A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses that do not intend to go public, startups are new businesses that intend to grow large beyond the solo-founder. During the beginning, startups face high uncertainty and have high rates of failure, but a minority of them do go on to become successful and influential, such as unicorns.
A business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services, starting with management training and office space, and ending with venture capital financing. The National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) defines business incubators as a catalyst tool for either regional or national economic development. NBIA categorizes its members' incubators by the following five incubator types: academic institutions; non-profit development corporations; for-profit property development ventures; venture capital firms, and a combination of the above.
infoDev is a World Bank Group program that supports high-growth entrepreneurs in developing economies. The program is part of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Unit of the World Bank Group's Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice.
Steve Blank is an American entrepreneur, educator, author and speaker. He created the customer development method that launched the lean startup movement. His work has influenced modern entrepreneurship through the creation of tools and processes for new ventures which differ from those used in large companies.
Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) is an international initiative that introduces entrepreneurship to young people in six continents. GEW emerged in 2008 as a result of Enterprise Week UK and Entrepreneurship Week USA 2007. Since its creation, more than 10 million people from roughly 170 countries have participated in entrepreneurship-related events, activities and competitions during GEW.
An entrepreneurial ecosystem or entrepreneurship ecosystems are peculiar systems of interdependent actors and relations directly or indirectly supporting the creation and growth of new ventures.
Harvard Innovation Labs (i-Lab) is an institution which aims to promote team-based and entrepreneurial activities among Harvard students, faculty, entrepreneurs, and members of the Allston and Greater Boston communities.
A startup ecosystem is formed by people in startups in their various stages, and various types of organizations in a location that are interacting as a system to create and scale new startup companies. These organizations can be further divided into categories such as universities, funding organizations, support organizations, research organizations, service provider organizations and large corporations. Local Governments and Government organizations such as Commerce / Industry / Economic Development departments also play an important role in a startup ecosystem. Different organizations typically focus on specific parts of the ecosystem function and startups at their specific development stage(s).
The Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) is the support and investment arm of the Israeli government, in charge of planning and executing the country’s innovation policy, promoting technological innovation and Research and Development (R&D) in the State of Israel.
Bill Aulet is the Managing Director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship at MIT and Professor of the Practice at the MIT Sloan School of Management and MIT Sloan Executive Education. He is also the author of Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup.
The Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Bombay, also known as E-Cell, IIT Bombay, is the primary entrepreneurship promoting body of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, managed and run completely by the students of the institute. It organizes initiatives like the annual business plan competition Eureka! and the flagship event, The Entrepreneurship Summit (E-Summit) in January each year, which receives a footfall of over 30,000 people who include students, investors, corporates, mentors, celebrities and the most important; Entrepreneurs.
CubbySpot is a privately held Canadian technology company based in Toronto, Ontario that developed an online marketplace that matches parents and child care centers to fill available open spots.
Established in 1996 by Jaishree and Gururaj ‘Desh’ Deshpande, the Deshpande Foundation strives for impactful change. Operating across the United States, Canada, and India, with a mission to address grassroots problems through innovation, collaboration, sustainability, and entrepreneurship. To achieve its objectives, the Foundation launched several initiatives. One of these and perhaps the most significant, is Deshpande Startups.
iSpace Foundation is a technology hub in Ghana known to offer a co-working space, tools and facilities for entrepreneurs and startups to launch and manage their business ideas. It was founded in 2013 by two technology entrepreneurs Josiah Kwesi Eyison and Fiifi Baidoo.
Women in Tech Africa (WiTA) is an organization with a focus on entrepreneurship expansion and multiplying the numbers of females in technology, especially in Africa. It was founded by Ethel D Cofie. Over the years, WiTA has strategically focused on enabling women to drive Africa's growth story and create an impact on personal life through technology. Currently, its target audience comprises aspiring female tech entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 40. Women in Tech Africa is the largest group on the continent with membership across 30 countries globally with physical chapters in Ghana, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Somaliland, Germany, Ireland, Kenya, Tanzania and Mauritius.
Yossi Dashti (born in 1952) is an Israeli-American author, researcher, and business facilitator, in the field of computer information systems, innovation and entrepreneurship. In his books and publications, he promotes value creation and process improvements, while integrating academic research and practical technology innovation business experience. In his early career, Dr. Dashti was engaged with Information Technology (IT) and software applications and was among the pioneers in the development of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and E-Commerce platforms.
Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata Jnr. also known as CFA is a Nigerian journalist and a former television presenter at Channels TV. He is into digital marketing and known as a technology entrepreneur with focus on business coaching and public speaking. He hosted the first virtual telehealth conference of Nigeria’s telemedicine company, CareClick with the theme ‘The Future Of Healthcare Today’ on 24 September 2020. He was involved in various ICT-related companies that contributed to the development of the Founder Institute. He is known as the founder of Pacer Venture and has links with Climate Action Africa. He is the MD/CEO of Anambra State ICT Agency.
Isaac Sesi is a Ghanaian entrepreneur, engineer, and the founder of Sesi Technologies, a Ghanaian company that solves agricultural and food challenges. He is known for his development of a moisture meter to help sub-Saharan African farmers reduce post-harvest losses
CIIE.CO is an Indian startup accelerator and incubator that supports early-stage startups located at IIM Ahmedabad in Ahmedabad, India. It was founded in 2002 to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in India. It is a Center of excellence set up at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad with support from the Government of India's Department of Science and Technology and the Government of Gujarat.
