Incubator Seed Data

From edegan.com
Revision as of 12:54, 25 March 2019 by AnneFreeman (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Goal

We will evaluate data sources based on the number of incubators they have data on and the type of information they supply on these incubators. We will also record whether or not these data sources collect information on any other types of entrepreneurship organizations. Ideally these data sources would provide some or all of the variables that were identified as most important for identifying incubators (Formulate_baseline_attributes). However, it is unlikely that one data source will contain all of the baseline attributes identified, therefore if the data source can provide links to a large quantity of incubators or in-depth descriptions, they could still be viable.


Evaluation of Sources from Specific Google Searches

  • Searches included:
  • "incubator database"
  • "us business incubators database"

Source: https://www.whartoneclub.com/resources/entrepreneurship/incubators/

  1. Opened source link
  2. Copied results from "U.S. Based Incubators" into excel spreadsheet
  3. Returned list of 21 US Based Incubators
  4. Data
  1. Name
  2. Url to home Page
  3. City, State (In parentheses next to name)

Review

  • Provides links to the home page url of incubator, may not be able to get very specific information about the incubator with a web crawler
  • Some of the incubators may not fall under our definition of an incubator (e.g. Y Combinator)

Source: http://exchange.inbia.org/network/findacompany/

  1. Opened source link
  2. Entered "United States" for country information and clicked "Find Companies"
  3. Received 415 results for economic development organizations within the US
  4. Data
  1. Company Name and address
  2. Link to another page within inbia
  1. That page contains a link to the company's homepage

Review

  • This may be a good source to find incubators as this database contains a lot of information on economic development institutions
  • Limitation: It would be challenging to collect this data via web crawler as the link on the database connects to another page within inbia and then the link on that page connects to the company's homepage, which sometimes does not have enough information.
  • Limitation: Not all of the institutions listed are incubators. Out of the first 10 links there were:
  • 4 incubators
  • 2 educational programs
  • 1 broken link
  • 3 other economic development programs

Source: https://www.clustermapping.us/organization-type/innovation-and-entrepreneurship-support-organizations

  1. Opened source link
  2. Received 292 results for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support Organizations in the US
  3. Data
  1. Brief Description
  2. Company name with link to a separate page within cluster mapping
  1. Link to Company Website
  2. Regions

Review

  • Provides a long list of entrepreneurship organizations
  • Limitation: Often data is missing off of the separate page for the company, including the URL to the company's website. The description is often not detailed enough to determine the category for the economic organization without going to the company's website.
  • Limitation: Different types of entrepreneurship organizations are mixed together
  • Using the first 10 links, three were accelerators, six were missing links (two were self-proclaimed incubators in description), and one was another type of support organization.


Accelerator Data Sources that are Potentially Viable

Source: http://www.acceleratorinfo.com/see-all.html

  1. Opened source link
  2. Copied links from first column (“All Startup Support Programs”) into excel and returned 215 results
  3. Copied links from second column (“All University Programs”) into excel and returned 249 results)
  4. Each link on parent list leads to individual home page url of organization

Review

  • Provides only links, does not separate between incubator and accelerator, some of the university supported programs may not be considered either an incubator or an accelerator

Source: https://bostonstartupsguide.com/guide/every-boston-startup-accelerator-incubator/

  1. Scrolled down to the section labeled "Startup incubators in Boston"
  2. Counted the number of incubators in Boston (10)
  3. Data
  1. Company Name and URL
  2. Capital Provide
  3. Equity taken
  4. Application Process

Review

  • The data is relatively unformatted and would be a challenge to use
  • It is limited in scope to the Boston Area and only provides information on 10 incubators



Accelerator Data Sources that are not viable

  • Reason: data is cluttered/messy, does not provide links to incubator websites and doesn't include enough information for evaluation without incubator url
  • Learn More: Previous Research
  • Reason: this website is no longer active, the link will not work
  • Learn More: Previous Research