Incubation and Acceleration Programs
The process that includes services provided to establish new businesses and enable them to stand on their own is called the incubation process. Incubation centers are professional organizations that offer the services and infrastructure necessary for new entrepreneurs and SMEs to develop innovative ideas and turn them into products/services. Newly established companies hosted by incubation centers are referred to as incubation center companies (start-ups). The aim of incubation centers is to contribute to the competitiveness of their regions, the development of new sectors, and the increase in employment.
The Incubation Process Includes the Following Steps:
Motivation and Information:
- Motivation and information meetings and events
Pre-Incubation (Until the Company is Established)
- Provision of free office space
- Training
- Business plan development
- Application for support programs
- Company establishment
Incubation (2-3 Years After Company Establishment)
- Selection
- Provision of office space and shared services at very low or no cost
- Education, consulting, coaching, and mentoring
- Capital provision/capital procurement support
- Support for establishing collaborations
- Performance monitoring
- Graduation
According to Law No. 4691 on Technology Development Zones, an incubation center is defined as "structures that provide office services, equipment support, management support, access to financial resources, and critical business and technical support services all under one roof, particularly for the development of young and new businesses." The Innopark Entrepreneurship (Incubation) Center will carry out the following activities within the framework outlined by Law No. 4691:
- Provide motivation, education, and information services on entrepreneurship to individuals of all ages and statuses, especially university faculty members and students, to support the establishment of new and advanced technology-focused ventures.
- Offer training, consulting, and mentoring services to new and advanced technology-oriented entrepreneurs during the phase of establishing their ventures.
- Provide capital support to new and advanced technology-focused ventures in priority areas needed to develop a well-functioning innovation ecosystem in the region.
- Offer necessary infrastructure and support services for the healthy and rapid growth of newly established advanced technology-oriented ventures, including:
- Free office and production space
- Free communication facilities
- Free qualified services such as accounting, secretarial, consulting, and mentoring
- Free access to financial resources
- Marketing support
- Support for technological collaboration and technology transfer
- Branding, business management, and intellectual property management support
- Legal consulting services
Incubation Center Services
- Pre-incubation
- Incubation
- Business idea competitions
- Mentorship
- Motivation and information meetings for academicians, university students, and potential entrepreneurs to bring new products and technologies to the economy
- Consultancy, training, and other services for transforming business ideas into projects, preparing business plans, company establishment, accounting, marketing, legal and administrative procedures for aspiring entrepreneurs
- Career programs aimed at training entrepreneurs
- Project competitions
- Seed capital procurement services
The Innopark Incubation (Entrepreneurship) Center will not only benefit the companies within it but also add value to university students, academics, and other companies in Konya and the entire region. By providing its services, it will encourage individuals with innovative ideas to become entrepreneurs; foster the development of dynamic and innovative sectors; increase employment; serve as an example for similar initiatives in other regions and Turkey; and ultimately contribute significantly to the development and competitiveness process.
Goals of the Innopark Incubation (Entrepreneurship) Center:
- Increase the production and export of medium and advanced technology products in the region.
- Support the establishment and healthy development of new businesses focused on new and advanced technologies in the region.
- Direct aspiring entrepreneurs to establish new ventures focused on new and advanced technologies.
- Encourage existing SMEs to transition to new and high technologies.
- Contribute to the innovation-based growth of businesses in the region by integrating entrepreneurial talent into the ecosystem.
- Motivate recent university graduates towards innovative entrepreneurship.
- Encourage academics and researchers to collaborate with entrepreneurs (facilitating university-industry cooperation).
- Create an environment that allows regional, national, and international potential entrepreneurs to develop and implement innovation-based business ideas.
- Create new job opportunities in the sector for newly graduated university students.
- Enable university students studying abroad to return to Konya and commercialize their business ideas, creating a reverse brain drain (brain gain).
The Innopark Incubation (Entrepreneurship) Center will support the establishment of student clubs to motivate and inform students about entrepreneurship at universities in the region, provide financial support for students to participate in national and international competitions, and implement activities and programs that develop students' skills in innovation and R&D.
By identifying the priority new technologies and products needed in Konya, the Innopark Incubation (Entrepreneurship) Center will focus on establishing new ventures that carry out R&D activities related to these products and technologies, implementing entrepreneurship training and support programs in line with the needs, priorities, and strategies of the region.
Innopark A.Ş., established with a capital of 10 million TL, will allocate a portion of its capital to provide venture capital support to new ventures (start-ups) focused on new and advanced technologies.