Post-acceleration partnerships: how start-ups and corporations collaborate

Startup accelerators as an open environment: The impact on startups’ innovative performance

Objective: This study explores how business accelerators programs can impact on the successful growth of their accelerated start-ups based on the dynamic capabilities’ perspective. The author investigates business accelerators practices and tools in supporting new ventures development with the aim of addressing the following research question: To what extend can start-ups benefit participating in an accelerator program the dynamic capabilities’ perspective? Methodology: Given the lack of literature on business acceleration practices and on how they influence a start-up’s dynamic capabilities generation, the authors conducted an exploratory case study in a Spanish business accelerator. Results: The business accelerator provide startups with a mix of services embedded in specific practices and tools resulting in the generation of the dynamic capabilities of sensing the market, absorption, integration, and innovation in its startups. Limitations: This study focuses on a single case study resulting in a limited generalization of its findings. Practical implications: This paper open new paths for business accelerators and other institution decision makers by giving guidelines to design business acceleration programs allowing them to allocate resources in a more rational way. It also offers a valuable perspective for founders on the ways of satisfying their needs to complete their business potential. It also offers them an initial checklist of practices to be aware of when deciding to apply to a business accelerator. Also, we add a new perspective to study business accelerator contributions and shed some light on what specific accelerators’ tools and practices may facilitate positive effects in startups.

Objective: This study explores how business accelerators programs can impact on the successful growth of their accelerated start-ups based on the dynamic capabilities’ perspective. The author investigates business accelerators practices and tools in supporting new ventures development with the aim of addressing the following research question: To what extend can start-ups benefit from participating in an accelerator program from the dynamic capabilities’ perspective? Methodology: Given the lack of literature on business acceleration practices and on how them influences a start-up’s dynamic capabilities generation, the authors conducted an exploratory case study in a Spanish business accelerator. Results: The business accelerator provide startups with a mix of services embedded in specific practices and tools resulting in the generation of the dynamic capabilities of sensing the market, absorption, integration, and innovation in its startups. Limitations: This study focuses on a single case study resulting in a limited generalization of its findings. Practical implications: This paper open new paths for business accelerators and other institution decision makers by giving guidelines to design business acceleration programs allowing them to allocate resources in a more rational way. It also offers a valuable perspective for founders on the ways of satisfying their needs to complete their business potential. It also offers them an initial checklist of practices to be aware of when deciding to apply to a business accelerator. Also, we add a new perspective to study business accelerator contributions and shed some light on what specific accelerators’ tools and practices may facilitate positive effects in startups.

Earlier studies outline the importance of new ventures and startups, to catalyze wealth creation and innovation, thus enhancing the economy on both regional and national levels. (Rice, Matthews and Kilcrease, 1995; Phan et al. 2005). In such a scenario, incubators assisting the emergence of new ventures, enjoy augmented status and have an important role to play (Dee et al. 2011; Miller and Bound 2011; Hansen et al. 2000; Levy 2011; Bruton 1998). In the recent discourse of business incubation research, startup accelerator programs (e.g. Y Combinator, Tech Stars, Seed Camp etc.) are beginning to receive increasing attention (Bollingtoft & Ulhoi 2005, Christiansen 2007, Miller and Bound 2011). They are a new breed of incubators that facilitate rapid development and commercialization of startups, e.g. Dropbox, Scribd and Airbnb which graduated from the Mountain View based accelerator, Y-combinator. These accelerator programs possess five common attributes (Miller and bound 2011): competitive application process, access to capital or provision of pre-seed investment, usually in exchange for equity, focus on small teams instead of individual founders, time-limited support with intensive mentoring and programmed events, and batches of startups rather than individual companies. Despite the increasing prominence and growth of startup accelerators, earlier studies have rarely focused on the resource needs of startups participating in accelerator programs. Equally unclear is the role of accelerators in satisfying those resource needs and gearing these participating teams for the market. In addition, a related query concerns how the resource needs evolve for a new venture and thus what is the right time for a startups to seek an accelerator program. This study intends to fill this gap by exploring three themes: what specific resource needs propel startups to participate in accelerator programs, how do accelerator programs meet those needs and prepare startups for the market, and how does the resource needs of startups change over time and does it have an impact on their timing to join an accelerator. Furthermore little is known of the key stakeholders involved, their motivations, and the organizational issues that face such an entity. In this context, this paper outlines the issues confronting successful running of a startup accelerator through closely examining, two successful European startup accelerators, Startup Sauna in Espoo, Finland and Le Camping in Paris, France. To respond to our research themes, an exploratory qualitative approach was adopted. As the study intended to cover an array of topics a mixed sample was chosen. In total forty in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of graduated startups and stakeholders of both accelerator programs. The startup members were either founders or co-founders of startups graduating from the programs, while the stakeholders were, mentors, investors, organizers and industry experts associated with the programs on a regular basis. Since we were using a comprehensive approach, the interviews were analyzed through a thematic content analysis using NVIVO where the coded findings were eventually categorized into themes. The general findings reveal that accelerator programs act as entrepreneurial match makers and provide a range of benefits to participants, including assistance for teams in form of feedback and technical knowhow, time bound support, education and mentoring focused on business and product advice, and networking programs. An in-depth analysis highlights the evolution of Startup resource needs and the matchmaking role of accelerators in fulfilling those startup resource needs. These needs change during the three stages of startups, i.e. through nascent (conception) stage, functional (prototype) stage, and operational (commercialization) stage. The focus on resource needs shifts during these three stages, from relevant feedback, to relevant networks and to relevant investments. At all stages the accelerators act as match makers, providing new ventures with appropriate feedback towards product refinement and business model adjustments. Next, accelerators introduce new ventures to relevant networks, which helps them better understand growth contingencies, market reality and necessary adjustments to the product and business strategy.

