“In 2012, a Swedish student wondered, “What are the traits of the most successful top-performing university incubators worldwide?” The answer at the time was unavailable; the landscape was unmapped, unexplored, and unranked. So began the UBI Global, with a mission to identify, benchmark, and recognize university-linked incubator and accelerator programs.”
First of all, we would like to thank Angela Olson, Communications Manager at UBI Global, for agreeing to respond to our questions and congratulate the entire team for organizing a successful World Incubation Summit 2019, hosted by Qatar Development Bank.
1) Let us start with a brief introduction to UBI Global and its journey since 2013.
In 2012, a Swedish student wondered, “What are the traits of the most successful top-performing university incubators worldwide?” The answer at the time was unavailable; the landscape was unmapped, unexplored, and unranked. So began the UBI Global, with a mission to identify, benchmark, and recognize university-linked incubator and accelerator programs.
Today, UBI Global is an intelligence company working with a community of more than 800 member programs located in over 70 countries reaching beyond the university world. Thanks to our active membership that eagerly shares data and knowledge, we are able to publish the World Benchmark Study, the gold standard report that benchmarks – and ranks – the global innovation community. This adds further excitement to the World Incubation Summit when the top lists of programs are announced at a fabulous gala award night.
2) On November 4-7, 2019 you have successfully hosted the World Incubation Summit in Doha, Qatar. During the Summit, you’ve announced the top-ranked incubators and accelerators as well as the UBI Global World Rankings of Business Incubators and Accelerators. Please elaborate on your ranking methodology?
Since the last iteration of the study (2017-2018), we have significantly increased the sample size from 259 incubators and accelerators to 364 participants in the World Benchmark Study 2019-2020. Moreover, for the first time, we have extended our research beyond university-linked incubators and accelerators to include public, private and corporate programs.
This year the final participants were selected after assessing a total of 1,580 programs; 364 of these programs, located in 82 countries, were retained for the benchmark. The 364 assessed programs were compared by utilizing 21 key performance indicators (KPIs). These KPIs form the base of the seven subcategory scores, which in turn form the scores in the following three main categories used to calculate the individual Program Impact and Performance Scores (PIPS) for all benchmarked incubators and accelerators:
Value for Ecosystem
This category assesses the economic impact and performance of the programs and their client and alumni startups as well as the programs’ success in retaining human capital and startups in the ecosystem. The subcategories Economy Enhancement and Talent Retention encompasses six identified KPIs.
Value for Client Startups
This category assesses the number and efficiency of services provided by the programs. Numerous studies have shown that the quantity and quality of services provided is a crucial indicator of long-term startup success. Of equal importance for individual startups – as well as
the ecosystem in general – is the programs’ function as facilitators of community and network building. The subcategories Competence Development, Access to Funds, and Access to Network encompass a total of eight KPIs.
Value for Program
This category assesses the programs’ success in attracting deal flow and third-party support as well as their capacity to create viable companies. The subcategories Program Attractiveness and Post-Graduation Performance encompass a total of seven KPIs.
3) Please tell our readers about your future plans. What’s next for UBI Global?
UBI Global will expand our membership even further through the addition of valuable services and data analysis tools. These tools will be an invaluable resource for UBI Global members to measure themselves in real-time, offering an assessment of current impact and performance with a clear path to improvement.
Building on our already extensive library of business incubator and accelerator resources, such as the Glossary from A to Z, 15 Best Practices for Business Incubators and Accelerators, and the seven-part Lessons in Corporate Innovation: Case Studies, UBI Global will expand our knowledge offering by creating new data-driven reports, insightful advice, and other valuable resources for the global innovation ecosystem.
4) What would be your advice for young and emerging incubators and accelerators?
Emerging business incubators and accelerators should seek the same resources they offer their client startups: mentorship, knowledge, and resources. Being part of a community like UBI Global is invaluable for new programs to learn best practices, form unique collaborations with peers, and gain the confidence that they can have an impact on their local innovation ecosystem by witnessing the success of fellow programs.
5) How about your advice for entrepreneurs who seek to start or scale up their businesses?
Don’t underestimate the value a business incubator or accelerator program can bring to your startup. UBI Global member programs that participate in the World Benchmark Study have demonstrated a very important trait; their startups are more successful. With a 5-year average survival rate of 59 percent, UBI Global member programs outperform non-incubated startups by 15 percentage points. The programs in the study supported ventures with over $3.2 billion in sales over the past five years.
In speaking with successful entrepreneurs that have graduated from UBI Global member programs, they obviously cite access to knowledge, networks, and funds but have also said that having peer entrepreneurs to share successes and challenges with on their individual journeys through the time spent together in the business incubator or accelerator program was also important to their positivity and mental state during the very challenging period of taking an idea and turning it into a successful business.
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Angela Olson
Communications Manager
UBI Global
