Incubation: does it make a difference after graduation? Analysis from Portugal

Abstract

In this chapter, we analyse the context in which two regional and university incubators were created and from which 32 companies graduated. The 2016 results for these companies are compared against the same set of results for 32 non-incubated companies. All 64 companies are of the same age (started between 2007 and 2011), work in technology and are located in the District of Aveiro. We conclude from the results that there is no significant difference as regards general business results. However, a closer examination of specific indicators shows that incubated companies behave differently from non-incubated ones in terms of the productivity of their intangible assets, grant dependency and external markets openness.