Tech incubator aims to continue legacy of innovation in Provo
Crews have broken ground on a new tech incubator in Provo.
Keith Morey, Provo’s economic development division director, said Qualtrics co-founder and former CEO Ryan Smith came to the city about two years ago with the idea. The live-work community would allow Smith to “invite entrepreneurs from around the world that had some tech concept that they were developing to live in his community,” said Morey.
From there, Smith will help “teach them to grow companies the way he grew Qualtrics.” The survey company is now one of Utah County’s biggest employers and was valued at $12.5 billion in March 2023 when it was sold to the private equity firm Silver Lake.
The development will be called The River District, and be built on 26 acres of land near the base of Provo Canyon. The plans are for a communal space with 198 residential units and 300,000 square feet of office space.
Provo worked with the billionaire to figure out what the project might look like, Morey said. Overall, the city is happy with the results.
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Courtesy Provo Economic Development Division
The site plan map for The River District, Ryan Smith’s tech incubator in Provo, Utah. Courtesy Provo Economic Development Division.
“We’re really excited about it because it really aligns with who we think Provo is at our core,” added Morey.
Before anyone coined the phrase “Silicon Slopes,” there were tech companies in Provo. Both WordPerfect, an early word processor, and the software company Novell got their start in the area in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Since then, Provo has been the site of startups like smart home developer Vivint and cloud software companies Domo and Podium.
It’s worth noting that while these start-ups have been successful, the earliest ones don’t exist anymore. Morey thinks the constant churn and need for innovation is part of what makes an incubator a good idea for the city.
“We’re kind of a feeder environment for those tech developers,” he said. “When they’ve finished one concept, some of those companies sell off, but that intellectual talent stays here in our community and develops the next tech opportunity.”
In a tumultuous landscape, Morey hopes a tech incubator will help fill Provo with the next big ideas to keep the industry thriving.
While Smith’s vision of the incubator includes inviting talent from around the world to Provo, others hope it remembers the startups that are here.
“We have 9,500 tech companies here in Utah already,” said Elizabeth Converse, CEO and co-founder of the professional association Utah Tech Leads. “A lot of those tech companies need exactly what Ryan and other incubators are offering, whether or not it’s a living space or that mentorship relationship in the professional realm.”
Construction has started on the residential section of the project and is expected to begin this year for the commercial side.
