You could say that the institution of the startup incubator has gotten its chance to shine this year. One way we can tell? Our third annual Xconomy Guide to Venture Incubators has nearly doubled in size from the 2010 version.
The big boom wasn’t a total surprise, given that this year politicians and the like have caught onto something that the innovation community has known all along: seriously fostering startup growth is a pursuit worth focusing on.
Last year’s incubator guide boasted 34 listings, up from 20 the year before, which was the first year we put the guide out. This year we added a total of 37 new startup incubator programs, and removed seven that had changed their models, stopped operating, or rolled into other organizations.
For each program listing in the guide, we include information on how you can apply, what the programs look like, what companies have come out of them, and what you’ll have to give up in return. Click the image below to see a sample listing: you’ll get 64 of those snippets if you buy the full guide for $149 (which you can do here).
Some programs offer equity funding and others mentorship and serious networking connections, but all provide more than just office space with Internet access and a kitchen. There are a diverse bunch of programs in the guide, touching every region of the U.S. Many follow the Y Combinator and TechStars models of mentoring companies full-time over a few months and providing roughly $20K in exchange for a small amount of equity. Other incubators, such as Seattle’s Accelerator, foster a smaller group of startups over much longer periods of time. And some focus largely on creating co-working environments and educational programming (look for General Assembly in New York). We also highlight startup incubators focused on specific industries like gaming, cleantech, and health IT.
Intrigued? Pick up a copy of this year’s guide to see which of the 64 incubators could be the right fit for the startup you’re working on or the entrepreneurs you’re mentoring. And if there’s a new incubator you think belongs in next year’s guide, let us know about it at [email protected].
