The goal of The Incubator is to bring the greatest possible range of assistance and resources to science and technology-based companies at the earliest stage in their growth. A typical entering business may be pre-market, pre-money, pre-employee. On their own, such companies are too small to establish strong relationships with banks, angels, venture capitalists, business consultants or other business development resources. The Incubator community makes entrepreneurs part of something larger without sacrificing their independence, giving them access to all of these resources and providing flexible work space under terms that are designed to minimize cash flow pressures and facilitate rapid growth.
Typical milestones achieved while at The Incubator include development or expansion of a business plan, creating a core management team, establishing a customer base, developing a product or service, raising seed or first round capital, establishing a network of professional service providers, and conducting a first round of hiring. The Incubator leverages a business network encompassing a full range of professional support services, an alliance with Northwestern University and its world class pool of technical and management talent, and an internal management team that mobilizes these and other resources to meet the unique needs of each tenant.
The Incubator has been dedicated to early stage business growth in technology sectors for 30 years, and has served more than 300 startup companies. Established in 1986 by Northwestern University and the City of Evanston, the Incubator is one of the oldest and best-known technology incubators in the United States. For over 30 years, the incubator has accumulated an unmatched wealth of experience in entrepreneurial innovation to share with early-stage companies.
For its many accomplishments, The Incubator was recognized as one of the 10 Incubators Changing the World by Forbes Magazine. The Incubatorwas named the Coopers and Lybrand Incubator of the Year in 1997 by the National Business Incubator Association. We have housed, supported, and graduated a wide range of groundbreaking technology companies, many of which have found permanent locations in the Chicago area.
