Incubator Options

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It targets entrepreneurs based in developing countries who spend two weeks at the university, then continue to work with MBA students and mentors remotely.

The Business Accelerator for Sustainable Entrepreneurship (BASE), at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School, is more representative. Launched in January, it serves 21 local triple- bottom-line startups. Entrepreneurs pay $600 for the one-year program. BASE doesn't provide office space, but companies get advice from a 13-person advisory board, as well as a network of lawyers, accountants, and other professionals. MBA students work as consultants. Regular lunches cover such subjects as marketing and locating financing for triple-bottom-line companies.

Through BASE, Tiffany Elder, owner of Legacy Green in Durham, N.C., was able to meet with representatives of Self-Help Credit Union, which serves low-income borrowers. Legacy Green will build housing to LEED standards, mostly in low-income areas. Now the credit union may finance some of Elder's development. "I doubt I would have been introduced to this resource if I weren't part of a triple-bottom-line incubator," Elder says.

The nonprofit New Jersey Meadowlands Business Accelerator in Lyndhurst, N.J., takes a different approach. Founded in October 2008, it has 31,000 square feet for green startups, with cubicle space going for as little as $250 a month. (Offices start at $275.) Startups can use laboratory and greenhouse resources at 14 other incubators and 8 universities.

Then there's Philadelphia-based GoodCompany Ventures, a nonprofit backed by Murex Investments, a social venture capital firm, and Resources for Human Development, a Philadelphia nonprofit. GoodCompany launched its first 10-week program this summer with 10 startups. It offers free office space and assigns each company interns from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. GoodCompany doesn't take an equity stake, nor does it charge fees. On Thursdays experts speak on various topics; Fridays see the companies collaborating to apply the week's theme to their business. Then each startup makes a brief presentation on the topic. The goal: for each company to create a 15-slide presentation to use at a pitch session for investors.

GETTING IN

Who should apply: Entrepreneurs with double- or triple-bottom-line startups. Beyond that, requirements vary. BASE will consider entrepreneurs in business for up to two years and is looking for transformative business models that can serve as models for other sustainable businesses. But at GoodCompany, most of the startups are pre-revenue.

Pros: Advice is tailored to the unique needs of social entrepreneurs.

Cons: You might prefer to focus entirely on traditional business issues.

LONG-DISTANCE INCUBATION

Several programs operate either partly or entirely online. The San Francisco-based Founder Institute, launched in June 2009, serves about 20 entrepreneurs over four months. Participants receive access to mentors and potential investors. The curriculum features four-hour weekly classes on such topics as intellectual property and accounting, led by successful entrepreneurs. There are also twice-weekly meetings to work on assignments, such as deriving 10 company names by describing the qualities the name should convey.

San Francisco-based Astia, founded in 2001, runs six-day programs in San Francisco, London, and Bangalore. Founders then continue to work with a network of advisers online. All companies must have at least one woman with a "significant equity position" in a leadership role, says CEO Sharon Vosmek.

In both cases, entrepreneurs are spared having to camp out at the incubators' offices. The institute's program is available online, and entrepreneurs can participate full-time or as little as 10 hours a week. So it's possible to keep a day job, or, as BeeHive Media's Shander discovered, continue running an existing company. "Why should we expect people to drop everything they're doing and pursue an idea when it's not fully fleshed out?" asks Adeo Ressi, founder of the institute.

The institute takes 3.5% of each company in the form of warrants, which become part of a bonus pool that startups, mentors, and the incubator share. A portion of the mentors' share is determined by how well startups rate them.

GETTING IN

Who should apply: The institute wants only technology startups. The business idea isn't particularly important, but applicants have to take IQ and personality tests; they're also required to complete a series of steps Ressi says are critical for getting a company going, such as setting up a LinkedIn profile. Astia recruits high-growth companies with at least one woman in a senior management, and ownership, role.

Pros: You get access to experienced advisers and investors. And you can participate remotely or part-time.

Cons: You personally will give up some equity. Online participants won't get as much out of it as those on site.

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