ECOSYSTEM APPROACH TO STARTUP DEVELOPMENT: THE ROLE OF INCUBATORS, ACCELERATORS AND TECHNOPARKS
Abstract
The article examines the role of entrepreneurship support infrastructure, in particular business incubators, accelerators and technology parks, in forming an innovation ecosystem and increasing the competitiveness of startups. The relevance of the topic is due to the growing importance of innovations for sustainable economic development, increased global competition, digital transformation of business activity and the need to create conditions for the commercialization of innovations and attracting investments. The aim of the work is to determine the impact of infrastructure elements on the development of entrepreneurial and technological competencies, the ability of startups to scale business models, increase their innovative activity and create conditions for integration into national and international innovation networks. To achieve the goal, a set of general scientific and special methods was used, in particular, analysis and synthesis to systematize the functions of the infrastructure, comparative analysis to identify the relationships between its elements, a systematic approach to assess the integration of ecosystem participants, content analysis to summarize trends in startup development, logical generalization and inductive-deductive procedures to formulate conclusions and practical recommendations. The results demonstrate that business incubators, accelerators and technology parks provide startups with access to resources, financing, mentoring support and network opportunities, contribute to the development of entrepreneurial and technological competencies, reduce barriers to market entry, transfer of knowledge and technologies, integration into entrepreneurial and innovation networks, increase innovative activity, the ability to scale and form sustainable competitive advantages. The practical value of the article lies in substantiating recommendations for improving the infrastructure to support entrepreneurship, strengthening interaction between science, business and the financial sector, developing the competencies of startup teams, expanding access to financing and active integration into global innovation networks, which creates conditions for increasing the efficiency and stability of the innovation ecosystem at the national and international levels.
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