Global Village Publishing’s INNOVATE ORLANDO, a coffee-table book that showcases the City Beautiful’s innovators, is set for release at the end of 2019.
ORLANDO, FLORIDA, USA, August 6, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ — Global Village Publishing’s INNOVATE ORLANDO, a coffee-table book that showcases the City Beautiful’s innovators and innovation enablers, is set for release at the end of 2019. The book features organizations and startups across all industries, with individual stories serving as the threads of a larger tapestry of and homage to Orlando.
Alongside heavy-hitters like Lockheed Martin, Florida Citrus Sports, Florida Funders, and the University of Central Florida, INNOVATE ORLANDO includes up-and-coming organizations like AireHealth, winner of this year’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund competition; Rally, an accelerator for social enterprises; and Starter Studio, which supports startups through coworking spaces, funding, and programming. Simulation companies—Serious Simulations, Engineering & Computer Simulations, Datanautix, Design Interactive, and SoarTech among them—speak to Orlando’s bright future in gaming and simulation. Long-established companies like Hernon Manufacturing and Amazon Hose and Rubber, which celebrates its centennial anniversary this year, also have a home in INNOVATE ORLANDO’s pages.
“INNOVATE ORLANDO is an awesome snapshot of just how diverse and forward-thinking the city really is,” says Carel “Callie” Van Graan, COO of Global Village Publishing. “It’s easy to think only of Disney and NASA when we think of Orlando, but this book reveals so many other facets of the city. Its future is as fascinating as its past.”
Companies like Space Florida, Helical Communication Technologies, Sensatek, and others reveal a new version of the Space Coast, while Snap!Orlando, Launchable, Beyond360, Flip.To, and MyAreaNetwork showcase innovative technology’s role in hospitality and events. In addition to Florida Blue and Guidewell, medical technology companies establish Orlando as a place to watch for innovation in medicine. Limbitless, for example, provides affordable and stylish prosthetics to children; Vohesu allows patients to seek answers to medical questions through platforms like Alexa; and Hesperos serves as the leader in “human-on-a-chip” technology. And companies that provide consulting and advice to all such organizations—and more—are to be found in INNOVATE ORLANDO as well; Grennan Fender, Nperspective, Orlando Entrepreneurs, and CEO Leadership Forums included.
INNOVATE ORLANDO also showcases a variety of schools and universities, all of which are as focused on innovation as any funder or start-up. Young Innovators and the Amazing Explorers Academy, both founded by Marnie Forestieri, are STEAM-focused (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) preschools that helps children take charge of their learning from an early age. Florida Polytechnic University similarly focuses on STEM education, and it is the state’s only public polytechnic university. Other institutes featured in INNOVATE ORLANDO include Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College, Lake Highland Preparatory School, and Crooms Academy of Information Technology. Educational-support companies like Intern Pursuit, which aids businesses in creating meaningful and effective intern programs, and Eduworks, whose founder invented a microscope-friendly attachment for cell phones, can also be found in INNOVATE ORLANDO’s Education Chapter.
While many features businesses and organizations in INNOVATE ORLANDO were born of and in the City Beautiful, others started in places like Silicon Valley but ultimately decided to make Orlando their home. The award-winning fintech company Fattmerchant is such an example, as is Finexio. Statusphere, which connects brands with influencers, turned down investor advice to relocate to New York and is still thriving in Orlando.
“So many of these companies and organizations are on the cutting edge of their industries, and it’s exciting for us to be the ones to shed light on their endeavors,” says Sven Boermeester, Global Village Publishing’s founder and CEO. “There are world-changing things happening in Orlando and we want everyone to know it.”
Others of Orlando’s innovative companies might come as a surprise to readers. Mini Materials, the world’s leading producer of miniature-scale building materials, calls Orlando home, as does V&D Electric Bikes and MyJet Travel Pillows, which are doctor-developed by Florida native Michael Majette. Fluix Engineering makes liquid-based systems for cooling gaming consoles; LightPath Technologies manufactures state-of-the-art optics for a variety of applications; deux mains creates sustainable jobs through its production of shoes made from used tires; OptiGrate designs and produces volume Bragg gratings (VBG) filters and components; and Millebot offers mobile lab space for 3D printers and other large technologies. Quick Response Fire Protection is based in Orlando as is RideSurf, an app that helps users catch safe, cross-country rides.
INNOVATE ORLANDO participants worked with Global Village Publishing’s in-house production team to create their stories—and ultimately, the city of Orlando’s. A launch party for later in the year is in the works as well.
Sven Boermeester, CEO and Founder of Global Village Publishing, an avid traveler, first conceived of creating city-celebrating coffee-table books as a kind of love letter to the different cities he traveled to. Born in Antwerp and raised in South Africa, Boermeester opened his first media company upon completing his business studies in Cape Town and since then has published over 183 INNOVATE and BEST OF editions across 60 countries.
Carel “Callie” Van Graan, Global Village Publishing’s COO, possesses a similar wanderlust. As a serial entrepreneur with deep experience in marketing, branding, and logistics—and having traveled the world with his family—Van Graan is well-suited to bringing the INNOVATE series into being.
“We want to make the awesomeness that is Orlando impossible to ignore,” Van Graan says. “We’re proud to bring all of these stories to people’s attention, both in Orlando and beyond.”
INNOVATE ORLANDO will be available through Amazon and on the Global Village Publishing website.
