Business incubator

A business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services, starting with management training and office space, and ending with venture capital financing.[1] The National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) defines business incubators as a catalyst tool for either regional or national economic development. NBIA categorizes its members' incubators by the following five incubator types: academic institutions; non-profit development corporations; for-profit property development ventures; venture capital firms, and a combination of the above.[2]

Business incubators differ from research and technology parks in their dedication to startup and early-stage companies. Research and technology parks, on the other hand, tend to be large-scale projects that house everything from corporate, government, or university labs to very small companies. Most research and technology parks do not offer business assistance services, which are the hallmark of a business incubation program. However, many research and technology parks house incubation programs.[3]

Incubators also differ from the U.S. Small Business Administration's Small Business Development Centers (and similar business support programs) in that they serve only selected clients. Congress created the Small Business Administration in the Small Business Act of July 30, 1953. Its purpose is to "aid, counsel, assist and protect, insofar as is possible, the interests of small business concerns." In addition, the charter ensures that small businesses receive a "fair proportion" of any government contracts and sales of surplus property.[4] SBDCs work with any small businesses at any stage of development, and not only with startup companies. Many business incubation programs partner with their local SBDC to create a "one-stop shop" for entrepreneurial support.[5]

Within European Union countries, there are different EU and state funded programs that offer support in form of consulting, mentoring, prototype creation, and other services and co-funding for them.[6]

In India, the business incubators are promoted in a varied fashion: as technology business incubators (TBI) and as startup incubators—the first deals with technology business (mostly, consultancy and promoting technology related businesses) and the later deals with promoting startups (with more emphasis on establishing new companies, scaling the businesses, prototyping, patenting, and so forth).[7][8][9][10][11]

  1. ^ "What is business incubator?". Archived from the original on 2016-04-22. Retrieved 2015-02-15.
  2. ^ Rubin, Tzameret H.; Aas, Tor Helge; Stead, Andrew (2015-07-01). "Knowledge flow in Technological Business Incubators: Evidence from Australia and Israel". Technovation. 41–42: 11–24. doi:10.1016/j.technovation.2015.03.002.
  3. ^ Guadix, José (2016). "Success variables in science and technology parks". Journal of Business Research. 69 (11): 4870–4875. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.045.
  4. ^ "Small Business Act". Small Business Act. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
  5. ^ White, Doug and Polly (13 July 2017). "No One Can Match Silicon Valley, But Other Cities Benefit From Fostering Startups". entrepreneur.com. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  6. ^ Aerts, Kris; Matthyssens, Paul; Vandenbempt, Koen (2007-05-01). "Critical role and screening practices of European business incubators". Technovation. 27 (5): 254–267. doi:10.1016/j.technovation.2006.12.002. ISSN 0166-4972.
  7. ^ "What are the best start-up accelerators in Germany? - TallyFox". www.tallyfox.com. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  8. ^ "Top Startup Accelerators, Incubators and VCs in Germany". incubatorlist.com. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  9. ^ "The top 40 startup accelerators and incubators in North America in 2021". Salesflare Blog. 2020-10-06. Archived from the original on 2019-05-22. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  10. ^ "Technology for Innovative Entrepreneurs & Businesses | TechLink". techlinkcenter.org. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  11. ^ "Incubator Austria Companies". StartUs. Retrieved 2021-05-21.