Top 10 Best Startup Incubators in Europe You Should Know About

If you’re a budding entrepreneur, then it is imperative that you get your business off the ground as soon as possible. The sooner your business is up and running, the sooner you can start generating revenue, hiring employees, and growing your business.

The best way to kick-start your business is to join one of the best startup incubators in your region. As a startup, it may not be financially viable for you to run your company from day-to-day.

That’s where an incubator comes in handy. It provides companies with access to various resources at cheap or even no cost in exchange for some or no costs. It also acts as a testing ground where startups are able to experiment with new ideas and procedures without exposing their entire business plan to the public yet. In another post, we introduce the top 10 best startup accelerators in Europe.

Here are some of the best startup incubators in Europe that should be on your radar if you want to launch your startup with ease.

Best Startup Incubators in Europe

There are many incubators in Europe that are great for startups. Especially these years, many great programs have been started that provide startups the needed support to grow in the early stage.

However, in order to be more than just another incubator, an incubator must excel at more than just the incubator setting. This way, they will be able to stand out from the crowd and be noticed by late investors and business partners. We have previously listed the best startup incubators in the world from 5 continents.

This guide will discuss some of the best startup incubators in Europe for startups that you could consider approaching particularly if your startup is at the early stage.

1. Startup Incubator Berlin (Germany)

Startup Incubator Berlin is an initiative by Startup Europe Advocacy. It is a community that connects startups and investors with an emphasis on Berlin, Germany as the hub.

Startup ideas are transformed into products that are ready for the market in the HWR Berlin’s Startup Incubator. They provide knowledge, resources, and financial aid to academic startup teams.

As a lean incubator, their priority is to rapidly build the product or company while carefully analyzing the business model with the customer.

Whether a new business is just starting out or is well along the way to becoming operational, their proposal could fit their demands. The Startup Incubator is open to HWR Berlin students, alumni, and city residents with intellectual backgrounds.

They have a network of more than 35 mentors and have helped more than 110 startups to grow successfully.

2. Yes!Delft (Netherlands)

The Delft University of Technology’s Innovation Center spearheaded the establishment of this incubator in the Netherlands. They want to create a place where business owners can meet, develop their concepts, and seek advice from a panel of professionals.

Yes!Delft has a range of accelerator programs as one of the top startup incubators in Europe. The facility supports tech enterprises from idea to exit by providing financial support, mentorship opportunities, and a network of seasoned ex-founders.

Ideation projects can learn from more than 100 prospective clients by taking part in the 10-week Validation Lab. Yes!Delft receives no equity from incubator activities. Alternatively it uses success fee, based on the revenue of the startup, with the proceeds going back into the incubator.

There is an additional 10-week program available to help business owners.

3. Entrepreneur First (UK)

The Entrepreneur First program is structured to provide entrepreneurs with access to mentors and investors. The program is supported by the British government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The program is made to assist startups in growing their companies and determining the ideal product-market fit. They offer offices and programs all over the world, including in London, Bangalore, Toronto, Paris, Berlin, and Singapore. Since 2011, they have helped more than 3000 business owners and more than 500 startups.

Participating new businesses in this program should be able to test their concepts, find cofounders, and raise money. One of the top startup accelerators in Europe, Entrepreneur First’s goal is to help entrepreneurs succeed.

However, only 10% of applications are accepted. Applicants to the elite accelerator may raise up to $100,000 for 10% equity. Additionally, for the duration of the 6-month program, successful entrepreneurs get a $2,500 monthly stipend.

4. PoliHub (Italy)

PoliHub is a hub in Italy that is focused on startups that are building technologies that can have a positive impact on society. These include energy technologies, health, food, and mobility.

The Politecnico di Milano’s Polihub startup accelerator aims to promote the growth of deep tech firms. The accelerator bridges the gap between research and industry by giving promising tech companies access to finance and mentoring.

There are two programs, one lasting 3–4 months for teams developing a prototype and the other lasting 6–8 months for startups that are market-ready.

The accelerator focuses on deep technologies and is now home to 20+ teams, including NDB self-charging battery manufacturer and Photonic Vibes, which develops noise isolation technology.

5. Station F (France)

The first technological and business innovation hub in the world, Station F is a non-profit that supports and fosters the growth of startups in the heart of Paris, France.

