Is the recession bringing back the incubator model? It has in Limerick

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by Mike Butcher

on August 24, 2009

I thought incubators – as a model for producing startups – had long gone out of fashion. But, first of all there are rumours a new one one might be starting up in the UK. Around the same time, an incubator has, in the last few months, appeared in Limerick Ireland. What’s going on? Is the recession bringing the model back?

The GreenHouse start-up incubator has been developed by internet entrepreneur Evert Bopp who has brought on no less an advisor that Pat Phelan, the founder and CEO of Cubic Telecom, alongside Kevin Thompstone, former CEO of Shannon Development and Richard O‘ Donnell, co-founder of Software Architects International and Redeo.com.

Bopp says he started the incubator because similar schemes in Ireland are run either by the state or
owned by Institutes of Technology – both likely to be red-tape drags on fast moving companies.

Startups applying have to go through an application process to the board. If successful they get a 6-month
incubation cycle of office space and facilities and other professional services (legal, accounting, mentoring etc). They also get funding on developments costs in exchange for a small equity stake. They are also looking for key sponsors and investors. The initiative is well timed – earlier this year Dell made 2000+ employees redundant in the Limerick region. They are even inviting local schools in to give the kids a taste of entrepreneurship. Hey, it’s a feel-good story.

One slight problem – as far as I can tell it doesn’t have any startups in it yet, so I hope that changes soon.

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John Tully

Mike, I’m surprised you haven’t done some sort of due diligence on Mr. Bopp.

A quick search of his name on Google Groups throws up a whole host of interesting discussion threads warning people about doing business with this man.

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&source=hp&q=evert%20bopp&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wg
http://twitter.com/mikebutcher Mike Butcher

I’ve looked at those links and frankly your charge looks basically unsustainable. These are links to discussions about buying and selling bits of Mac equipment in about 2003 for pity’s sake. And Evert comes out sounding like a stand-up guy. To quote a typical post:

“I do love these “Bad Trader” posts that end up with the BUYER showing why
they should be avoided rather than the seller. Poor guy [Evert] is obviously doing
his best and doing all he can to sort out Christophers needs but is still
getting slated.”

Perhaps you’d better go and troll somewhere else?
http://evertb.wordpress.com Evert Bopp

Mike, thank you for your very to the point reply.

John, if you have any questions about me or my integrity feel free to contact me directly. Same for everyone else.

Evert.
http://evertb.wordpress.com Evert Bopp

Just to ad, a full search on Google will give this result: http://bit.ly/weerm
My Linkedin profile ise here: http://bit.ly/OT0m

Evert.
http://springboard.red-gate.com/ Amir Chaudhry

“But, first of all there are rumours a new one one might be starting up in the UK.”

Any stories about this one?

I recently launched Springboard, which is a free programme for software entrepreneurs (i.e we don’t take equity, or charge).
K Fegan

Good article. I have a few small points to make: –

On what basis did you think incubators – as a model for producing startups – had long gone out of fashion?

I don’t agree that Institutes of Technology Incubators are likely to be red-tape drags on fast moving companies. The pros of some of these organisations far outweigh any of the bureaucratic cons in my experience having worked very closely with one in particular. The IOT front loaded structured programme approach creates a very good feeder which encourages participation to the point where a significant proportion of projects quite simply wouldn’t have happened had there been no IOT intervention. Highly spec’d office accommodation and opportunities to congregate and network with each other, academics, the student body and leading research centres cannot be written off being a drag. These organisations tap into various sources of public funding (including EU) to create a support mechanism for all stages of the Startup cycle from the earliest ‘idea’ stage to rapid growth stage and some do this very well and have an excellent track record.

I do like the Greenhouse concept – free office space, facilities and professional services as well as the opportunity to tap into seed funding will be attractive to promoters. Perhaps the most important and potentially most effective aspect to this model is the advisory board. The ability to gain access to and seek advice from entrepreneurs with a track record is invaluable. I wish Evert and his team of advisors all the best with their incubator and commend them for the initiative shown.