The Mediating Role of Incubators in the Early Internationalisation of Start-ups in Emerging economies: A Qualitative Study of Moroccan Born Global

Abstract

In today's highly competitive and increasingly interconnected markets, start-ups face a large number of challenges when seeking to grow abroad. To meet these challenges, incubators can play an essential role in supporting their expansion and facilitating their international success. The internationalisation process of startups has attracted increasing attention in the literature on international entrepreneurship, however few studies have focused on emerging economies such as Morocco. This study aims to fill a gap in existing research by exploring, from the perspective of start-up founders, the impact and role of incubators in their internationalisation process. To achieve this objective, an exploratory approach was adopted, using a qualitative methodology. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with the founders of incubated start-ups, described as ‘Born Global’. The results of the study show that incubators, by offering resources, networks and expertise, help these young companies to overcome the main obstacles associated with internationalisation, such as a lack of knowledge, limited financial resources and the difficulty of creating networks in foreign markets.