Title: High-tech incubators in transition economies: a case study of iPark, a venture capital backed internet holding company

Authors: Darek Klonowski

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, Brandon University, 270-18th Street, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

Abstract: For many countries in emerging markets, business incubation is an important way in which to develop early stage businesses. However, emerging markets represent a challenging business environment for establishing and operating these types of initiatives: poor legal, fiscal and telecommunication infrastructure, limited sources of capital, lack of government support and undeveloped financial markets are just some of the challenges. This case study focuses on the evolution of iPark, one of the first internet-based incubators in Poland. Established in 2003 with the support of a local venture capital fund, the project was wound up after a few months of operations and the venture capital fund recovered about $100,000 from its investment.

Keywords: internet companies; incubators; venture capital; Poland; transition economies; high tech incubators; emerging markets; technoentrepreneurship; business incubation; entrepreneurship.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTE.2007.013269

International Journal of Technoentrepreneurship, 2007 Vol.1 No.1, pp.21 - 34

Published online: 19 Apr 2007 *

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