An entity shall be considered as a Startup:

• If it is incorporated as a private limited company (as defined in the Companies Act, 2013) or registered as a partnership firm (under section 59 of the Partnership Act, 1932) or a limited liability partnership (under the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008) in India.
• Up to ten years from the date of its incorporation/registration.
• If its turnover for any of the financial years since incorporation/registration has not exceeded INR 100 Crore.
• If it is working towards innovation, development or improvement of products or processes or services, or if it is a scalable business model with a high potential of employment generation or wealth creation.

Provided that any such entity formed by splitting up or reconstruction of a business already in existence shall not be considered a ‘Startup’.

The startup community uses the term to refer to the network of people, institutions, and resources needed to build startups. This ecosystem includes entrepreneurs from different backgrounds, skills, and levels of experience, as well as private investors, public and private funding institutions, large companies that create infrastructure, and universities.

The incubators effectively provide physical infrastructure, general resources such as administrative support, and access to resources. One can choose an incubator based on a number of factors like incubators sector of support, objectives, philosophy and based on a match between expectations of the startups and the offers of the incubator.It is also observed that incubators that has been managed by professionals are found to be more effective in offering counseling, external private financing, and networking services to incubated tenant firms.