Pre-incubators are institutionalised approaches to promoting business start-ups from universities. Students, graduates (alumni) and employees who have a specific innovative and growth-orientated start-up idea are offered cost-effective infrastructure, advice, coaching, support and training. The aim is to enable prospective founders to further develop their business idea in the previously neglected pre-foundation phase. In the pre-start-up phase, an initial business plan is developed, market research is carried out or a prototype is designed. The aim of the activity is always the concrete founding of a new company.

Question:
The aim of the thesis is to take stock of the scientific literature on the subject of pre-incubators in the form of a theoretical elaboration. In a second part of the Diplom thesis, a concept for a university pre-incubator is to be developed on the basis of a concrete case study.

Introductory literature:

• Stahlecker, T./Lo, V. (2004): Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten von Gründerräumen und Inkubatoren an der Hochschule, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, Karlsruhe.
• Degroof, J.J./Roberts, E.B. (2004) Overcoming weak entrepreneurial infrastructures for academic spin-off ventures, in: The Journal of Technology Transfer, Vol.29, No.3-4, pp.312-327.
• Frank, A. et al. (2001), New incubator concepts: Learning potentials for the further development and supplementation of Austrian innovation policy for technology-orientated start-ups.
• Isfan, K./Moog, P. (2003) German universities as start-up incubators. Schriften zur Mittelstandsforschung No. 100. Wiesbaden: Deutscher Universitäts-Verlag.
• Mian, S.A.(1996), Assessing value added contributions of university technology business incubators to tenant firms, in: Research Policy 25, pp.325-335.
• Pinkwart, A. (2002) Campus Companies zur Förderung innovativer Gründungen aus der Hochschule, in: Betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung und Praxis, H. 4, pp. 339-354.
• Van Tilburg, J./Van der Sijde, P./Molero, J./Casado, P. (2002): Virtual incubation of research spin-offs, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, November, 285-293.

Contact: Dr Sascha Kraus