Business incubators YES!Delft and UtrechtInc secured a position in the European top 10 of the UBI Index 2015. This international ranking list for university business incubators was released in Turin on Tuesday 27 October. In 2014 YES!Delft ranked 9th, and this year rises to a number 4 position. UtrechtInc joins the list as new comers hitting the 6th spot. With this result the two Dutch startup incubators receive international recognition for the way they stimulate and boost entrepreneurship and innovation.

The Netherlands ranks best in Europe
Programmes based in the Netherlands are doing extremely well in the 2015 rankings. No other country has more incubators listed. Startup ambassador Neelie Kroes, who with StartupDelta works effortless to put the Netherlands on the map as a start-up country, is proud to see the high rankings of the Dutch startup incubators. ‘’The UBI ranking shows how well Dutch incubators are performing and hence taking a leading position in Europe. The StartupDelta ecosystem is rapidly developing to a top 3 player in Europe and counts as one of the most important rankings in the world’’.

Over the last 10 years YES!Delft has been developing impactful programs that foster and facilitate entrepreneurship. ‘’The fact that we are part of the top 5 European incubators means that we are fully on-track to develop great startup ideas. We bring these to market en will continue to build successful companies. I’m proud of our achievements’’, says Pieter Guldemond, Managing Director YES!Delft

The Utrecht-based incubator UtrechtInc is proud too. ‘’It is actually startup innovations that offer solutions to the bigger challenges for society. Our top ranking in Europe is a testament to the impact that our startups have’’, says Roel Raatgever, Managing Director UtrechtInc.

International recognition
UBI Index, a leading Swedish research- and consulting firm on business incubation, conducts annual research amongst more than four hundred incubators across seventy countries globally. They investigate how entrepreneurs can develop skills, access to capital and the economic impact of the incubator.

Impact on the economy
Both UtrechtInc and YES!Delft have a clear impact on the economy. Since 2009 UtrechtInc supported 135 startups. Of which in 2014 three successful graduates were part of a millions-worth acquisition and one successful company went public. Over the last 10 years YES!Delft has supported more than 160 startups, that collectively generated more than EUR300 million in investment and created more than 1.000 jobs.

European business incubators generated a total of $2,4 billion dollar in investments, with 117 incubators an average of $20 million dollar per incubator. Over the last 5 years, business incubators in Europe generated over 40.000 jobs.

Global rankings
Next month, on Wednesday 25 november UBI Index will release it’s global list. This includes a top 25 of best incubators around the globe. With such a high European ranking YES!Delft surely is shortlisted to possibly be part of the list globally.