EU|BICs fall into the wide set of business and innovation support organisations; incubators, accelerators, business service centres, science and technology parks, University technology transfer offices, chambers of commerce and industry, clusters just to name a few.

The identity of an EU|BIC, no matter the shape of the EU|BIC itself and its always-evolving patterns, has remained intact: the EU|BIC is and has always been the local entrepreneurial support centre endowed with a mission to create innovative companies and support the introduction of innovation/modernisation in existing SMEs of its catchment area.

The EU|BICs in the EBN community are diverse in their nature and their background, but all are compliant to the EU|BIC criteria. Some EU|BICs have been created as independent new entities, with their own legal status, while others have rooted themselves in larger organizations, which feel the need to serve the EU|BIC mission, such as Universities, Technology Parks, Science Parks, Research Institutions, Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Local and Regional Development Agencies.