Events

2026 Events

Founders Forum: Demystifying SC Funding Resources

Wednesday, February 11, 10am – 12pm
Flywheel Coworking at Crescent Innovation Center

Join InnoVision in conjunction with NextGEN for our first Forum on 2026!

South Carolina has a surprising number of funding and support resources available to founders, but many entrepreneurs either don’t know they exist or aren’t sure how to engage with them. This Founders Forum is designed to change that. Demystifying South Carolina Funding Resources brings together leaders featuring:

South Carolina Department of Commerce
South Carolina Council of Competitiveness
Fraunhofer USA Alliance
South Carolina Research Authority
3Phase
InnoVision Awards

After the panel, lunch will be provided, and attendees can connect directly with each group in a vendor-fair style setup to ask questions, explore opportunities, and understand which programs might be the right fit for their stage.

If you’ve ever wondered what funding, support, or commercialization resources the state offers, this is your chance to get real answers from the source.

SC Competes Spring Summit

March 3rd – 4th
Winthrop University – Rock Hill

Join us at the SC Competes Spring Summit in Rock Hill at Winthrop University!

2026 South Carolina Innovation Awareness Month Kickoff Breakfast

Wednesday, April 1st
8:00 – 10:30 AM
The Palmetto Club – Columbia

Join InnoVision, The Medical University of South Carolina, SC Competes, The South Carolina Department of Commerce and The South Carolina Research Authority – SCRA as we begin a month of celebrations and commitment as we build the state’s innovation and knowledge economy in the Palmetto State.

Please join us for a complimentary breakfast and discussions on the future of innovation in South Carolina, an overview of current projects, and a chance to network with innovators from across the state.

Registration site coming soon!

Prior Events - 2025

The 2025 InnoVision Awards

The InnoVision Awards, South Carolina’s premier recognition program for innovation and technology, presented its annual awards on Thursday, November 13, 2025, at The Palmetto Club in Columbia.

Read the release here. Stay tuned for an event photo gallery, finalist videos and the entire program to be uploaded soon!

Winthrop Forum: Advancing in an AI Economy

The InnoVision Awards hosted another sold-out Forum with over 70 attendees at Winthrop University, bringing together business leaders, innovators, and technology professionals to explore how the region can thrive in an AI-driven economy. Sponsored by Comporium and hosted by the Winthrop Region SBDC, Rock Hill EDC, SCRA, and Winthrop University, the event showcased the powerful synergy across Rock Hill and York County as organizations collaborate to advance the region’s economic future.

The 2025 Meet the Finalists Event

Presenting Sponsor South Carolina Research Authority hosted the 2025 InnoVision Awards Meet the Finalists event at the City Club of Greenville on August 25th. Read more about the finalists here.

view from rear of room Meet the Finalists 2025

Kella Player Hanna of SCRA Founder stands at the podium as she opens the 2025 Meet the Finalists

View from rear of room with sponsor logos on display screen Meet the Finalists 2025

Finalists and sponsors network at the 2025 InnoVision Awards Meet the Finalists event at the Greenville City Club

A large contingent of students, faculty and administrators from the South Carolina Governor's School of Science and Math stand in front of the display and room at the 2025 Meet the Finalists

A member of the SCRA presentation team stands behind the podium to present the small business finalists of the Meet the Finalists event

Kristin Parker of Shared City Charleston addresses attendees at Meet the Finalists

Joey Loman of SynergyMill FabLab addresses attendees at Meet the Finalists

Jeff Borkardt of Figment Learning Labs of Palmetto Innovative Education addresses attendees at Meet the Finalists

Christopher Williams of STEM U LLC addresses attendees at Meet the Finalists

Dr Stephanie Schaller of the USC College of Nursing and NurseEdvance address attendees regarding the CardioEducator at Meet the Finalists

Matthew Cuppelli of Blue Ridge Surgical Innovations and OrthoTract addresses attendees at Meet the Finalists as his colleague Jackie Hanna looks on.

Whit Slagsvol of Ripple Two addresses attendees at Meet the Finalists

Ben Dillard with SkilRedi addresses attendees at Meet the Finalists

Ritubarna Banerjee and her colleagues of Advent Innovations address attendees at Meet the Finalists

Sheryl Barbosa of Sustain Cities Network addresses attendees at Meet the Finalists

Shrihan Ganesh Babu and Sanjana Tripuraneni of CuffWay address attendees at Meet the Finalists

Stijn Van de Velde and Joseph Etris of Drobot address attendees at Meet the Finalists

Founder Dieter Haemmerich of OncoBlaze addresses attendees at Meet the Finalists

Amanda Clark of PulManage addresses attendees at Meet the Finalists

Tom Schipper of Querri addresses attendees at Meet the Finalists

Jordan Fowler and his team from Shaw Circle address attendees at Meet the Finalists

Kella Player Hanna of SCRA Founder stands at the podium as she hosts and SCRA sponsors the 2025 Meet the Finalists

Hunter Freeman, InnoVision Awards board member and IP attorney at Kim, Lahey & Killough Law Firm, stands at the podium to close the Meet the Finalists and informs the crowd of upcoming InnoVision events

The South Carolina Research Authority - SCRA - presenting sponsor presentation team stands around a TV displaying the title slide of the Meet the Finalists event of the 2025 InnoVision Awards

InnoVision Forum: The Ethical Considerations of using AI in Healthcare

Dr Hamilton Baker and Aaron Heath of MUSC discuss the ethical considerations of using AI in healthcare at an InnoVision Forum held in the atrium of The Harbor Entrepreneur Center in Mt. Pleasant, SC. May 2025.

InnoVision Forum: M&A - Preparing for a Sale

The Harbor Entrepreneur Center’s Coffee with Closers with panelists Cian Robinson, Elias Bustos and Douglas Kim on M&A – preparing for a sale. April 2025.

2025 South Carolina Innovation Awareness Month Kickoff Breakfast

Innovation leaders from throughout South Carolina gathered to kickoff Innovation Awareness Month at a breakfast at the Palmetto Club in downtown Columbia, April 2025.