I was reading an interesting post on the NTEC Blog that talked about 3 sources of funds that they were pointing companies who worked with them at. They talk about Johnson & Johnson Seed Grant Funding, the NSF’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Program and one that was specific to North Texas where they are based. What struck me was that all these funds are really targeted at the incubator phase of a project, which is really the part of product development where there is most risk, in order words, usually the hardest to get funding for.
NTEC (North Texas Enterprise Center for Technology) is an non-profit organisation that assists entrepreneurs with starting and growing new technology ventures, particularly in clean tech and medical technology. It’s an interesting set up that provides a positive incubation environment where a product or service can be taken from inception all the way to a market offering. Their services start from office space Frisco Texas being where they are based. They can provide entire offices or just cubicle space and more importantly can also provide lab space. The office space is quite important (after all, if you’re starting a new venture, you don’t really want to be worrying about print management solutions or content management development) but they offer much more than that. NTEC also provide the companies who work with them with access to a number of advisory services that include:
- Business Plan Enhancement
- Mentoring
- Investment Capital
- Intern Support
- Management Training
and a number of other services. It’s actually pretty cool that this sort of incubator set up is available for someone starting down a development route.
It’s a well-known statistic that a large proportion of new businesses fail in their initial years. The reality is that there is a lot of support available out there. Incubators exist to assist entrepreneurs through this difficult period so if you’re thinking of setting down this route, make sure you know what options are available and make good use of them.