UCF Business Incubation Program – Orlando

The UCF Business Incubation Program provides business development and operational support to early-stage, innovative businesses across Central Florida. The non-profit offers four programs that are each designed to help businesses at different stages.

About

Located near Orlando’s vibrant downtown area, the Orlando incubator boasts a central location in Orange County ,and serves early-stage technology companies. The 6,300-square-foot facility features private offices, conference and training rooms, shared office equipment, kitchen and reception area.

The Orlando incubator was established in December 2007, as a partnership between the University of Central Florida, the City of Orlando and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council

The UCF Business Incubation Program provides business development & operational support to early-stage, innovative businesses throughout Central Florida. Since 1999, this award-winning program has supported hundreds of companies, who have collectively generated more than $400 million in sales and over $100 million in outside funding. The non-profit offers multiple programs that are designed to help businesses at different stages.

  • Traction Program: helps new companies with little to no revenue to build the operational foundation of the business and develop a go-to-market strategy to cultivate an initial customer base. To be eligible, applicants must be (1) headquartered in Central Florida; (2) have a scalable, for-profit business model; and *(3) have a minimal viable product (MVP) or service ready to sell.

* Grant funding to support research & development is a sufficient substitute for an MVP.

  • Growth Program: helps companies with existing traction in the market to develop the infrastructure for scaling their business. To be eligible, applicants must be (1) headquartered in Central Florida; (2) have a scalable, for-profit business model; and (3) have already generated revenue from their product or service.
  • Soft Landing Program: helps international firms and companies headquartered outside the region to support their business development efforts from Central Florida. To be eligible, applicants must be (1) headquartered beyond the Central Florida region; (2) cannot be a franchise; (3) must have at least one full-time business developer from Central Florida office; and (4) all employees must be authorized to work in the United States.

UCF operates nine incubators across five counties.

Osceola – Kissimmee

Orange – Orlando

Volusia County – Daytona Beach

Seminole – Winter Springs

Lake – Eustis

Many of these facilities serve a broad range of industries. However, the incubators located within UCF’s Innovation Districts support companies within specific industry verticals. The Innovation District incubators and their respective industry clusters are listed below:

CENTRAL FLORIDA RESEARCH PARK Defense/Military, Modeling Simulation & Training, Cybersecurity, Photonics, Robotics, Energy, Space

DOWNTOWN Digital Media, Smart City Technology, FinTech, EdTech, Hospitality & Tourism Tech

LAKE NONA Life Sciences, Healthcare, Medical Simulation

To learn more or apply to these programs, visit incubator.ucf.edu.

Services Provided

Business Planning

  • Market Plan Development

Manufacturing, High Tech, Life Sciences Development

  • Life Sciences Development
  • Wet Lab Incubator

Mentoring

  • Formal Mentoring Programs
  • One-on-One Counseling

Space

  • Wet Lab (Specialty)
  • Office Space (Specialty)
  • Lab Space (Specialty)

Starting a Business

  • Business Research Resources
  • Startup Business Counseling
  • Startup Classes

Training

  • Bookkeeping/Accounting Software Training
  • Budget, Cash Flow and Financial Statements Training
  • Business Management Training
  • Business Plan Training and Assistance
  • E-Commerce/Internet Marketing
  • Human Resources Training
  • Marketing Training
  • Startup Classes
  • Government Contracting
  • Sales Training
  • Social Media Training

Accelerators and Incubators

  • Incubator (Specialty)
Contact Information
Michael Weiss
Address
3218 E. Colonial Drive
Suite G
Orlando, FL 32803