Welcome!
InnoVision Awards, established in 1999, is South Carolina’s premier organization dedicated to advancing innovation and technology. InnoVision is the only program of its kind – a grass-roots, volunteer-led non-profit organization made up of businesses, organizations, universities, and individuals dedicated to finding innovation and technology in products, services, and education from across the state, and recognizing and honoring peers for achievements in their respective fields. InnoVision Awards are the mark of distinction for outstanding leadership, innovation, and technological excellence.
The InnoVision Board is committed to supporting, honoring, and celebrating technology and innovation through two primary activities – conferring the annual InnoVision Awards in late Fall and providing educational InnoVision Forums throughout the year.
ANNOUNCING 2023 INNOVISION AWARD WINNERS
InnoVision Award application and nominations opened this past spring are we received almost 100 nominations and applications! These submissions showcased innovations across the state in a variety of industries including mental health, construction, medicine, educational programming, and much more. Our selected panel of judges reviewed each application and scored the organizations that provided the 2023 finalists and winners for six of our eight awards. The Charles Townes Individual Achievement Award and Dr. Janajreh Ibrahim Young Innovator Award were carefully considered and voted on by the InnoVision Awards Board of Directors. These organizations were recognized during the in-person celebration on November 9th in Columbia, South Carolina.
The 2023 Winners and Finalists in the six competitive award categories were:
- Technology Development, sponsored by SCTech, an initiative of South Carolina Council on Competitiveness
- Pensievision (Charleston) Winner
- GlycoPath (Charleston)
- Kiyatec Inc. (Greenville)
- Community Service, sponsored by Insperity
- Open Broadband, LLC (Greenville) Winner
- Health Evolve Technologies, LLC (Columbia)
- Just Bee (Hanahan)
- Small Business, sponsored by Robinson Ventures
- BagValet (Charleston) Winner
- Maelstrom Propellers (Charleston)
- Southeast IP Group, LLC (Chapin)
- Education, sponsored by Contec
- Notey Inc. (Cayce) Winner
- Converse University (Spartanburg)
- Richland Two Institute of Innovation (Columbia)
- Technology Application, sponsored by SCRA
- SpheroFill, LLC (Aiken) Winner
- Builder Rocket (Roebuck)
- Zylö Therapeutics Inc. (Greenville)
- Sustainability, sponsored by Velux
- Carolina Seed Systems, Inc. (Florence) Winner
- Gravity Driven, LLC (Fort Mill)
- Living Carbon (Charleston)
The Dr. Charles Townes Individual Achievement Award – Sponsored by Kyocera AVX
The highest honor awarded by the InnoVision Advisory Board and Judges panel is the Dr. Charles Townes Individual Achievement Award. The award is named in memory of Dr. Charles Townes, a Greenville, South Carolina native and Furman University graduate. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1964 and the Templeton Prize in 2005. Dr. Townes is the only person other than the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa to win both a Nobel Prize and a Templeton Prize.
The Dr. Charles Townes Individual Lifetime Achievement Award honors an individual who has exhibited a sustained commitment to the advancement of technology and the community through their technology-oriented and innovative contributions. Such contributions may be business, civic, and/or educational and must benefit the State of South Carolina.
The winner this year is Amy Robichaud! Amy and her leadership helped push innovation in the Palmetto State and provided a spotlight for innovators. She was one of the founding members of InnoVision Awards which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Amy’s work gave recognition and awareness to innovations, and collaborations with organizations across the state, and helped foster an innovation ecosystem that is thriving today. Amy Robichaud is the backbone of the InnoVision Awards and one of the rare individuals who can do it all.
The Ibrahim Janajreh Young Innovators Award – Sponsored by Designli
The award is named in honor of the memory and ideals of Dr. Ibrahim Janajreh. A brilliant scientist and unique individual, Dr. Janajreh was an important part of Michelin for more than 15 years, served on the InnoVision Advisory Board of Directors for three years, and received an InnoVision Award in 2000.
The Ibrahim Janajreh Young Innovator Award was established in 2005 to recognize successful South Carolina programs that engage, encourage, and acknowledge young people in the areas of science, technology, math, and innovation.
The winners this year are Sean Powers and Brett Nilsen from Copyt! Copyt is a platform for sneaker resellers to easily connect, manage inventory, and act as a sales channel automation. Individuals can list sneakers on multiple platforms and manage listings through Copyt. Sean and Brett found difficulty keeping up with multiple platforms as missteps can hurt a seller’s reputation and lead to cancellation fees, this caused the creation of the company.
Thank you to our 2023 sponsors!
