International delegations

The Incubator and Accelerator Network organises delegations to visit innovative programmes and startup ecosystems internationally. It also helps organise inbound international delegations visiting the UK incubation and startup ecosystem.

Paris study visit, Feb 24

In February 2024, IAN hosted its second annual international study visit, which saw a delegation of UK incubator managers tour Paris. Programmes and facilities visited by the delegation included Station F, Agoranov, Université Paris Cité, Espace Phi, PariSantéCampus, and PLACE network.

Netherlands study visit, Jan 23

In January 2023, IAN led a delegation of UK incubators on a study visit to the Netherlands, visiting incubators across Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Delft. Programmes and facilities visited included the Amsterdam Startup Village, Amsterdam Centre for Entrepreneurship, B.Amsterdam, Forward Inc, Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship, Yes! Delft, and the Green Village.

What delegates said about our inaugural study visit

13 IAN members joined us on our inaugural study visit to the Netherlands in February 2023, which included visits to programmes across Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Delft.

"CFE's inaugural study visit provided a fantastic opportunity not just to connect and learn from our European counterparts, but also to strengthen links between participating IAN members. The delegation unlocked many opportunities, connections, and access to facilities that we would not have been able to secure alone. I look forward to future delegations!"

"A great event by IAN to explore Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Delft ecosystems. It was a chance for the delegation to explore local opportunities as well as visit ecosystem players. Getting a chance to speak and visit the facilitates allowed us to see first hand how university, industry and joint ventures played together to create vibrant, deep tech, research-intensive innovations together."

"Thank you for this insightful and inspiring trip. Sometimes we can all become hyper-focused in our own areas and opportunities like this allow us to look up and see the bigger picture of the work we're doing and the impact we have collectively. I've already started to implement some of the ideas I've seen, and feel more confident in the decisions I've made."

"The Dutch study trip was a great opportunity to learn more about how the entrepreneurial ecosystem is operating across Europe. It was clear from the visit that ecosystems are running similar interventions, programmes, and community catalyst initiatives, yet differently – echoing an entrepreneurial mindset and responding to the needs of our core stakeholders."