About us

Business Incubator was founded in 2006 by students and professors of State University – Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow, and has quickly become a catalyst for student entrepreneurial activities far beyond its HSE walls.

Startups

The Incubator concurrently hosts up to six startup teams. Startups get a fully equipped office space, administrative and consulting support. They also enjoy free participation at HSE and industry events, and take full advantage of networking opportunities provided by the Incubator’s team.

In just 3 years since its inception, the Incubator became a starting ground for a number of well-known student companies: SmartKniga, Skillopedia.ru, Native Speakers Club,Roomix, PensiaMarket, TimePad, and others.

Business Project Competition

Business project competitions serve an important purpose of popularizing entrepreneurship among students, searching for talented young entrepreneurs and “Next Big Thing” ideas.

HSE {10K} was initiated in 2006 as an analog for the MIT(100K) competition. It is a contest of students’ business projects – be it an idea or a young company.

Startup of the Year is another popular contest that attracts ambitious young entrepreneurs. They not only have to defend their business model, but present the audience with a short video about their startup. Winners of HSE {10K} and Startup of the Year receive cash prizes and a two-year residency at the Incubator.

The Incubator also runs less formal contests and business games:

Iron Entrepreneur started as a team-building tool for HSE{10K} and spread virally throughout the country.
Flip-Chat is very popular among technology students, as it allows to generate and present business ideas without an emphasis on presentation skills.

The Incubator partners up with other organizations to run regular business and networking events for startups and young entrepreneurs: BIT contest, Startup Weekend, Startup Point, Harvest (Greenfield.ru project) and many others.

Entrepreneurship Education

The Incubator capitalizes on the leading role of HSE as a provider of entrepreneurial knowledge. It runs courses in entrepreneurship as well as stand-alone seminars provided by real entrepreneurs. Over 60% of participants come from other schools (mostly technology-oriented), and almost all of them participate in other events organized by the Incubator. Currently, the Incubator offers the following courses in entrepreneurship:

How to Start a Successful Business, or Entrepreneurship 101,
Business Laboratory,
Creative Thinking in Business.

Infrastructural Development

HSE{sun} is a yearly summer conference for Russian entrepreneurial support organizations. The Incubator invites participants from other schools, technology parks, venture firms, private businesses and multinational corporations to discuss common challenges in fostering entrepreneurship, and collaborate on designing a more effective support infrastructure for innovative businesses.