Why Virtual Incubation Matters?

Virtual incubation is the need of the hour in India’s booming startup ecosystem. India which is in among the top three countries in terms of the number of incubators but still over 90 per cent of the startups unable to make it after 1 year and some after 5 years. The solution to this problem is virtual incubation which is still not utilised by many of the incubators in India. The virtual incubation is the service which is available to an entrepreneur twenty-four seven and to international businesses as well.

An incubation which can be done digitally so that entrepreneurs can easily find on the search engine as per their needs. Some platforms are there which helps business or startup to network with incubators for their development. The one of a kind platform BusinessEx is a place where you can find relevant incubators for your startup.

The virtual incubation can be done by any incubator and it is alleged that over 70 per cent of the incubator services can be done online. The services like mentorship, networking, decision making, skill building can be done online and it will also help incubators to raise some extra funding.

How will this bring change for startups?

Positive Impact:

• A startup can get mentorship easily through online platforms.
• A startup can get access to an incubator 24/7 and also saves time as there is no need to be in the same place. An international startup can also use the services of Indian incubator.
• An entrepreneur can search for the incubator relevant to the segment the startup catering in.
• A startup can also network with potential investors and other relevant business associates through virtual incubators.
• These will help startups in tier II and tier III cities to expand their business with proper guidance.
• These incubators are not only for early-stage startups but also caters to businesses.

Negative Impact:

• The early stage startups require face to face incubation as it is not possible to do all the tasks virtually.
• In tier III areas in India, there is a general problem of electricity and internet services so it may be helpful for startups or not.
• Incubators also provide co-working space and resources which will not be there in virtual incubation.
• To introduce someone face to face makes a better impression rather than online so in the virtual incubation, a startup can network only online.
• It is also a time-consuming process for an entrepreneur to decide which the suitable incubator for the startup is, as there are a lot of incubators registered on the platforms.
• Sometimes people create fake incubator platforms to raise funding for startups.

Conclusion

The virtual incubation will surely improve startup functioning as they have twenty-four seven access but it is better to meet in person also. There are platforms like BusinessEx where you can also pitch incubator and they can also pitch a startup. There are pros and cons of everything but it is better to make an informative decision. This incubation brings ease for startups to go digital for all the problems. If a startup is an early stage it is preferred to have an incubator associated with it and if the entrepreneur has some experience and network in the industry then virtual incubation will also work. But at the end entrepreneurs have to decide which option suits their startup best.