Financing the incubator

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	Local, regional, or state governments or other non-profit organizations fund almost half (49 percent) of all incubators. The aim of these programs is the economic development of a specific region through job creation, diversifying the economic base, and expansion of the tax base.
	Universities and colleges finance 13 percent of incubators. In addition to providing research and development opportunities to affiliated professors and scientists, the goals of these facilities are similar to publicly funded incubators.
	Private industry, investment groups, and real estate partnerships run 12 percent of all incubators. The primary interest of this type of incubator is the economic rewards from investing in tenant firms, returns from technology or products produced by tenants, or from the development of the incubator real estate itself.
	Hybrid incubators, which are the joint efforts of government, non-profit organizations, economic development agencies, and private industry, constitute 18 percent of all incubators nationally. Some of the advantages of this broad based support include access to government funding and private sector business experience.
	Non-conventional organizations fund the other 8 percent of incubators.

Government funding entails at least a one-to-one match with local or regional funds, however, the ratio is usually one-to-two or even one-to-three. Optimum financing for an incubator would be a mixed package of state or federal grants, matching funds from local or regional governments, and additional funding from local industry and non-profit organizations.