Incubators are organisations that support the establishment and growth of startups by providing them with tangible and intangible resources. They are an integral part of startup ecosystems around the world. However, as the ecosystem evolves, incubators also need to reinvent themselves to stay relevant. Against the backdrop of a burgeoning and rapidly evolving startup ecosystem in India, this roundtable discussion deliberates on the future of incubation. It explores pertinent issues such as the support provided to startups by incubators, the impact of generative AI on incubation, assessment of the performance of incubators, and the business models of incubators. The discussion brings forth several important insights, and among other things, emphasises the need for incubators to find an area of core competence, adopt a robust assessment framework and experiment with business models to arrive at one that works for their context.
