BUSINESS INCUBATION AT HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS – CASE

STUDY FROM LATVIA.

I V E TA C I R U L E ,P H D S T U D E N T,

H E A D O F C R E AT I V E B U S I N E S S I N C U B AT O R , C O - F O U N D E R O F L AT V I A S T U D E N T S B U S I N E S S

I N C U B AT I O N I N I T I AT I V E R I G A I N T E R N A T I O N A L S C H O O L O F E C O N O M I C S A N D B U S I N E S S A D M I N I S T R A T I O N , L A T V I A  

XX Annual International ConferencePUTTING KEYWORDS TOGETHER IN

INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM27-29 May, 2015

Kaunas, Lithuania

Outline of presentation

Purpose Methods Definitions Business incubation at HEIHEI profilesFindings & suggestions Further research

Purpose (1)

Introduce

• with business incubation process at HEI in Latvia

Suggest

• the future scenario of HEI business incubators’ development

Purpose (2)entrepreneurship development

HEI incubators: as a social and

managerial process +the social

organizational environment

Start-ups:

Sustainability

Growth

Methods

Judgement sample analysis of 4 HEI business incubators’ profiles

Literature review on business incubation process

Business incubation

«..while a business incubator refers to the social organizational environment of the firm, in contrast, business incubation refers to the programs, activities, and events, that systematically identifies and evaluates new and emerging opportunities with the objective of bringing a community orientation and collective action to improvements in existing products or processes or the development of totally new products, new technologies and new business models.» (Joseph & Eshun, 2009)

Business Sustainability

managing the triple bottom line - financial, social and environmental risks, obligations and opportunities

Financial times, Lexicon http://lexicon.ft.com

STARTUP DEVELOPMENT PHASES

HEI incubators - Latvia case

60 Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in Latvia.First HEI incubator in Latvia – 2013.4 HEI (+1 in development) are offering business

incubation facilities for students, alumni and young entrepreneurs free of charge.

Simbolic fee (5 - 50 EUR/month) for any interested person.

Main problem

Lack of Pre-incubation impacts the quality of Incubation.

Young entrepreneurs could not enter business incubators due to a lack of business sustainability and a lack of business and work experience – only potentially viable businesses are accepted into „classical” business incubators until 2015.

Pre-incubation process is forseen in a new State incubation programme starting from 2015/2016 -2020.

STUDENT BUSINESS INCUBATORS

Results

20 of them realize that business is not their calling

10 of them can’t find the right business

concept

40 teams each year

10 of them move forward

Main focuss

Help

• the person

Improve

• the idea

Test

• the business model

HEI services

Training & consultancy

Office place

Mentoring

Various suppport projects –

business contests, summer camps,

international events

Small grants (trade mark registration, prototyping)

Support projects

FISH SPA

Health & beautyMentor – Marika Ģederte, entrepreneur,

Cofounder of Cosmetology College Elīna Tumova – entrepreneurship student

AUREA LANA

Social business ideaWoolen hats and glovesMentors – Iveta Cīrule, Head of Creative Business

IncubatorRISEBA student Matīss Šteins

SOMAA

Creative Industries enterprise SOMAALinen bags and sacks Krišjānis Zviedrāns – business phycology studentMentor – Head of Creative Andrejsala business

incubators Rihards ZariņšRegistrated trade mark in November 2014www.somaa.lv

Findings

Start-up ecosyste

m

HEI’s incubato

rs

Further research

Sustainability of HEI incubators’ enterprisesThe role of social and human capital in

business incubation process at HEIGrowth of HEI incubators’ enterprises with

the respect to nascent entrepreneurs motivation

The role of pre-incubation in entrepreneurship/ enterprise development

Q & A

THANK YOU FOR ATTENTION!

WWW.RISEBA.LVIVETA.CIRULE@RISEBA.LV