About Us

Inspiring and supporting founders along their entire entrepreneurial journey

The Boyd Innovation Center is a central hub hosting a community of entrepreneurs, freelancers, and mentors of all backgrounds.

Since 1915, the Five Points neighborhood has been a vibrant district where the residents and businesses have come together to build a unique community. With the addition of the Boyd Innovation Center and new developments on the way, I am excited for the evolution of Five Points as it grows into a collaborative innovation and arts district.

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Daniel Rickenmann

Mayor, City of Columbia

Welcome to Columbia, the capital city of South Carolina, affectionately known as Cola.

In this lively city, we recognized the need for a dedicated community for high growth/high tech (HGHT) startups. Columbia is well known for its entrepreneurial spirit driven by side hustles, and with the generous support of the Boyd Foundation, we are able to offer programs and events that help turn ideas and side hustles into scalable startups.

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What is the Boyd Innovation Center?

The Boyd Innovation Center, powered by GrowCo (BIC) is a central hub for all HGHT startup activities in the Cola metro region, powered by GrowCo. The BIC serves as Cola’s destination where forward-thinking individuals of all backgrounds come together to develop groundbreaking ideas that change the world. Meanwhile, GrowCo acts as the nonprofit organization that curates startup activities.

Staff

Caroline Crowder

Caroline Crowder

Executive Director

2x ecosystem builder, 2x startup employee, 2x living abroad. Global perspective, dot connector, passionate collaborator.

Taylor Kane Brown

Taylor Kane Brown

Community Manager

Nonprofit guru, community builder with creative and enthusiastic approaches. Natural talent for building bridges and bringing people together.

Board

It’s not just two people supporting your startup at the BIC. It is the expertise and networks of the most experienced founders and collaborators in the Columbia metropolitan region.

Laura Boccanfuso

Laura Boccanfuso

Tracy Dunn

Tracy Dunn

Chris Heivly

Chris Heivly

Lanford Holloway

Lanford Holloway

Joe Wilczewski

Joe Wilczewski

If you're ready to embark on the thrilling journey of building a scalable, tech company in the Cola metro region, we are here to assist you every step of the way.

Together, we can shape the future of high growth/high tech startups as we
#GrowCola.

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Ready to join the community?

Join Cola’s entrepreneurs, freelancers, and mentors to grow together.