U.S business incubators: 1,400 and growing
Thursday, 25 February 2010 06:23
Since 1959, business incubators have helped start ups get a foothold, go public or be bought by a larger company.
BOSTON (TheStreet) -- Technology companies such as IBM(IBM Quote), Texas Instruments(TXT Quote) and AOL(AOL Quote) are teaming up with the country's business incubators to foster the next big idea -- or to scoop up a startup for an edge on competitors.
Incubators are a haven for smart people -- they're the next stop after MIT, Caltech and Stanford -- though many lack business training. For budding firms at incubators, mingling with the private-sector savvy is a way to not only stay in business, but also to eventually go public or be bought by a larger company.
In 1959, attempting to fill office space in a down economy, a businessman named Joseph Mancuso took an old industrial building in Batavia, N.Y., and turned it into the nation's first business incubator. The idea took off. At last count, there were more than 1,400 incubators in North America, according to the National Business Incubation Association in Athens, Ohio. NBIA member companies report that 87% of the firms that have graduated from their incubators are still in business.
BOSTON (TheStreet) -- Technology companies such as IBM(IBM Quote), Texas Instruments(TXT Quote) and AOL(AOL Quote) are teaming up with the country's business incubators to foster the next big idea -- or to scoop up a startup for an edge on competitors.
Incubators are a haven for smart people -- they're the next stop after MIT, Caltech and Stanford -- though many lack business training. For budding firms at incubators, mingling with the private-sector savvy is a way to not only stay in business, but also to eventually go public or be bought by a larger company.
In 1959, attempting to fill office space in a down economy, a businessman named Joseph Mancuso took an old industrial building in Batavia, N.Y., and turned it into the nation's first business incubator. The idea took off. At last count, there were more than 1,400 incubators in North America, according to the National Business Incubation Association in Athens, Ohio. NBIA member companies report that 87% of the firms that have graduated from their incubators are still in business.
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Author: Carmen Nobel