Netflix

Not so much a single innovation as the successful application and extension of an innovative business model, Netflix has impressed by building on what it already had. Taking advantage of the growing digital economy, it’s changed the way television, in particular, is accessed and absorbed

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

2014 was the year Regeneron’s Genetics Centre became fully operational, and new research collaborations, including with Columbia University, were announced. The centre will allow Regeneron to continue its work in biopharmaceuticals

Airbnb

In 2014, Airbnb launched its first global marketing campaign – ‘Views’, by agency Pereira & O’Dell – to showcase its offerings around the world. It worked – the company has continued to grow, and Airbnb is now enshrined in tourists’ thinking

Sallie Krawcheck, Ellevate

Krawcheck’s purchase of women’s networking club 85 Broads, which she rebranded as ‘Ellevate’, has helped open up chances to professional women across the globe. In a world in which equal pay and opportunities have still not been achieved, her efforts are a welcome step

European Space Agency

On November 12, 2014, the European Space Agency successfully landed its Philae lander module (launched from the Rosetta space probe) on a comet – the first soft landing of its kind in history. Since then, the lander has been feeding valuable data back to excited scientists

A functional venture of more than 20 European member states, the ESA was formed to put the continent into space. With centres in Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium, the coordinated effort of the countries involved has raised a stubborn and dedicated mission to explore space and issues of the cosmos. The ESA was founded in the 1960s, and continues to welcome some of the greatest research minds from around the globe. Its Rosetta space probe caused widespread excitement last year when it landed on a comet.

Supplements

Innovation 40 - 2014

Netflix

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Airbnb

Sallie Krawcheck, Ellevate