The importance of entrepreneurship and the dynamics of the SMEs sector upon economic growth, innovation, employment, decreasing regional disparities is undeniable, but all these effects are neither inevitable nor easily attainable. Thus, decision makers, researchers and the entrepreneurs themselves are committed to promoting and supporting the creation of new businesses as a means to stimulate and encourage development, and for this purpose, business and start-up accelerators, business incubators and/or business angels act as good case examples. By encouraging valuable business ideas, by easing the transition that exists between the moment of generating an idea to actually setting up a business and then supporting its rapid growth can be a viable means for realizing the ambitions and performances of new companies and, implicitly, for ensuring economic growth, general and individual prosperity. In this paper, by using the results and information from a survey applied to a considerable number of start-ups around the world and made available by the Entrepreneurship Database Program (EDP), we have attempted to identify the existence of a correlation between the profit margin aspirations and the potential benefits that are typically associated with entrepreneurial accelerators. Our results show that there are certain expectations regarding the usefulness and utility of entering acceleration programs and that these expectations may be correlated to the ambitions of future performances/activities. In the same time, there is a certain misalignment between how the image of entrepreneurial success is perceived, the demands and requirements of accelerator programs and the expectations of young entrepreneurs.

The rapid proliferation of startups has become a cornerstone of modern economic growth and innovation. As the engines driving technological advancements and job creation, startups often face significant challenges in their early stages, including limited resources, market uncertainty, and the need for rapid scaling. Accelerator programs have emerged as critical support systems designed to mitigate these challenges by providing mentorship, funding, networking opportunities, and structured guidance. Despite their growing popularity, the impact of various dimensions of accelerator program designs on startup success is still to be explored as an area in academic research. This study aims to fill this gap by conducting a narrative literature review to synthesize the understanding in the way different characteristics of accelerator programs design influence the performance and growth of startups in terms of success. Findings collectively indicate that a nuanced approach to program design, considering sector, geography, culture, and startup-specific needs, is crucial for maximizing the impact of acceleration programs. The main contribution of the paper is highlighting the critical role of effective program design in ensuring the success of economic initiatives, particularly for start-ups in accelerator programs. By offering a nuanced construct of success and identifying key components such as mentorship and ecosystem engagement, it advances both academic understanding and practical strategies for optimizing acceleration outcomes. A key limitation is the absence of a systematic literature review, which may narrow the scope of insights and limit the comprehensiveness of its conclusions. Future research could focus on developing a standardized success construct, enforceable as a curriculum to guide and assess start-ups in accelerator programs. This framework could be contextualized within theoretical paradigms like the Competence-Based View to explore competencies and contextual variables critical to entrepreneurial success sustainability.

This study analyses the startup companies attending business accelerator programs in Turkey. Business accelerators are new generations of incubation programs born especially to support technology entrepreneurs and help them reach to the next level. This study makes a research on eight accelerator programs located in Turkey. Using a survey developed for entrepreneurs attending these accelerator programs, this study provides an inside look into the effectiveness of these programs from the perspective of startup companies. The main goal of this study is analysing how startups use the services provided by the accelerator program. According to startups employee size, average monthly turnover and exportation status, several hypotheses have been identified for measuring the effectiveness of supports provided in these accelerator programs. The data of this study have been analysed via SPSS and it contributes to the literature by analysing accelerator supports and services so that accelerators can differentiate their programs according to the needs of the startups.

