ACADEMIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP INCUBATORS NETWORK IN POLAND

Abstract

Academic Entrepreneurship Incubators are one of the important tools in national strategy of innovation. They provide knowledge, know-how and technology transfer from academic society to market environment. Enabling scientists and students to commercialize their ideas, they supply the market with new technologies. AEI Foundation is the largest network in Europe, gathering more than 40 academic incubators on Polish universities. It provides innovative entrepreneurs with commercial services, such as accounting, legal consultancy, marketing consultancy etc. It also serves as a knowledge and experience source offering access to laboratories, databases and technology experts. Incubating companies are protected against the negative market forces and are able to concentrate on most important factors infl uencing a success of a startup company: choosing the right idea, hiring right people, building partnership with investors, and fi nding fi nancing sources or managing the organization. Country policy provides different programs supporting such innovation-friendly ideas as AEIs. Programs could be divided on process driven or activity driven. Process driven programs try to build legal and administrative background to strengthen innovative policy application, while activity driven programs focus on popularization of the entrepreneurship idea and encouraging both scientist and entrepreneurs to involve in technology transfer and commercialization of scientifi c ideas. Although the process of introducing innovative concepts to the market is very important, there are still various barriers disrupting development of Academic Entrepreneurship Incubators and in effect infl uencing emergency of knowledge-based companies. The most important obstacles are mentality and organization structures of universities, emigration of educated young people, problems with estimating value of new products, blurred laws regarding ownership of intellectual values and asymmetry of information between buyer and seller.