Technological outcome achievements by start-ups at university-based incubators: an empirical analysis in the Indian context

Incubators have garnered the attention of policy makers globally to encourage technology-based new venture development. In this article, we look at the start-ups developing new products/services, which are supported at university-based incubators located in the two Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. We firstly understand the distinct motivations of start-ups to join these incubators. Given these motivations, we then take forward a quantitative exploratory analysis to understand the effects of utilisation of incubator services on achieving technological outcomes by the start-ups. The resources made available to start-ups through incubators at universities do not directly convert to firm-level advantages. Rather they help incubated start-ups to derive intermediary benefits like technology development capability using the resources. We use a composite indicator that indirectly measures this capability. We find that specialisation of incubators, alignment to university knowledge base and the extent of utilisation of the networking services provided by the incubator are the significant factors in helping start-ups achieving technological outcomes. We then draw implications for practice, for early-stage start-ups developing technology and university-based incubators.