Editing Business incubator (section)

{{short description|Company that helps startups grow in exchange for equity}}
{{Globalize|date=November 2018}}

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 planning|office space]], and ending with venture capital financing.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/business-incubator.html|title = What is business incubator?|access-date = 2015-02-15|archive-date = 2016-04-22|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160422123001/http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/business-incubator.html|url-status = dead}}</ref> 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 institution]]s; [[Nonprofit organization|non-profit]] [[development corporation]]s; [[Business|for-profit]] [[Real estate development|property development]] ventures; [[List of venture capital firms|venture capital firms]], and a combination of the above.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rubin|first1=Tzameret H.|last2=Aas|first2=Tor Helge|last3=Stead|first3=Andrew|date=2015-07-01|title=Knowledge flow in Technological Business Incubators: Evidence from Australia and Israel|journal=Technovation|volume=41–42|pages=11–24|doi=10.1016/j.technovation.2015.03.002}}</ref>

Business incubators differ from research and technology [[Industrial park|parks]] in their dedication to [[Startup company|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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Guadix|first=José|date=2016|title=Success variables in science and technology parks|journal=Journal of Business Research|volume=69|issue=11|pages=4870–4875|doi=10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.045}}</ref>

Incubators also differ from the [[Small Business Administration|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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sba.gov/document/policy-guidance--small-business-act|title=Small Business Act|website=Small Business Act|language=en|access-date=2019-12-07}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/296808|title=No One Can Match Silicon Valley, But Other Cities Benefit From Fostering Startups|first=Doug and Polly|last=White|date=13 July 2017|website=entrepreneur.com|access-date=20 March 2018}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Aerts|first1=Kris|last2=Matthyssens|first2=Paul|last3=Vandenbempt|first3=Koen|date=2007-05-01|title=Critical role and screening practices of European business incubators|journal=Technovation|volume=27|issue=5|pages=254–267|doi=10.1016/j.technovation.2006.12.002|issn=0166-4972|url=https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/122694 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In India, the business incubators are promoted in a varied fashion: as [[technology business incubator]]s (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).<ref>{{Cite web|title=What are the best start-up accelerators in Germany? - TallyFox|url=https://www.tallyfox.com/insight/what-are-best-start-incubators-and-accelerators-germany|access-date=2021-05-21|website=www.tallyfox.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Top Startup Accelerators, Incubators and VCs in Germany|url=https://incubatorlist.com/top-startup-accelerators-incubators-and-vcs-in-germany/|access-date=2021-05-21|website=incubatorlist.com|language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-10-06|title=The top 40 startup accelerators and incubators in North America in 2021|url=https://blog.salesflare.com/top-startup-accelerators-incubators-us-canada|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-21|website=Salesflare Blog|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522163455/https://blog.salesflare.com/top-startup-accelerators-incubators-us-canada |archive-date=2019-05-22 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Technology for Innovative Entrepreneurs & Businesses {{!}} TechLink|url=https://techlinkcenter.org/news/23-startup-accelerators-around-the-u-s-you-need-to-know-about/|access-date=2021-05-21|website=techlinkcenter.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Incubator Austria Companies|url=https://www.startus.cc/companies/incubators/austria|access-date=2021-05-21|website=StartUs|language=en-UK}}</ref>