Startup Incubator: A Most Super in-depth Guide (2020)

A Startup incubator, it’s also Call a Business incubator is A Organization That design to Help Early-stage Startups in-term of Office Space, Seed Funding, Management, Mentorship, and More.

They are God for New Founders ;).

Startup incubator has an in-house Expert Team including Every Field Experts.

like, Technology, Marketing, Finance, Management, and More. 

Basically, They Backed Startups who Just Started and help them to Succeed.

Fact – Do you Know There are 10,000 Plus Incubators Exist in World Till 2020.

What’s in it For Me?

1. What is a Startup Incubator?
2. What is the incubation program?
3. Types of the incubator?
4. How do startup incubators work?
5. Know How to Apply For a startup incubator?
6. How do you present the idea to a startup incubator?
7. When you need a startup incubator?
8. Top 10 incubators in India.
9. Startup incubator vs Startup Accelerator.
10. Pros/Cons of Startup incubator.
11. Examples – incubator guided startups
12. Conclusion
13. FAQs

Guys this is Goanna be Super duper in-depth. You don’t need to read another article related to the startup/business incubator.

Let’s get straight into it.

So Why you Reading this Blog?

I might thinking  There are 2 Possibilities :

• You are a startup Founder and You Going to Launch Your Startup through an incubator.
• You curious about knowledge, you Passionate about Startup World and You want to know everything about it.

(Comment Below)

Whatever Your Goal is, I m going to Provide you all Information about the Startup/business incubation in very Detail way.

Ok, I m assuming, you are a Founder/Entrepreneur.

You want to Launch your Startup. A founder has many ways to Launch its Startups.

Examples are Bootstrapping, Bank loan, Friends Family investment, and More. Startup Incubator is also One of them.

 If you have chosen the Incubator Program, then in this blog, we will discuss all aspects and Concepts of Incubators. (  So please read the blog till the end )

What is a Startup incubator?

As we Discuss in blog First Paragraph, startup incubators are organizations.

who help early-stage startups, With Funding, Office Space, Product Development, Marketing, Mentorship, Management, and More.

The Concept of Startup incubators is Not new. Business incubation started in the US in 1959.

Let’s talk little bit about history:

 Joseph L. Mancuso opened the First-Ever incubation Program Known As the Batavia Industrial Center in Batavia, Newyork. Further, it’s Expanded in the U.S in the 1980s.

The incubator also Operates in the UK and Europe in Different Fields.

like- innovation Centers, technology, and Science Park.

However, the concept of incubation gained the Popularity in Past Few years.

Especially in India the term incubation popped up in recent years, there are lots of startups started with incubation Programs and Most of them are Got Success.

I will also provide you some examples of Incubators backed Successful Startups.

What is the incubation program?

Incubation Programs are Pitch event For Startups.

Incubators organize Events and invite New Entrepreneurs and Startups to Show Case their idea, And Business Models.

Through this Program, Incubators Choose Best Startups and Join them in their Next Project.

Incubation Programs are Mostly Sponsored by colleges, Universities, and Private Companies

Their Main Focus is to help new founders through funding and other technical support.

Types Of the Incubator

There are Different types of incubators. Also, they are categorized  According to different Sectors  so let’s discuss by one by one:

Mainly Market Has 4 types of Business incubator:

1. Government Incubators
2. University Incubators
3. Private Incubators
4. Corporate Incubators

But the case is, All Incubators are not Work on the  Same Field.

Some are  Focused on the internet- startups (pure tech startups) and Some Focus on Different Fields like;

But mainly Incubators Work in 2 different segments one is tech and 2^nd is a combination of tech and non- tech.

 What’s your Company Work with? Tech or Non-Tech Comment Bellow.

4 Types of Incubator

Government Incubation:

This Incubator is backed by the Government of the Country, We Can Call it’s self-run by government. In India the biggest example of Government incubator is Startupindia

There are More:

Incubation Scheme- MY MSME ( Medium Small Enterprises)

Atal Incubation Center- Atal innovation Mission

Incubators- Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (meity)

The government has schemes For startup incubation. Before you apply any of these, you need to eligible for that scheme.

Go to startupindia.com and read all schemes, eligibility criteria, and all things this will give more comprehensive knowledge about government incubations.

