The role of business incubators for start-ups development in Brazil and Portugal

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present a comparative study about features, services and networks offered by business incubators (BI) to encourage start-ups development in Portugal and Brazil. Recently, these countries have revealed several cases of well-developed entrepreneurial ecosystems and Brazil receive a special position on Latin America; besides comparative studies between European and Latin American countries are scarce. Design/methodology/approach - This study uses a qualitative research methodology to study the role of BI in creation and growing of start-ups in Portugal and Brazil. Findings -The results do not reveal particular differences between Brazilian and Portuguese BI, except in international profile of tenants; in Portugal, probably due the market size, most of the firms born global or intend to internationalize. Research limitations/implications -T he BI results depend on the wide services provided, networking platforms and support provided by BI staff individually to their tenants. These remarks provide some clues to develop public policies suitable to entrepreneurial ecosystems. Originality/value - BI have a special role on supporting start-ups creation and growth and to provide technology transfer. They are also considered as a key element to guarantee entrepreneurial ecosystems in a regional level, this research provide some contributes based on a case study with eight interviews in Portugal and Brazil, and compare for the first time these two countries with similar culture but with different levels of development.