Aim. The work aimed to identify distinctive methods of business acceleration, applied to accelerate the development of technology entrepreneurs in Russia.Objectives. The work seeks to characterize the methods used in Russian acceleration programs; to evaluate the effectiveness of the methods for supporting technology entrepreneurs, used by business accelerators; and to classify the methods of acceleration programs based on the instruments used.Methods. The work employed comparative analysis, generalization, classification, as well as systemic and structural approaches. Data from secondary expert interviews and statistical reports on the results of graduate clients of Russian accelerators were used. The work also analyzed the works of Russian and international scientists studying acceleration programs.Results. It was established that the startup development in acceleration programs is accelerated due to seven distinctive methods that form the business acceleration methodology. These include constant external support, rapid hypothesis testing, expansion of social bonds, increase in effective working hours, provision of a ready-made methodology, access to capital sources, and increased availability of other resources. The methodology helps entrepreneurs save time, optimize business processes, and focus on the growth points of their business. Based on the study results, an expanded classification of support methods used in Russian acceleration programs was created based on the tools used.Conclusions. Acceleration of startup development in accelerators occurs due to a specific methodology that helps reduce time expenditures on business processes and increase operational efficiency. According to the results of acceleration programs in 2015–2020, the technology companies increased the value of a number of business indicators such as revenue, average receipt amount, and number of clients, as well as accelerated the transaction cycle, employed the capital, and reached quickly the break-even point relative to natural market conditions. The study results have not only scientific but also practical value for organizers and participants of acceleration programs. In order to implement the research potential of the Russian acceleration program market, it becomes necessary to study further their methodology and effectiveness in 2022–2025. Future studies plan to evaluate the application of the identified methods in various types of acceleration programs (state, university, corporate), as well as compare the methodology applied in the Russian and international acceleration backgrounds.

Blue Growth, a term first coined by the European Commission as "an initiative to harness the untapped potential of Europe's oceans, seas and coasts", identified rich marine resources as an unique asset for economic development in coastal regions and on islands. The European Commission has through the Blue Growth objectives for the first time highlighted marine sectors as unique market opportunities with high growth potential which carry socio-economic importance to the development of coastal regions. Particularly marine sectors such as aquaculture, marine robotics, and marine renewable energy which fulfil global needs in food safety and security, enable monitoring and exploration in harsh and remote conditions, and globally growing energy needs were recognized as catalysts to achieve sustainable development. Marine start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) were identified as potential drivers in emerging marine sectors. However, they require support mechanisms tailored to their needs as they are competing for the same business and financial support as land-based SMEs, yet the research and development infrastructure is more difficult to access.ProtoAtlantic, an Interreg Atlantic Area funded project, provided marine-specific support mechanisms to marine start-ups and SMEs in emerging sectors, including business support through the accelerator and mentorship programs, enabling companies to fast track their product development through access to prototyping and testing facilities in all partner regions. The Interreg Atlantic Area encompasses partner regions in France, Ireland, Portugal, Scotland, and Spain. The consortium partners consist of Technopôle Brest Iroise (Brest, France), University College Cork - UCC (Cork, Ireland), County Council Cork (Cork, Ireland), INESC TEC (Porto, Portugal), the European Marine Energy Centre - EMEC (Orkney, Scotland), EMERGE (Canary Islands, Spain), and the lead partner, Innovalia Association (Canary Islands, Spain). The strategic collaboration between the partners provided marine start-ups access to testing facilities in the Atlantic Ocean. The extreme living laboratories provided by EMEC, the LiR National Ocean Testing Facilities at UCC's Centre of Marine and Renewable Energy (MaREI centre), and INESC TEC promise harsh real-life conditions which test the suitability of marine technologies to the limit thereby providing start-ups and SMEs with an extra layer of confidence in developing their technologies. This cross-regional collaboration puts the ProtoAltantic program in a unique position, as it is the first of its kind to dedicate marine-specific support to marine start-ups and SMEs which have benefited from the opportunities that ProtoAtlantic has provided.ProtoAtlantic developed a holistic model for the prototyping and exploitation of innovative ideas in emerging maritime sectors. After the identification of ideas from the research community, start-ups, and SMEs with product innovation capacity in the maritime sector, an acceleration program with a normed and structured process was implemented, thus creating a unique ecosystem in the Atlantic that is addressing a co-creation paradigm with the local European start-ups communities and all the stakeholders.

