Innovation Origins becomes IO+
Today starts a new chapter for Innovation Origins: we become IO+. The letters IO are a reference to our previous identity, the 'plus' is our way of indicating that there is more to us than you would suspect at first glance.
Published on November 14, 2024
Bart is the co-founder and co-owner of Media52 (publishing IO+) and a Professor of Journalism at the University of Groningen. He is responsible for all the branches of our company—IO+, events, and Laio—and focuses on commercial opportunities. A journalist at heart, he also keeps writing as many stories as he can.
As editor-in-chief, Aafke is ultimately responsible for the content of our platform, but she also likes to get into the pen herself. She is also responsible for the content of our events. She likes nothing better than explaining complicated things in an accessible way and is fond of telling the story of the people behind the technology.
Ten years ago, we started as a news site for Eindhoven as E52. Four years later, we outgrew that city (with our people in Munich and then 15 other European cities) and changed our name to Innovation Origins. That name says it all about our mission: we are always looking for the origins of innovation. To present our audience with the most beautiful stories of the people and organizations working on solutions to the challenges of our time.
With IO+, we continue this mission, but from today, we are bringing focus to the resources we devote to it and the region we want to serve. IO+ will continue to focus on that all-important story of innovation. We do this in two ways: through the articles on ioplus.nl and related events. More than ever, this makes us the central platform for the Dutch innovation sector, both in content and events. We no longer have a broad European focus or only from Eindhoven, but with the Netherlands as our starting point. Knowing that our international audience mainly appreciates us for those Dutch example stories (both on the website and on stage), it was a logical choice to take our country as a benchmark.
Design agency OWOW and newsroom management consultant The Art of Conversation guided us in brand and identity development. OWOW is also responsible for the design of our new brand. We are indebted to Robin Dohmen, Martha Riemsma, and their teams.
A team effort
Aafke Eppinga, editor-in-chief of IO+: "I think I speak for the whole team when I say that we are very happy to finally share our new brand with the world after a year. I am very proud to be editor-in-chief for a team that is so committed. IO+ is truly an achievement of the whole team. Today, we present a fresh brand that fits the stories we tell and the events we host. Our mission remains unchanged: to make the importance of innovation visible. Especially now that is crucial."
Coherence between website and events
The plus in IO+ is also visible in the site's categories: Data+, Chips+, Bio+, and Green+. From the names, our visitors may infer what we will do for them. In addition to these four core areas, there is always a focus on the community that makes it all possible—this is the fifth category on the homepage.
These categories also become visible in our thematic events. Since taking over the events branch of Jakajima, IO+ also organizes specific conferences and symposia on the above themes. It is therefore no coincidence that almost all Jakajima events fit within one of these categories.
Logical and familiar
Bart Brouwers, co-founder of Media52 BV, publisher of IO+: "It was great to see how our editorial and development staff prepared this brand change last months. The support we received in this process from OWOW and The Art of Conversation was essential. Their collaboration made the changes feel both logical and familiar. Moreover, seeing a younger generation with even better ideas reinvigorating Merien's and my original mission is extra nice for a co-founder. And apart from that, when you've established a hundred times that internally, we were just about the only ones who knew how to pronounce our name correctly, you know it's time for a new look."
Laio, Gerard & Anton
The name change to IO+ does not impact our activities under the Laio and Gerard & Anton brands.
Under the Laio name, we develop AI products and services for editorial environments. These include a writing tool, a podcast or video creator, and a custom news service. You can read more about that here.
The Gerard & Anton community continues to do what it does best: organize events and collect and distribute news about the startup community in and around Eindhoven. This growing community will soon be housed in a separate foundation, expected in January. IO+ will, of course, remain closely associated with Gerard & Anton, including organizing the events and compiling the newsletters, social media, and website.