Tech & Entrepreneurship

In Central SC, resources and initiatives like GrowCo, Innovate Columbia, 1 Million Cups Columbia, and the South Carolina Research Authority provide opportunities for networking, funding, and marketing your startup, and have created a community for celebrating our entrepreneurs. If you’re an established company and looking to grow, SizeUpSC can help you evaluate the market to set and achieve growth goals.

The USC/Columbia Technology Incubator brings together academia and tech in a 40,000-square-foot incubator facility, home to 40+ early stage technology and innovation-based startup companies, while Benedict College Business Development Center offers space, training and other resources for minority entrepreneurs.

Resources for capital and small business funding include:

• Founder Institute (SC)
• Launch SC
• Provident Business Financial Services
• Midlands Technical College Center for Entrepreneurial Success
• Ramen Life
• SC Community Loan Fund
• South Carolina Department of Agriculture Agribusiness Center for Research and Entrepreneurship (ACRE)
• South Carolina Minority Business Accelerator (MMBA) Midlands
• University of South Carolina Faber Entrepreneurship Center
• VentureSouth

IT-oLogy offers IT certification to help you get a competitive edge and increase your earning potential. Plus, they host events, including Cyber Saturdays and WISE gatherings (Women in Information Technology Science and Engineering).

Midland Technical College’s Center for Entrepreneurial Success (CES) provides workspace, expertise and tools to current and future students, and includes an Entrepreneurship Certificate curriculum.

Benedict College is the only federally-funded HBCU in the nation with statewide coverage operating a Women’s Business Center.

The University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business Entrepreneurship program develops and prepares young entrepreneurs to shake up the industry and make their dreams a reality. 

Claflin University launched a EDA University Center in 2022 to support commercialization efforts, high-growth entrepreneurship, workforce development, business expansion and innovation cultivation.

Its.cola is an educational and networking hub for insurance technology employees and employers. Members of this collaborative community share knowledge, explore new ways to innovate, and continuously work optimize Columbia’s insurtech industry.

The City of Columbia Office of Business Opportunities provides courses for entrepreneurs seeking support to get their businesses going or take them to a higher level. For companies with less than five employees, check out NxLevel Micro Entrepreneur Training. To get the tools you need to advance your company and learn more about budgeting, sales, management and operations, sign up for FastTrac.

Develop Carolina, a software development fellowship spearheaded by the South Carolina Department of Commerce, became officially registered as an apprenticeship with the U.S. Department of Labor in 2022. The new, paid apprenticeship for software engineers is open to all South Carolinians who have skills, training or education in a software development-related field.

Central SC is home to several co-working spaces and makerspaces to help entrepreneurs, creators and remote workers find their stride. These include:

• Benedict College Business Development Center
• CoCreate Lexington
• Expansive
• femme x COLUMBIA
• GrowCo’s The Boyd Foundation Community Innovation Center
• Regus center
• Richland Library Main
• SOCO
• UofSC/Columbia Innovation Center