What is common in Airbnb, Dropbox, Reddit, Canva, Udemy, and GoMechanic? These startups were nurtured and funded by startup incubators in their early stages.
A startup incubator is like an egg incubator, providing a nurturing environment for early-stage startups to hatch and grow into successful businesses.
Think of it this way; You have an idea you think has potential. You worked on it for a while but could not take it to the next level. You might think that you need money and thus funding, but in reality, someone with 10X the money you think is required will not be able to execute the idea well. What you require now is not just funding but support and mentorship from the people who have themselves faced the challenges you are facing now.
A startup incubator just brings all this to one place, mentors, resources, and money, with the help of which a startup can overcome the challenges it is currently facing and grow to new heights.
How does an incubator program work?
Most startup incubators offer a limited-period program, in which when a startup is selected, the founders and the core team are invited to attend sessions and networking events. They are provided with a bunch of business support services from tech, legal, financial, administrative, etc. And finally, either the incubator itself invests in the startup or provides access to investors willing to invest.
Popular Startup Incubators
Techstars, AngelPad, and Seedcamp are some of the popular startup incubators worldwide, but the most popular and successful one is Y Combinator.
Y Combinator has been the incubator to some of the most successful startups of all time, Airbnb, Dropbox, Quora, Reddit, Stripe, Twitch, and many more.
Indian startup incubators include Venture Catalysts, CIIE.Co, NSRCEL, Villlgro, etc.
How to get incubated?
Almost all incubators have a direct application link for their incubation program on their website. You can simply fill out the application form and wait for the selections for further rounds.
Why is an incubation center so crucial?
It is tough, even now, for a first-time founder with no industry connections to get funding and support to make it to the next level. While you need connections to meet angels and VCs, it is extremely easy to apply for an incubation program, a link to which is available directly on the website of the startup incubator.
At Pepcorns, We are also trying to solve the same problem but in a different way. We help early-stage startups to raise funding directly from ordinary people. While you raise money, at the same time, you will also be building a community of early promoters. To know more, head on to Pepcorns.com.
