# Incubator

Concept · [Programs and community](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/community)

Also called: startup incubator, business incubator

A program or shared space that supports very early companies, often with desks, mentoring and community. It usually runs longer and with a looser schedule than an [accelerator](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/accelerator).

**For example:** A [founder](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/founder) rents a desk at a university incubator and gets regular advice from [mentors](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/mentor) while she works out her idea.

## Connects to (13)

- [Accelerator](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/accelerator): A program with a fixed length that helps a group of early companies grow faster through coaching, introductions and sometimes funding.
- [Pre-accelerator](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/pre-accelerator): A program for people who have an idea but not yet a company or a product.
- [Venture studio](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/venture-studio): An organization that comes up with business ideas itself and builds companies around them, often bringing in founders to run them.
- [Gradient](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/gradient): A nonprofit entrepreneur hub and coworking space in downtown Tulsa, formerly called 36 Degrees North.
- [Coworking space](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/coworking-space): A shared office where people from different companies rent a desk, a private office or a meeting room, often by the month or by the day.
- [Gradient Technology Incubator](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/gradient-technology-incubator): Gradient's incubator for technology companies in Tulsa.
- [Oklahoma Department of Commerce](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/oklahoma-department-of-commerce): The state agency for business and economic development.
- [Riata Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/riata-center): Oklahoma State University's entrepreneurship center, part of its business school in Stillwater.
- [PartnerTulsa](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/partner-tulsa): The City of Tulsa's economic development organization, formally the Tulsa Authority for Economic Opportunity.
- [Kitchen 66](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/kitchen-66): A food business incubator in Tulsa, run as a program of the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation.
- [The Verge OKC](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/the-verge-okc): A nonprofit hub for entrepreneurs in Oklahoma City.
- [Project 3810](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/project-3810): A product innovation hub in a former factory in Oklahoma City, with a makerspace, shop spaces, workspaces and incubator companies.
- [Oral Roberts University](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/oral-roberts-university): A Christian liberal arts university in Tulsa with undergraduate, graduate and online programs, including degrees in computer science and…

Map view: https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/incubator