IPN Business Accelerator
About this good practice
PROBLEM ADDRESSED
When you look at the Innovation framework in Europe, you will find several entities promoting the creation of spin-offs, a huge network of Business Incubators and several Science and Technology Parks (STPs). However, there is a gap in the innovation cycle. Most of the startups that graduate from the Incubators are not keen to move to a STP’s. This happens for many reasons, such as lack of financial capacity, logistics, lack of synergies, not strategic for the startup.
OBJECTIVE
The overall objective of the Business Accelerator is to foster innovative tech-based firms with high growth potential by offering a set of services focused on improving their internationalisation capabilities and increasing their technological intensity through the cooperation with the national and international scientific and technological system.
IMPLEMENTATION
IPN build a business support infrastructure that succeeds the incubation stage, ie focused on scale-ups rather than startups. The Accelerator has a dedicated team that provides specialized services to the companies such as:
Business intelligence for internationalisation
Support with access to softlanding networks
Promotion of national and international partnerships
Access to academic and scientific knowledge
MAIN BENEFICIARIES
Startups
The Incubator/Accelerator itself
MAIN STAKEHOLDERS
Local economy (such as housing and service providers like food and beverage, social events , cleaning, etc.)
Local and regional authorities
Resources needed
The infrastructure costed a total of 8.2M€. The annual budget to run the Business Accelerator is around 400K€. This amount includes personnel costs (5 people, mainly with Business Administration/Economic background), electricity, maintenance, cleaning, communication, travelling and other services.
Evidence of success
In 2022, companies located in the Accelerator achieved the following aggregate
indicators:
Turnover: 100M€
Exports: 79%
Invest in R&D: 10%
Employees: +1000
According to the financial data available, IPN-Accelerator companies registered the following indicators average growth (between the year they came into the Accelerator and the last year available):
Turnover: 370%
Exports: 1905%
Employees: 189%
At the moment, IPN is the headquarters of two Portuguese unicorns, Feedzai and Talkdesk.
Potential for learning or transfer
This good practice is transferable for all regions because it fills a gap in the Innovation Cycle that you will find almost everywhere (please read Problem Addressed in the “Detailed information on the practice” section). There is an opportunity to offer a second stage Incubator (Business Accelerator) so that the startups can keep growing their business, invest in R&D and internationalize their business. Our experience proves that after this Acceleration period (up to 6 years) the startups actually become scale-ups and achieve financial independency. We highlight the following key success factors:
- Proximity to the Business Incubator and the University Campus (walking distance if possible)
- Strong soft-landing networks worldwide
- Provide technical support mainly in funding, internationalization and innovation
The most suitable entities for transferring this best practice are Business Incubators, mainly those who are University affiliated.
