Incubation Infrastructure for Knowledge-Intensive Companies around the University of Twente

Abstract

The University of Twente in The Netherlands actively encourages students to start up their own companies after graduation. This paper describes the incubation infrastructure that it has developed for start-up ventures. The authors discuss the BTC-Twente, the University's business incubator; the Business & Science Park Enschede, which has been established alongside the campus of the University of Twente; and the availability of funds in the region for new companies and the ways in which the sources of finance inter-relate to see an enterprise through the various stages of its development. This case study is presented to indicate how a university can play a key role in the creation of business and employment in its region.

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References

van der Sijde

P.C.

van Alsté

J.A.

, ‘Support for entrepreneurship at the University of Twente’, Industry and Higher Education, Vol 12, No 6, December 1998, pp 367–372.

European Commission, A Classification of Science Parks and Related Development, OJ C186 — 51/52, dd. 27 July 1990.

Ibid.

Smilor and Gill, The New Business Incubator, 1986.

This section draws heavily upon Vogelaar

, ‘The Business & Science Park Enschede’, in van Alsté

J.A.

van der Sijde

P.C.

, The Role of the University in Regional Development, Twente University Press, Enschede, 1998.

Op cit, Ref 2.