With a major hub facility that provides services exclusively for the French tech sector, it serves as a startup campus. Startups who sign up for the program are required to stay for at least three months and are allowed to send out up to 15 employees.

In contrast to other programs, it does not offer equity investments, and companies are responsible for the cost of their workstations.

A portion of the building is managed by Station F’s partners, such as Facebook, Zendesk, Vente-Privée, HEC, Microsoft, etc.

6. Startup AutoBahn (Germany)

Startup AutoBahn, powered by Plug and Play, is a hub in Germany that is focused on helping startups. In 2016, Startup AutoBahn was established at the German University of Stuttgart. It is a platform designed to foster relationships between emerging tech entrepreneurs and large industrial corporations.

Participants receive access to an environment for successful participants for the full six months of the program.

Projects in the areas of enterprise, production, and mobility are the main emphasis of the program. More than 60 initiatives have currently been carried out with corporate partners.

7. Health Tech HUB (Denmark)

Launched by known Copenhagen Business School, this is one of the best startup incubators in the Nordic countries. Its center is a natural extension from the old to the modern, building on the comprehensive healthcare systems of the Nordic region.

Their goal is to assist and link decades of healthcare knowledge with burgeoning new development opportunities, thereby enhancing the potential.

They promote better health and more effective healthcare for everyone by implementing new technology solutions to the problems that healthcare systems face.

The 21 Health Tech Hub Copenhagen members have obtained 145 million DKK in investment by the end of 2020 (out of the +500 million DKK for the entire Danish health tech ecosystem), and they have added 113 new jobs.

Over 2.000.000 individuals are now being helped by solutions developed by members of the Health Tech Hub Copenhagen – a great achievement!

8. KI Innovations (Sweden)

KI Innovations, as part of the Karolinska Institutet, is a hub of startups in Sweden that is focused on helping companies to scale and develop their products.

More research-based ideas, discoveries, and knowledge from Karolinska Institutet may help ensure a healthier future for everyone with the help of KI Innovations, which serves as both the institution’s innovation support system and an incubator.

As the innovation office at Karolinska Institutet, KI Innovations can assist you with your analysis of the potential for turning your research knowledge into valuable goods or services that can have an impact outside of academia as part of the START program.

Applications for KI Innovation’s incubator program DRIVE are accepted from projects that have completed the START program as well as from other businesses operating in the health, care, and life science sectors.

While DRIVE continues its validation efforts, it now places a stronger emphasis on business expansion and scaling.

9. Demium (Spain)

One of the best startup incubators in Spain is Demium. Actually, Demium has both an incubator and an accelerator program.

Along with these locations, Demium also maintains offices in Valencia, Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, Lisbon, Kyiv, Warsaw, and Athens in Europe.

Their 10-week incubation program offers entrepreneurs a pre-seed investment of €25,000 from Spanish VC Think Bigger Capital, with the potential for success to reach €500,000!

Along with pre-seed funding, companies also receive mentoring and help in a variety of areas from professional mentors and business angels (e.g. Marketing, Growth Hacking, Sales, etc.).

10. UtrechtInc (Netherlands)

UtrechtInc assists researchers, first-time tech startup founders, and young entrepreneurs. You could select one of their programs for validation to help you sell your research or ideas, or select their acceleration program to help you build your startup.

You will receive assistance from coaches and a network of 150+ mentors, including (former) founders, corporate executives, and investors, while you are enrolled in one of their programs and while you are a guest at UtrechtInc.

Not only do they provide offices and office hours with lawyers, accountants, and other professionals, but UtrechtInc also connects you to a community of more than 200 ambitious companies and recent graduates.

This incubator is one of the best startup incubators in the Netherlands.

Bottom line

These are some of the best incubators in Europe that are worth exploring if you want to launch your startup with ease. Be sure to look into each incubator’s program and resources carefully to figure out which one will best suit your needs.

While you work on your application to one of these best startup incubators, it is best to consider other good ones to send multiple applications. It is also worth walking into their offices or schedule meetings with them to get to know them better. Their staff are usually very friendly and open to answer your questions.

They also have sometimes information sessions (online or in-person) where they walk you through their programs and the entry requirements for each program. Make sure to attend these sessions if you are interested to join one of their programs.