The Enterprise Innovation Institute is working with the Universidad de Concepción in Concepción, Chile, to grow the innovation ecosystem there
As the reach and reputation of the Enterprise Innovation Institute continues to grow, more and more communities around the world are collaborating with Georgia Tech’s economic development arm to grow their own innovation ecosystems, often with great success. One such community is the IncubaUdeC, the business incubator of Universidad de Concepción in Concepción, Chile.
“In 2023, IncubaUdeC was recognized as the No. 1 incubator in the country by Corfo, which evaluates the work of 13 incubators,” said Beatriz Millán, the executive director of IncubaUdeC. “Additionally, we were highlighted as one of the top 10 university incubators worldwide according to the UBI Global ranking, which includes 109 entities from 56 countries.”
The UBI ranking looks at the impact of programs on the ecosystem, the ability to attract new partners, and the diversification of funding sources, said Millán.
IncubaUdeC works with entrepreneurial sectors in Concepción and throughout the southern macro zone of the country and the metropolitan region, with programs that adapt to their needs. “We work not only with students and researchers at the University of Concepción but also with entrepreneurs in the cities of southern Chile,” said Millán.
The organization also focuses on outreach to different entrepreneurial communities, including women and students.
“For three years now, we have been providing programs exclusively for female entrepreneurship through initiatives such as Conectadas, where we support female scientific entrepreneurs to develop their potential through a complete training, networking and business consulting plan,” Millán said. “We also continue to work intensively on programs aimed at our students, such as Desafío Conexión, where we connect undergraduate and postgraduate students from the University of Concepción and neighboring municipalities through short-term innovation projects called challenges, and the Torneo Verde, where we challenge higher education students in the Biobío region (both undergraduate and postgraduate) to create innovative solutions for climate change and greenhouse gas issues proposed by companies in the region.”
The collaboration with Georgia Tech began in 2015, when IncubaUdeC engaged with the Enterprise Innovation Institute to assess the organization’s service offerings and operations model and provide recommendations for improvement in incubation, acceleration, tech transfer, and spin-off development.
Following the successful completion of the first phase of the collaboration, Georgia Tech and IncubaUdeC agreed to a second phase that would make recommendations for IncubaUdeC’s incubation model.
The collaboration identified ways to grow the capacity of Concepción’s innovation ecosystem, including leveraging previously untapped outlets such as government, industry, startups and entrepreneurs. The recommendations have been carried forward with great success, and IncubaUdeC is an active part of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem of the Biobío region with an important role in its board of directors. During 2023, IncubaUdeC hosted 91 companies, which have invoiced $4 million and raised $3.8 million in capital.
“The work IncubaUdeC is doing to grow the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Concepción is exciting and so important to the economy as well as to the lives of residents in the region,” said Viviana Montenegro, program manager in EI2 Global, the Enterprise Innovation Institute’s international economic development program. “We’re delighted with their success and with the recognition they’ve received for their important work.”
As for the future, Millán is excited about the continuing relationship with Georgia Tech and the ways that relationship can help IncubaUdeC expand and continue to be successful.
“The partnership with Georgia Tech has been very important for our organization, as it allowed us to move from a strategic perspective to developing better support programs for entrepreneurs, and better defining our value model and our alliance with the industry,” she said.