s...
INNOVATION Quebec
NJBIA
NJBIA-RECLAIMING NEW JERSEY’S STATURE AS THE INNOVATION STATE TO RESHAPE THE ECONOMY, GROW BUSINESSES, CREATE JOBS, AND INVEST IN OUR FUTURE New Jersey has been synonymous with innovation throughout its history. The state was the workplace of Thomas Edison – universally lauded as the greatest inventor ever. It is the...
INNOVATE® Philadelphia
Econsult Solutions, Inc.
Where Innovation Takes Root: The Economics of What Comes Next
Economic impact has a standard playbook: count jobs, measure spending, calculate activity, and produce a number. Oftentimes this approach defines how cities, institutions, and developers tell their economic story, but it can leave out the most important part—the context of the place and the tangible day-to-day impacts on the community....
INNOVATE® Northern Virginia
KPMG
TURNING COMPLEXITY INTO OPPORTUNITY
Across Northern Virginia, progress rarely follows a straight line. Breakthrough technologies emerge alongside evolving regulations, new markets develop beside established industries, and organizations are expected to move quickly while continuing to deliver results. In this environment, complexity is not an obstacle: it’s the starting point. KPMG helps organizations across the...
INNOVATE™ Kitchener Waterloo
UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO CO-OP
SINCE THE BEGINNING, WATERLOO’S CO-OPERATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM HAS BEEN LAUNCHING SUCCESSFUL CAREERS
Many students dream of landing a job that aligns with their passions, inspires real-world impact or even motivates them to launch their own business. For thousands of University of Waterloo students, that dream has become a reality thanks to co-operative education (co-op), which combines paid work experience with earning a...