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UBI Global and DMZ reveal the world’s top-ranked incubators and accelerators

DMZ’s role as UBI Global’s research and selection partner reaffirms its recognition as the universal benchmark for other incubators and accelerators to strive to achieve worldwide.

Toronto, May 17, 2023 – UBI Global and Toronto Metropolitan University’s DMZ revealed the top-ranking incubators and accelerators at the World Incubation Summit on Tuesday in Ghent, Belgium.

Since 2014, DMZ has been named a top university-based incubator by UBI Global and is the only Canadian incubator to have achieved the #1 ranking in its category to date. In January of this year, the Toronto-based tech incubator officially announced it was joining forces with the Swedish innovation intelligence company to support the assessment of top business incubators and accelerators. Given its new role as a research and selection partner, DMZ was no longer eligible for ranking or recognition.

Alongside UBI Global, DMZ is thrilled to officially reveal the top-ranking incubators and accelerators worldwide that have demonstrated extraordinary impact and performance among top peers. The top-ranking incubators and accelerators include:

  • #1 ranked university business incubator: İTÜ Çekirdek Istanbul Technical University, Turkey
  • #1 ranked university business accelerator: Imec Ghent University, University of Antwerp, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, KU Leuven, UHasselt, Twente University, Radboud University, Wageningen University & Research, Leiden University, Belgium 
  • #1 ranked public/private business incubator: Kerala Startup Mission, India 
  • #1 ranked public/private business accelerator: EIT Health Accelerator, Europe

DMZ supported UBI Global with research efforts and advisory services to develop the World Benchmark Study during the assessment process. The World Benchmark Study, released in January, ranked the top contenders for each category in advance of the World Incubation Summit based on performance and impact. The top organizations for each major award category are as follows:

  • World Top 5 University Business Incubators: 
  • World Top 3 Top University Business Accelerators:
  • World Top 5 Public/Private Business Incubators: 
  • World Top 5 Top Public/Private Business Accelerators: 

“At DMZ, we’ve made it our life’s mission to create a standard of excellence that can serve as a model for incubators and accelerators from around the world and unveiling the #1-ranked hubs feels like a nostalgic homecoming,” said Abdullah Snobar, Executive Director, DMZ, and CEO, DMZ Ventures. “DMZ’s globally-ranked wins since 2014 have fueled our momentum and have encouraged us to set the bar higher and higher. We’re honoured to help name the next generation of leading incubators and accelerators, and we can’t wait to see what they achieve from here.”

“DMZ is a valuable research partner for UBI Global, contributing their experience as an industry-leading organization to advise us on methodology and research that captures key performance indicators and metrics valuable to the world’s business incubators and accelerators,” said Ali Amin, CEO and Co-Founder of UBI Global.

A Swedish interactive learning community, UBI Global specializes in mapping, highlighting, and connecting the world of business incubation. Through a community of more than 1200+ member organizations from over 90 countries worldwide, UBI Global provides matchmaking, benchmarking, and research services to corporations and business incubation organizations. Today, UBI Global is recognized as the premier assessment institution worldwide for the community.

SETsquared, an enterprise partnership and a dynamic collaboration between the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Southampton, Surrey and the UK, also joined UBI Global as an official research and selection partner to partake in the ranking and recognition process for the World Benchmark Study and World Rankings Report.

Are you an incubator or startup support organization interested in getting involved with DMZ? Learn how to design, execute, and expand your startup programs, maintaining your local identity while embracing a global perspective. Read more here.

DMZ announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with the Stockholm-based research organization in 2020, becoming the official consultant-on-record for the UBI network. Learn more here.

The World Rankings Report 2021-2022 of business incubators and accelerators is available to download here. 

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Media Contact
Luvy Hardy, DMZ
luvy.hardy@torontomu.ca

About DMZ
DMZ is a world-leading startup incubator based at Toronto Metropolitan University that equips the next generation of tech entrepreneurs with the tools needed to build, launch, and scale highly impactful startups. By providing connections to customers, coaching, capital, and a community, DMZ’s customized approach helps innovators reach the next milestone in their entrepreneurial journey – whatever that might be. Through its award-winning programming, DMZ has helped more than 780 startups raise $2.19 billion in capital and create 4,900+ jobs. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada with globally-accessible programming, DMZ has a widely-recognized international presence with offices in Vietnam, India, and the U.S., and partnerships across North America, Latin America, Africa and Asia.

About the UBI Global World Benchmark Study 2021-2022
The World Benchmark Study 2021-2022 provides data and practical tools that business incubators and accelerators use to measure the impact of their work and catalyze an entrepreneurial ecosystem that can multiply impact. The resulting scores of the Study are delivered privately to each participant via the new Global Innovation Studios portal Benchmark Tool add-on feature. Top performing organizations were announced during an exciting live stream event hosted by imec and imec.istart from Ghent, Belgium.

About UBI Global
UBI Global is an innovation intelligence company and interactive learning community, founded in 2013 in Stockholm, Sweden, to identify where innovation hubs were located worldwide and to learn and share what makes them successful.

The company conducts the World Benchmark Study biennially among business incubators and accelerators who submit their data, which ultimately assists organizations with assessment and best practices, and provides global recognition of success. UBI Global engages its interactive learning community with international events, competitions, and awards, as well as a suite of educational materials, original research, and more.

In 2022, UBI Global released an online portal of tools for business incubators and accelerators called Global Innovation Studios. The Benchmark Tool on the portal is an on-demand way for incubators and accelerators to understand their performance and impact in an interactive, on-demand way based on the WBS methodology.

To further its impact, UBI Global links corporations and governments to innovation hubs and their startups to uncover business opportunities for economic development. The vetted community consists of 1,000+ incubation organizations, with the majority linked to universities and other centers of excellence. These members represent 100,000+ startups and are located in 90 countries and counting.

DMZ
By DMZ,
Tech Incubator
May 17, 2023
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