Almost a year after its initial conception and launch last November, the Babcock Deacon Incubator has matured alongside the start-up companies it helped sponsor.

Located at 3455University Parkway, the incubator was created by the university as a Triad-wide resource for assisting entrepreneurs with high-potential start-up companies in establishing and launching their businesses.

Babcock MBA students and faculty as well as local service professionals have been providing various consulting services ¯ assisting in legal and intellectual property issues, formulating market strategies and providing consultation on technology issues ¯ in support of the incubator's goal to help these companies achieve successful launches both community and nationwide.

While the incubator was originally intended to support three to five start-up businesses, it has grown to hold seven businesses with the addition of two new companies to be announced soon.

According to Paul Briggs, founding director of the Babcock Deacon Incubator, the Algaen Corporation, a biotech company still in its research and developmental phase exploring the pharmaceutical uses of a protein derived from algae, and Thought Capital, an operational firm that works with companies to determine innovation quotients, will be added to the incubator.

The companies will join Cygnetics, D-Tec-Dent, Mobile Data Tools and Triad Semiconductor Inc.

In deciding which companies the incubator will accept, Briggs points to three criteria: fast growth potential, national growth potential and intrigue.

A board composed of 12 local businesspeople determines through a competitive process which businesses will be accepted into the incubator.

The start-up companies are given one year to establish operations and find a permanent location, preferably, but not necessarily, in the Triad area. In addition to office space, the companies are provided Internet access by the university while they seek financing, partners and clients.

"Overall, we've seen tremendous maturity developing with each company. The companies are now at the fundraising stage that will carry them into the next step of business development," Briggs said.

Due to the success the Babcock Deacon Incubator has achieved this past year, the university is incorporating a similar incubator for undergraduate and graduate students on the Reynolda Campus.

The Calloway incubator is designed for students of the university with entrepreneurial plans, the only stipulation is that the business must be student-initiated. The incubator will be part of the addition to Calloway Hall, made possible by a million gift from the F.M. Kirby Foundation.

"The Calloway incubator will be different from the Babcock incubator in that the Babcock incubator is serving community ideas and business plans, whereas the Calloway incubator is spun out of the university. The main idea of both incubators, however, is to speed up the growth of companies," Briggs said. Hesees potential for student-launched companies in the future Calloway incubator to eventually graduate to the Babcock incubator.

While the only obstacle the incubator has experienced since its launch has been a water leakage problem in the basement of the 1,200-foot building, Briggs highlights the success of the learning experiences of many Babcock MBA students as a result of the internships the startup companies provide.

"The internships made available by the startup companies have gone extremely well. Students have learned tremendously as a result of these internships and the companies themselves have gained tremendous insight from the students' perspectives. This has probably been one of the most successful aspects of the incubator," he said.

Ashu Jain, a second-year Babcock MBA student, worked for Triad Semiconductor Inc. as an intern this past summer. "I feel one of the biggest advantages of working for start-ups is the exposure to all facets of the business," Jain said. "A start-up environment really helps one in appreciating the various inter-linkages in the different functional areas. Moreover, in a start-up environment, I got the opportunity to see my decisions making a tangible and immediate impact on the business, which is not necessarily true in an established corporate environment (especially during an internship)."

The incubator serves more than an instrumental role in the launching of community businesses ¯ it also serves as a teaching tool for both students and faculty. Working in the Babcock incubator allows students to apply their growing business knowledge while simultaneously showing students the many problems associated with start-up companies.

Jack Klumpenhour, a second-year Babcock MBA student and the student representative on the incubator's Board of Advisers, highlights the learning opportunities associated in working with a start-up company in the incubator.

"At the incubator all the companies are just getting started. They're making fundamental, company-changing decisions. This means you have a chance to make a big impact on a company. It also means that even a student can work with all aspects of business," Klumpenhour said.