Infographic Accelerators vs Incubators: What Founders Need To Know

One of the ways a startup can increase its chances of survival is by enrolling in a business incubation or acceleration program. These programs provide entrepreneurs the business support they need and often come with a structured training program that equips them with the business skills that are critical for survival.

Although the terms “Incubators” and “Accelerators” are often used interchangeably, they do differ in terms of their structuring. Nevertheless, you would find that they both offer some level of coaching and mentoring to incubatees or participants of the program; in most cases, both setups provide seed funding or access to potential funding partners. They also give these startups some level of business support services like accounting, legal, programming etc. This ensures that these early-stage companies have the requisite information necessary for growth and expansion.

Like we pointed out earlier, although they seem to have common goals, they differ in some aspects. Think of a business incubator as a hatchery for small businesses; this is where innovative ideas are fashioned and framed into functional businesses. Accelerators, on the other hand, operate on a bigger scale, with a focus on established companies that show significant traction and growth potential.

They also differ in some other ways as this infographic from Nutcache explains:

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