Abstract

In order to gain a better understanding of Start-Up Incubation Ecosystems (SUPIEs) and contribute to this field, our research examines different types of Enterprise Support Organizations (ESOs) involving principles for conscious capitalism. Our review of the existing literature to date identified a gap in that very little theoretical and empirical research has been dedicated to defining these new types of ESOs (Levinsohn, 2015).  Two specific types of ESOs were studied: those that strive to support conscious capitalism and those supporting conventional capitalism, all located in the United States market. This chapter investigates how they describe their identity, their main characteristics and how they operate. The pronounced differences between the ESO groups occurred in how they articulated purposes and degree of stakeholder inclusion and values. Other distinguishing differences were the level of emphasis placed on the triple bottom line, certain success criteria and the time length ESOs supported their clients.