Private Incubators:

There are More Private incubators in India compared to Government and Academic incubators. The list of Private incubators is long: You Can select a bunch of different options.

Some examples are:

Angel Prime

Startup village

Khosla Labs

Private incubators are popped up in recent years because of the startup trend. Every youth in India Wants to Become a Startup Founder ( most of the engineers). Private incubators provide handholding support to new stage startups. They also Provide:

Office space, internet connectivity, Management, and most important Funding.

Corporate incubators:

These incubation Programs are run by MNC companies.

The big giant’s Technology Companies and other big companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, TCS they have also incubation programs.

University Incubators:

These types of Incubators are backed by big universities and Institutions. For example:

Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Mumbai,

Technology Business Incubator, IIT Delhi

Center for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), IIM Ahmedabad

NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore.

University incubators Have a Good connection with Entrepreneurs, investors, mentors, Trainers, Faculty, students.

How startup incubators Work?

There is no rocket science to understand it. It can be divided in 2 Part:

Part 1- They help new startups/founders to start their startup, they provide office space, funding, internet connection, Product Development Support, Management, and other key things.

Part 2– Return of all this they take stakes in that startup. Later on, they will sell their stakes and Earn revenue out of it.

That’s how most of the startup incubators work,  (mostly the private incubators). But Government incubators are works in a different Way.How to Find Startup incubator?

It’s very simple, either you will go with Government Incubators like startup India or you can choose private Incubators.

For private Incubators go to Google and Search

Startup Incubators in ______ ( write the place, where you want to start)

startup Incubators in Delhi

Now  Google will show you lots of results! You will able to see Incubators’ websites, Mail addresses, and Contact details.

Look what I Found For You-

Now as you can see, I searched “startup incubators in Delhi”, Google gave me results.

Google shows incubators web-site, which is currently operating in Delhi.

You ca n visit their website to know more about their organization.

you will also able to get  Contact details on their website. This is one way to Find out.

There is another way I can suggest you, to that is find startup/ entrepreneurship Meetups, Most of the time incubators are organized these types of events.

To Join local meetups you can use meetup.com to access your local meetup groups.

I hope you got your answer if any doubt feels free to ask!

Know How to apply For a startup incubators?

To apply, you can do it via their website, Or you can reach them directly by fixing Appointment.

If you applying through their website make sure you read their Term & Conditions While applying Process.

Some might have an email id to submit Document, but most will have a detailed Form, which you need to Fulfill.

Here is basic questions of incubators applying Form

The number of details required to apply, that Depend on incubators. Some may dig deeper and some not.

  But  there are some basic question will ask by every individual incubator

1-Idea

What problem is your idea about going to solve?  How deeply you know about your idea? Is there some concept already exists in the market?

If yes then how you gonna do better than that? It’s all about your idea.

2-Team

A good team is vital for startups.

Starting a startup without a good team is leads to Failure. And most of the failed startup had this problem.

So incubators try to know every each person in a startup, how they are capable of doing things. You have to submit all your startup member details.

Like their education, family background and vision.

3-Target Market

Is your idea about going to solve a big market size problem?

How big your target market size is?

How many people does goanna use it?

If your product/service is going to use by millions of people’s then your idea has the potential to earn  10x return for investors.

At this point they try to know, is your idea going to serve millions of people? Are they able to generate enough revenue after-sale your startup stakes?

Apart From this, you have to ready your pitch deck.

What is a pitch deck?

The Pitch deck is designed to present your idea in front of investors. It’s all about how you explain your:

Idea

Competitors

Founding Team

USP – (unique Selling Proposition)

Target Market Size

Customer Persona

Business Model

If you still Confuse About Pitch Deck

Here I linked Out Ratan Tata Sir Pitch deck For Entrepreneurs .

Pitch deck is really Need when you going to apply For incubators.

Lets Quick Wrap-up:

Step-1 – Get ready Your Pitch deck

Step 2- Search incubators in your area, open their websites.

Step 3- Read all their term n conditions and apply through their mail or detail Form.

I m assuming you got your answer, how to apply? If there is any doubt, just ask Via Comment.

How do you present the idea to a startup incubator?

Every incubator is Different, everyone has their Criteria, Term n Conditions.

