A new business hub is taking a former music venue spot in Five Points. Here’s what’s coming

Columbia’s Five Points neighborhood is set for the launch of a new enterprise that will serve as a support system for entrepreneurs in the tech industry.

Neighborhood and city leaders on Tuesday announced plans for The Boyd Foundation Community Innovation Center Powered by GrowCo, a technology incubator for new entrepreneurs. The hub will be at 711 Saluda Ave., in the space formerly occupied by music venue The White Mule.

GrowCo is a nonprofit focused on growing entrepreneurship in the Midlands. The Darnall W. and Susan F. Boyd Foundation has donated $1 million to fund the organization and help it grow the Five Points tech hub through the next two years, according to a news release from the Five Points merchants association.

“One of the critical elements of a thriving startup community is an innovation space that focuses entirely on supporting founders,” GrowCo board member Chris Heivly said in the release. “Great innovation spaces spawn creativity, connectivity, and collaboration among fellow founders. There was never any doubt, when we began organizing the startup community, that Five Points was our destination.

“Working with (Five Points businessman) Richard Burts and many other supporters, we found our new home. We can’t wait to share it with you and the future founders in the region.”

Heivly has been an executive at numerous software companies and was a co-founder of MapQuest.

The Boyd Foundation has been integral in a number of philanthropic efforts in Columbia and the Midlands, including the renovation of the Aquarium and Reptile Center at Riverbanks Zoo & Gardens, the construction of the Broad River pedestrian bridge, the Boyd Passage on the Palmetto Trail, and numerous others.

Officials said the tech hub in Five Points is a natural project for the foundation.

“We want to improve the quality of life for everyone in Columbia — to make it a more attractive place to live and work,” Boyd Foundation president and director George Bailey said in a release. “We think our investment in The Boyd Community Innovation Center will stimulate technology related economic development by giving technology entrepreneurs a place to develop and grow their businesses.”

The tech hub will, among other things, host networking events and summits and foster collaboration and community among tech entrepreneurs and those invested in business startups.

Five Points Association manager Katy Renfroe said the incubator will be a key new addition to the long-running district east of the University of South Carolina. A host of new retail businesses have opened or been announced in the district this year, and the tech hub will add a new wrinkle to the neighborhood.

“To have the full support of The Boyd Foundation and GrowCo by putting their stake down in Five Points is huge for our district,” Renfroe said in a statement. “This just continues to prove that Five Points is and will remain a thriving business district for the next 100 years.”