Entrepreneurs and innovators who believe that California’s Silicon Valley may not be the best option have an alternative, as long as they don’t mind colder winters. A couple of years ago, after realizing that its economy was lagging behind others, Rhode Island launched an initiative designed to attract innovation to the New England State. In 2018, Governor Gina Raimondo proposed a bond worth $20 million to set up innovation campuses across the state, fully embracing the “if you build it, they will come” mentality. She wasn’t wrong, and Rhode Island has made a lot of progress toward becoming an East Coast innovation hub ever since. 

That same year, IBM happened to visit the state when traveling around the East Coast on a quest to find a place for a new IBM Alpha Zone accelerator. However, the state wasn’t even on the company’s mind – they had been looking at New York City and Boston, Massachusetts, and, either because they took a wrong turn or because they wanted to do some sightseeing (it was actually to attend a cybersecurity conference, according to the official story), ended up in Newport, Rhode Island.

Because of the state’s new accelerator program, and IBM on the hunt for a place to call home, it seemed to be a match made in heaven. It took only a few months for the tech giant to team up with MassChallenge, another accelerator program, the University of Rhode Island and Brown University to create the Innovation Campus Initiative (ICI), which resulted from “sheer coincidence,” according to the program’s director, Pete Rumsey.

Receiving $2.5 million through the state bond program, the ICI led to the creation of the RIHub, which is now fulfilling the vision established through the initiative. It acts as an incubator, an accelerator and mentor, and is preparing to include innovation-geared events, as well. While other areas of the U.S. are struggling to attract entrepreneurs and startups, Rhode Island has been able to accomplish a lot in just two years.