Business incubation
Business incubation has been active in the US for many years, it really started in the UK with the St John’s Innovation Centre in Cambridge in the 1970’s and Oxford Innovation a decade later. The Sussex Innovation Centre, which opened in 1996, was one of the first of the new generation of specialist incubators.
The idea was hijacked by the dot com boom, when over 100 internet incubators were created by investors and management consultancies in London alone – very few survived.
Business incubation has now developed into a popular economic development and university commercialisation vehicle with over 200 incubator projects set-up in the UK in the last 5 years. The South East, SEEDA’s Enterprise Hub programme has become an important element of their economic development strategy (SEEDA). A national industry body, UK Business Incubation (UKBI) , has been established to represent this growing sector.
However, not all incubators are the same, some have a specific sector focus (e.g. biotech or wireless technologies) and include specialist laboratories or test equipment, others run virtually with no accommodation offered, still others offer little more than managed workspace.
At the Sussex Innovation Centre we have a strong view about our own incubation model:
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SInC is cross-sectoral and technology and innovation focused.
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SInC is selective in terms of which companies we work with.
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SInC is support led, but also offer superb accommodation.
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SInC is non-prescriptive, using our resources to meet the needs of individual companies.
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SInC encourages an entrepreneurial community where companies can support each other, plus providing extensive inhouse expertise and strong external networks.
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SInC support provides practical as well as strategic support to its companies.
