Incubation I is an intensive summer program for Master in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MIE) students and participants from other ESMT Berlin degree programs. Participants in Incubation I experience real venture building through full-time immersion and access to expert mentors and advisors.
Originally called the Summer Entrepreneurship Program, Incubation I has been renamed to better emphasize its position as ESMT's hands-on incubator for students who want to build their own business.
It is run by DEEP – ESMT’s hub for entrepreneurship, innovation, and Deep Tech.
Where else can you learn how to build a business by actually building one, with no real financial consequences if things go sideways? Try, fail fast, learn.
It's a chance to get your hands dirty and truly navigate the entrepreneurial path: building a venture from scratch, identifying a problem space, validating it, developing a solution, doing customer discovery, generating traction, and practicing investor pitching.
It's a full-time experience that lets you find out whether this is really the path for you – because entrepreneurship sounds incredibly exciting, but it demands far more than a 9-to-5.
What is Incubation I?
Incubation I is a twelve-week intensive program for aspiring entrepreneurs at ESMT. Usually running from mid-April until mid-July, it is built around three distinct phases, each lasting four weeks:
Phase 1 – Team & Problem Foundations: build a committed team, select a meaningful opportunity area, and define the problem and customer assumptions to test.
Phase 2 – Problem Validation & Shape the Solution: use customer research to test the problem, establish early problem–solution fit and develop a credible solution direction
Phase 3 – Build the Venture Case & Mentoring: use mentor and market feedback to sharpen the venture proposition, clarify the team’s path forward, and decide whether to continue into Incubation II
What you will learn in Incubation I
DEEP has created Incubation I to be a mini founder journey, designed to give students the chance to ideate, test, and develop their own business idea, in an environment built for moving fast and finding solutions.
You will:
- Form or strengthen your founder team
- Conduct customer discovery
- Validate your problem
- Develop an initial problem-solution-fit case
- Gain a sustained first experience of intensive venture building
- Have the chance to develop the concept further in Incubation II
Throughout the summer I received invaluable guidance from mentors, faculty, and entrepreneurs who encouraged me to question my thinking and keep improving.
Every factory visit challenged assumptions I had made and helped me build a solution grounded in real needs. With the help of this mentorship, and peer-to-peer feedback, I was able to build a prototype and launch its pilot during the SEP (now called Incubation I).
Taking part in Incubation I
Participation, eligibility, and how Incubation I can form part of your studies vary by degree program:
Incubation I for MIE students
If you are a Master in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MIE) student, you can choose one of two summer immersion options during your third term.
Like students in the Master in Global Management and Master in Analytics and AI, you can choose to do a summer internship in an external company.
Or, you can choose Incubation I instead of an internship. This gives you three months to fully focus on the Incubation I schedule, earning ECTS point with no other school commitments.
It is the second step of the Founder Journey you begin in the Ideation Bootcamp, and can continue in Incubation II.
Your founder journey in the Master in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
ESMT's MIE is a master's degree designed to shape entrepreneurially minded students into hands-on innovators and builders. Throughout the course of the degree, you will have the option to take part in a venture-building founder journey – ideating, researching, testing, and launching your own business idea.
Incubation I for students from other degree programs
Applications for Incubation I are open to all students and alumni of ESMT who wish to utilize DEEP's vertical expertise to test whether a business idea is worth pursuing.
However, if you are not an MIE student, Incubation I is an extracurricular. Participants will be expected to continue their coursework in addition to the work from Incubation I. While this can make for an intense summer schedule, the results can be worth it: a widened network, increased clarity, and a pathway forward into Incubation II.
If you are a student from our MBA or other master's programs, or an alum, you are encouraged to reach out to DEEP to find out if Incubation I is right for you.
I gained a much better understanding of different fields, from product to business models to teamwork under uncertainty. Those learnings will stay with me throughout my professional life.
And if I ever decide to work on a startup again, I feel like I now have a solid blueprint to start from.
Incubation I FAQs
What is DEEPs involvement with Incubation I?
Incubation I is run by DEEP: ESMT's hub of entrepreneurial, innovative, and Deep tech thinking.
DEEP contributes technologies, opportunity areas, and expertise from across its activities, giving students different starting points for developing ideas.
Can students from all programs take part in Incubation I?
Yes, students from all programs at ESMT Berlin are able to apply to take part in Incubation I. However, participation is not guaranteed, and the process varies by program:
- if you are a Master in innovation and Entrepreneurship student, you can take part in Incubation I as a summer curriculum option. It will be a continuation of the founder journey you started in the Ideation Bootcamp.
- If you are a students from another degree program, you must apply to take part in Incubation I, and must treat it as an extracurricular on top of your regular coursework.
Do I have to apply to join Incubation I?
Depending on your program of study, you may have to apply to take part in Incubation I.
Master in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MIE) students can elect to take part in Incubation I without a formal application. You will learn more about this process from your program directors during the first weeks of the MIE.
Students from other degree programs will need to apply to join Incubation I. If this is something that interests you, we advise talking to the team from DEEP to learn more: contact DEEP.
Is Incubation I worth ECTS points?
Yes, for Master in Innovation and Entrepreneurship students, Incubation I is worth 15 ECTS points.
For students from all other programs, Incubation I is an extracurricular and therefore it is NOT worth ECTS points.
Do I need to be in Berlin to take part in Incubation I?
Yes it is recommended that you be based in Berlin if you are considering the Incubation I program.
While the program blends has some online components, the majority of the program takes place in person on the ESMT Berlin campus. You will need to be based in Berlin (or able to commute to Berlin) to take part.
Do I need my business idea ready before Incubation I?
No, you do not need to have a business idea ready to go before Incubation I.
While you are welcome to pitch and test your own idea, DEEP also provides technologies, opportunity areas, and expertise from across its activities, helping you find a range of starting points for developing new ideas during Incubation I. You can also join a team to work on a fellow student's idea.
If you are a students from the Master in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, you can further develop the idea you started testing in the Ideation Bootcamp.
How can I develop my business idea further?
If you do well in Incubation I, you may be able to develop your business idea further in Incubation II. At the end of Incubation I, the DEEP team will decide which students can proceed to the Incubation II program.
Students from all programs (including the Master in Innovation and Entrepreneurship) MUST complete Incubation I before joining Incubation II.
