Business Incubator

A Business Incubator is an organization designed to accelerate the growth and success of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services that could include physical space, capital, coaching, common services, and networking connections. Incubators provide numerous benefits to owners of startup businesses. Their office and manufacturing space is offered at below-market rates, and their staff supplies advice and much-needed expertise in developing business and marketing plans as well as helping to fund fledgling businesses. Companies typically spend an average of two years in a business incubator, during which time they often share telephone, secretarial office, and production equipment expenses with other startup companies, in an effort to reduce everyone's overhead and operational costs.

Types of Business Incubators
Below are some types of business incubators that have focused on particular industries or on a particular business model, earning them their own name.

• Virtual business incubator - online business incubator
• Kitchen incubator - a business incubator focused on the food industry
• Public incubator - a business incubator focused on the public good
• Seed accelerator - a business incubator focused on early startups
• Corporate accelerator - a program of a larger company that acts akin to a seed accerator
• Startup studio - a business incubator with interacting portfolio companies
• Venture builder - similar to a startup studio, but builds companies internally

See Also

Business Accelerator
Venture Capital
Private Equity

Further Reading

• Business Incubation FAQs inbia.org
• Eight Reasons Startup Incubators Are Better Than Business School forbes
• The Problems with Incubators, and How to Solve Them hbr.org
• Business incubator can mean a faster start for your startup USA Today