Accelerators and business incubators in Russia: what to choose?
Hi, Habr!
More than once or twice in the process of launching our first accelerator, we, in the Internet Initiatives Development Fund, faced with a misunderstanding of the difference between start-up accelerators and incubators. At some point, the arguments of the series “they differ as mitbols from meatballs” sound. Leaving the culinary theme of the harsh capital hipsters, we conducted a thoughtful study, looking at about two hundred Russian accelerators and incubators, and decided to talk about the results.
The modern start-up market in Russia requires considerable support, and both business incubators and accelerators are ready to help young entrepreneurs. So what is the difference between them? Partially this question was answered at Habré by colleagues from Ingria last year, but they mainly looked at how abroad there was. We described how it works in Russia.
The main and fundamental difference is the time of support. The incubator supports a startup at all stages of its development, from the creation of an idea to the transition to the mature business phase. The accelerator exists for fast and efficient point assistance, which can ensure the development of the project in the shortest possible time - from the prototype or MVP (minimal viable product) stage to a product with aligned business processes.
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Spheres of application differ. If accelerators mainly specialize in Internet projects (although there are examples, including in Russia, accelerators for such specific markets as the restaurant business) and are launched by business stars (we read investment funds), then incubators can support almost any undertaking. Very often state and municipal institutions and large universities, as well as companies of various profiles have their incubators. Here it is worth recalling the 219 Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation , according to which business incubators were created in several dozen Russian institutions. The incubators themselves often exist at the expense of subsidies from the “donor” - the institution in which they are created.
If the accelerator usually has a clear temporary development program, which the mentor monitors, then the incubator is based on the pattern of a large community of people who know the “theme”. Usually, these are not only the startups themselves, but also consultants (some of which are “brought in” by the incubator), mentors, and also investors who come by chance or by chance. Accordingly, the behavioral essence of the incubator is precisely mutual aid.
The difference is the audience of the two business models of support. One of the main functions of the incubator is to provide startups with a workplace and office for rent or sublease, as well as maintaining the technical condition of this place. At the same time, no share is taken from the project, and the incubator acts as a “good uncle” who is willing to help novices for free - or not free of charge, but for a fixed rent, which, of course, is orders of magnitude less than the removal of a full-fledged office or even use as such apartments.
Teams may come to the incubator at a very early stage - for example, when the project has one and a half founder (himself and his great desire) and idea, without a business architecture and even a product prototype. The period of stay in the incubator is about 12 months, but it can reach three years - there are already working, earning and mature businesses that continue to use the incubator as the main site.
Another thing is the accelerator. It usually comes a team that already has a legal entity (or appears at the entrance to the acceleration program) and, at least, MVP. The main interest of the startup in the accelerator - expert support and investment.
Accelerators that exist on funds of funds help the project to develop into an effective business in a short period of time - in the case of the IIDF accelerator, this is three months. Standard steps can be called verification (verification that the product is made as it was intended), a working prototype and validation (confirmation of the product’s performance). Participation in the accelerator and the subsequent seed-investments helps a startup to quickly move not only to a working and effective model, but also to scale into a mature business. It is important to note that the organizer of the accelerator, as a rule, takes a share in the project for participation.
Summarizing: if you are only planning to start working on a project, you have an idea, but there is no team, and there is an opportunity to spend your own money - an incubator can help you. Especially if in your city it is. And if you already have a prototype and need expert and financial support - a direct road to the accelerator.
In the coming days, we’ll finish preparing a list of all Russian accelerators and incubators that we found and post them separately both in our blog on Habré and on our sites.
By the way, we will gladly accept the wishes of the habrasoobshchestvo about the topics that we would like to analyze in detail: with research, analytics and expert opinions - one of our main tasks is to form the market and create the infrastructure for the startup movement.)
More than once or twice in the process of launching our first accelerator, we, in the Internet Initiatives Development Fund, faced with a misunderstanding of the difference between start-up accelerators and incubators. At some point, the arguments of the series “they differ as mitbols from meatballs” sound. Leaving the culinary theme of the harsh capital hipsters, we conducted a thoughtful study, looking at about two hundred Russian accelerators and incubators, and decided to talk about the results.
The modern start-up market in Russia requires considerable support, and both business incubators and accelerators are ready to help young entrepreneurs. So what is the difference between them? Partially this question was answered at Habré by colleagues from Ingria last year, but they mainly looked at how abroad there was. We described how it works in Russia.
The main and fundamental difference is the time of support. The incubator supports a startup at all stages of its development, from the creation of an idea to the transition to the mature business phase. The accelerator exists for fast and efficient point assistance, which can ensure the development of the project in the shortest possible time - from the prototype or MVP (minimal viable product) stage to a product with aligned business processes.
')
Spheres of application differ. If accelerators mainly specialize in Internet projects (although there are examples, including in Russia, accelerators for such specific markets as the restaurant business) and are launched by business stars (we read investment funds), then incubators can support almost any undertaking. Very often state and municipal institutions and large universities, as well as companies of various profiles have their incubators. Here it is worth recalling the 219 Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation , according to which business incubators were created in several dozen Russian institutions. The incubators themselves often exist at the expense of subsidies from the “donor” - the institution in which they are created.
If the accelerator usually has a clear temporary development program, which the mentor monitors, then the incubator is based on the pattern of a large community of people who know the “theme”. Usually, these are not only the startups themselves, but also consultants (some of which are “brought in” by the incubator), mentors, and also investors who come by chance or by chance. Accordingly, the behavioral essence of the incubator is precisely mutual aid.
The difference is the audience of the two business models of support. One of the main functions of the incubator is to provide startups with a workplace and office for rent or sublease, as well as maintaining the technical condition of this place. At the same time, no share is taken from the project, and the incubator acts as a “good uncle” who is willing to help novices for free - or not free of charge, but for a fixed rent, which, of course, is orders of magnitude less than the removal of a full-fledged office or even use as such apartments.
Teams may come to the incubator at a very early stage - for example, when the project has one and a half founder (himself and his great desire) and idea, without a business architecture and even a product prototype. The period of stay in the incubator is about 12 months, but it can reach three years - there are already working, earning and mature businesses that continue to use the incubator as the main site.
Another thing is the accelerator. It usually comes a team that already has a legal entity (or appears at the entrance to the acceleration program) and, at least, MVP. The main interest of the startup in the accelerator - expert support and investment.
Accelerators that exist on funds of funds help the project to develop into an effective business in a short period of time - in the case of the IIDF accelerator, this is three months. Standard steps can be called verification (verification that the product is made as it was intended), a working prototype and validation (confirmation of the product’s performance). Participation in the accelerator and the subsequent seed-investments helps a startup to quickly move not only to a working and effective model, but also to scale into a mature business. It is important to note that the organizer of the accelerator, as a rule, takes a share in the project for participation.
Summarizing: if you are only planning to start working on a project, you have an idea, but there is no team, and there is an opportunity to spend your own money - an incubator can help you. Especially if in your city it is. And if you already have a prototype and need expert and financial support - a direct road to the accelerator.
In the coming days, we’ll finish preparing a list of all Russian accelerators and incubators that we found and post them separately both in our blog on Habré and on our sites.
By the way, we will gladly accept the wishes of the habrasoobshchestvo about the topics that we would like to analyze in detail: with research, analytics and expert opinions - one of our main tasks is to form the market and create the infrastructure for the startup movement.)
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/195248/
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