You need to ensure you are applying after understanding the process and Program.

Explain to them Why you need to be there? Why are you applying to that particular incubator?

Your application Need to reflect :

1. General Startup information; Problem, team, Competition, Usp, target market size, Customer persona.
2. What’re your needs are?
3. What you are expecting from them?

First, try to build a network with mentors or who are involved in that particular industry. Building a network will allow you to share your problems without being official. Join business /startup events or start building a network on LinkedIn.

When you need a startup incubator?

You wanting to lunch your Startup idea! But you are worrying about how you goanna manage:

Office Space

Funding

Employees

Product Development

Finance

Marketing

You might be thinking you don’t have that much knowledge to do all of these stuffs.

Now Incubators Comes into the picture. They will help you with everything I mentioned. You don’t have to worry about it. Because they are Experts and they have lots of experience.

So particularly when you need an incubator?

When You just out starting From Scratch and you don’t have enough funds to Do all of these things.

Top 10 incubators in India

1- 500 Startup

Location – Bangalore

Focus industry – Digital Technology, Retail – B2B Space, Education, Financial Services.

 web- 500.co

2-Startup Village

Location– Kochi

Focus industry– institutions and industries.

Web- SV.co 

3-Indian Angel Network

 Location – New Delhi

Focus Sectors- Agriculture, eCommerce, Education, Financial Services and others.

web- indianangelnetwork.com

4-Google LaunchPad

Location: Bangalore

Focus Sectors – Mobile Apps.

Web-Google Launchpad

5-iCreate

Location: Ahmedabad

Focus sectors- Technology, Robotics, Green Energy, Agro & Food Processing.

Web-icreate.org.in

6-Amity Technology Incubator

Location-Noida

Focus Sectors- SaaS(software as a service), Clinical Research, Affiliate Networks, Cyber Security.

Web- amity.edu

7-Angel Prime

Operating Location -Bangalore

Focus Sectors- e Payments, eCommerce, Mobile Apps

Web- primeval.in

8-CIIE BY IIMA

Operating Location- Ahemdabad, Gujurat

Focus Fields- Agritech, Unhitch, Education, Electronics, Health Care, IoT.

web- Ciie.co

9- Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Park

Operating Location – Kharagpur.

Focus Field- N/A

Web- step-iit.org

10- Seed Fund

Operating Locations- Mumbai, Delhi, Delhi NCR.

Focused Field- , education, rural marketing, e-commerce, technology, and many more.

Web- seed fund.in

Startup incubator vs Startup Accelerator

Now there is a similar concept that exists related to the incubator. That is an accelerator. Both are different, don’t get confused

Let me explain, how different both is :

A startup incubator is more on innovation, while startup accelerators are more focused on scaling to the business.

Incubators give a kick start to new founders to get started.

on the opposite side, startup accelerator accelerates Existing Businesses to Expand their Business to different Verticals.

If you are a founder, you have a startup idea, plan, pitch deck you can go with incubators to launch your startup.

If you are a founder who already has MVP – ( Minimum Viable Product ) or Prototype. or you started the operation of your company and required more funds to scale. Then you should consider accelerators over incubators.

Now look, it depends upon your startup,  I hope now you know what’s the difference between

Startup accelerator and startup incubator.

Pros and Cons of Startup Incubator

Everything has Pros and Cons. I used an infographic to define key things do check out:

There are more things to consider but I mentioned some of the crucial points.

Examples – incubator guided startups

Successful startups by Incubators: Check out some of the most successful startups in India backed by startup-incubators.

1.Red Bus

Backed by Seedfund.in One of the Successful startup for India.

2. Mere Exam

      
A platform to find the best colleges and exams across India.  This startup backed by Amity Technology Incubator.

3.cars24.com

India’s biggest Car Portal. Backed by 500 startup.

4.instaMojo

India’s biggest payment gateway network. Backed by 500 startup

These are some of the best examples out there. I hope you got some inspiration.

Now we almost covered up everything.

Conclusion

Choosing Incubator is not really hard, just Focus on your mission and Vision, industry, and Match that with an incubator, those who got Marched Start applying there. And another thing you need to do is join startup/business events and build networks.

Is this article really helped you? Comment below and also Share your point of view.

Frequently Asked Questions For Startup Incubator