This slide deck was used at an event at Imperial College Business School to give an overview of Nesta’s work in the area of accelerators, to outline some of the trends in the accelerator ecosystem, and to highlight current research in this area.

1. Accelerators
jessica.stacey@nesta.org.uk
@JessStacey
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2. An overview of our accelerator
work
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3. Eight most cited needs of
early stage social innovators
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1. People to
work with
2. A proposition
to test
3. Potential
(and actual)
customers
4. A source of
advice about
the basics
5. A source of
trusted
strategic advice
6. Money
7. Somewhere
to work
8. Emotional
support and
mentorship

4. The building blocks of an accelerator
Focus on teams,
rather than
individuals
Operates in cohorts
or classes
Offers pre-seed
finance (usually in
exchange for equity)
Time-limited support,
with intensive
mentoring and
programmed events
Application process
open to all, highly
competitive
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5. Trends in the accelerator ecosystem
Growth in the
number of
programmes
Changing
models
More vertical
specific
programmes
More
corporate
programmes
Increase in
social venture
accelerators

6. Then….
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Trend #1
Growth of programmes across Europe

7. …and now
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To date:
• 213 programmes globally, 53 in Europe
• 738 companies accelerated in Europe
• 2034 jobs created in Europe
(courtesy of www.seed-db.com)

8. Trend #2
More corporate players
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9. Trend #3
More vertical specific programmes
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10. 10
Trend #4
Evolving models

11. 11
Trend #5
More social programmes
• Over 50 impact
accelerators
worldwide
• These programmes
were concentrated
in the USA (38),
India (6) and the
UK (6) http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications
/good-incubation

13. Trends in the accelerator model
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• Demise of the demo day
• Lengthening the period of support
• Follow on funding – attempts to address the
post-incubation gap
• Diversification – new revenue streams and
and markets
• Opening up, better measurement and
evaluation

14. Some criticisms of the model
• They’re no different to incubators
• They exploit startup founders
• They’re helping to create a bubble
• Good companies still fail after accelerator
programmes
• Mentor apathy
• They’re not sustainable
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15. There’s little evidence…
Research challenges:
• It’s still a relatively a new field
• Defining success for programmes with
different objectives
• Disentangling success factors
• Difficulties in defining and tracking a control
group
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16. ..however there is a growing field of
research
• Global Innovation Growth Lab - Nesta and
Kauffman Foundation
• Impact of Entrepreneurship Database Program –
Goizueta Business School at Emory University,
Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs,
Kauffman Foundation
• Seed rankings – Yael Hochberg and Susan Cohen
• Home Run, Strike Out, or Base Hit - Sheryl
Winston Smith and Thomas Hannigan
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17. 17
acceleratorassembly.eu
Seed-DB survey of startups
revealed:
• Mentorship and networking
opportunities are the most
valuable benefits of an accelerator
• Generic, inconsistent mentoring
can be confusing
• Focus on demo day can be
distracting

18. What next…
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Networks Research
Skills Funding

19. Resources
Lists
• www.f6s.com
• www.seed-db.com
• gan.co
• www.startupfactories.eu
• beta.capitallist.co
Research and articles
• www.nesta.org.uk/develop-your-skills/accelerators
• yael-hochberg.com/rankings.htm
• www.aspeninstitute.org/sites/default/files/content/docs/pubs/INNOV0803_003-
006_kempner_12-11-13_FINAL.pdf
• https://agenda.unibocconi.it/eventi/attach/WinstonSmith%20Paper20140210165626.pdf
• www.acceleratorassembly.eu/research
• www.nesta.org.uk/publications/good-incubation
• www.nesta.org.uk/publications/startup-factories
• www.forbes.com/sites/kauffman/2012/08/08/evaluating-the-effects-of-accelerators-not-so-
fast/
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20. Thank you
jessica.stacey@nesta.org.uk
@JessStacey
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