Voting open for the Real Innovation Awards People's Choice

The finalists have been selected and the voting is now open for the Real Innovation Awards 2019.

Organised by LBS's Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, these awards are a celebration of innovation. This year's finalists have ceaselessly iterated and innovated to bring their particular idea of the future to life. 

And what do these gifted and tenacious individuals see? Purpose is one thread running through this year’s shortlist, with many of the finalists creating offerings that make the world a better place. New digital technologies, of course, are a big part of the story in most cases. But there are also several low-tech stories of entrepreneurs tapping into new and emerging consumer trends.

“We have been inundated with nominations this year, and it has been a challenging process to create this year’s shortlist,” said Julian Birkinshaw, one of the awards' judges, Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship and Deputy Dean. “It is an enormous privilege to have the chance to investigate the unvarnished stories behind such a diverse group of dynamic organisations.”

Your votes can be placed across six categories that reflect the core features of modern business success at every scale:

• The If At First You Don’t Succeed Award celebrates learning through failure. The finalists you can vote for are: Peter Janes, Shieldpay; Nicholas Woodman, GoPro; Fabien Mendez, Loggi; Alejandro Artacho, Spotahome.
• The Masters of Reinvention Award is for the established organisation that has most successfully reinvented itself. The finalists are: Adobe, Ocado, Memrise, BlackBerry, Estonia’s e-government transformation
• The Best Beats First Award is about taking an existing idea, adapting and improving it, and becoming the leader. The finalists are: Thriva, Rothy’s, Xero, Purplebricks, Mercari.
• The winner of the George Bernard Shaw Unreasonable Person Award is an individual who has shown true obstinacy to get their idea to succeed. The finalists looking for your votes in this category are: Dr Charles ‘Charlie’ Camarda, Epic Education Foundation; Arunachalam Muruganantham, Jayashree Industries; Hugo Spowers, Riversimple;  Shoshana Stewart, Turquoise Mountain; Thomas Fürst, WedID.
• The Alexander Fleming Serendipity Award celebrates success sparked by an accidental discovery. The finalists are: Mailchimp, Pelagic Fleet, Scrub Daddy, Black Swan and Christian Mouysset, Tenzo.
• And because sometimes timing is everything, we give the Harnessing the Winds of Change Award to a business that grabs what’s coming round the corner and makes it their own. The finalists are: WeChat Pay, Zipline, Onfido, Farfetch, Flock.

Explore our methodology and judging panel and cast your vote for your favourite finalists before the ballot closes at 17:00 BST on 1 October. The Judges’ and People’s Choice winners will be revealed at the RIA awards dinner on 14 November.