This study examines entrepreneurs participating into eight accelerator programs located in Istanbul, Turkey. Business accelerators are a new kind of incubation program built in particular to help technology entrepreneurs and assist them reach to the next level. In total eight accelerator programs are researched in this study. A survey is developed for this study and applied to entrepreneurs attending these eight accelerator programs. In this survey, the effectiveness of these programs are measured according to the demographics of entrepreneurs. The aim of this research is to analyze how entrepreneurs use the services given by the accelerator program. In relation to entrepreneurs’ age, gender, work experience, educational status and family background, several hypotheses have been identified for assessing the value of supports given in these accelerator programs. The data of this research have been examined via SPSS using Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis methods. According to the results of these tests, a regression model called Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) has been developed. This study adds to the literature by examining accelerator supports and facilities so that accelerators can set apart their programs in line with the requests of the entrepreneurs.

Purpose: Accelerators are seen as powerful entities that provide critical support to startups in their development. However, little is known about the acceleration practices by which they help their startups. The present study has as its aim to investigate whether business accelerators do assist their startups in the generation of their dynamic capabilities and in their performance and which processes and organizational routines of accelerators programs become effective drivers.Design/methodology/approach: Drawing from the dynamic capability perspective, this empirical research explores the impact of business acceleration programs in their startups by applying a Canonical discriminant analysis using data from 24 Spanish business accelerators.Findings: This study reveals that certain accelerators practices indeed enhance startups’ dynamic capabilities. Further, absorption, integration, and innovation capabilities had a positive influence on startups’ performance while sense the market capability showed a negative one. These findings enable us to identify which business acceleration practices lead to better startups’ performance improvements.Research limitations/implications: This is a preliminary attempt to help in the untangling of the dynamic capability and the business incubation black box. The cross-sectional design of the study and the fact that the data was gathered from a single country and based on survey results in bias and in a limited generalization of its findings.Practical implications: This research can help decision makers’ in business accelerators to put in practice organizational mechanisms aimed to be more successful in their objectives.Originality/value: This study is pioneer to empirically analysis the relationship between business accelerators’ practices and the generation of dynamic capabilities.

The paper focuses on such an economic and legal phenomenon as a business accelerator. Despite the fact that business accelerators are widespread in Russia, little is known about their legal status and regulation. What is the legal definition of accelerator programs? What is the difference between accelerators, incubators, business angels and a collaborative environment? The relevance of the study is also influenced by the public sector’ interest of the in participating in such programs. Business accelerator programs allow you to teach a novice entrepreneur how to develop an effective business model, financially support its implementation by attracting investment funds. Current trends in the development of startups are that business accelerators will soon be available for all projects with commercial efficiency. Therefore, it is important to determine the legal status of business accelerators, their role in business development, the degree and forms of state participation in the activities of accelerators. The paper attempts to answer the above questions.

Sales promotion is defined as the short-term incentive to encourage the purchase or sale of products and services. Retailers conduct a variety of sales promotion to encourage the purchase or sale of products and services. It is often used to induce the purchase of customers in short term and to improve the relationship with customers in the long term. Many previous studies about the effect of price discount SP on increase in sales and image improvement have conducted. But the study of non-price promotion, especially SP with 'Gifts', meanwhile, has been seldom researched. This study is to investigate the effect of the Gift SP conducted by retailers on the customer evaluation of the product and its Gifts. This study is to investigate the effect of 'Gifts', among the non-price promotion, on the customer evaluation. First of all, previous studies about the effect (-) of Sp with 'Gifts' on the customer evaluation of the product and its Gifts, and the factors that offset the negative effect of SP with 'Gifts' on quality perception are to examined. In this study, additionally, the summary of the study based on the previous studies and the research subject in the future are to be presented. Firstly, to examine the previous researches on the effect of SP which retailers conduct on the increased sales and or enhanced image, price discount SP has attracted a lot of attention as a research subject but researches on non-price sales promotion, particularly on SP with gift have seldom conducted as a research subject. Secondly, in the previous studies relevant to Price Discount SP, the long-term negative (-) effect of the target product or brand of SP has been studied. However, a few researches on the long-term negative (-) effect of SP with gift have been conducted. Thirdly, it might be brand affinity and purchase limit that buffered the negative (-) effect on the perceived quality of SP with gift which retailers had conducted. In spite of various studies conducted by many researchers, each study have discussed the consequences under certain circumstances and integrated results of research have not been in progress. It may be the research issues left to us to clearly identify the psychological mechanism of consumers until the effect of SP happens in order to theorize SP and to present a practical and useful suggestion.

Context: Innovation has assumed an increasingly important role within organizations. Companies must remain innovative to stay competitive. Purpose: This paper seeks to understand how an entrepreneurial accelerator program impacts company strategy and how it develops intrapreneurship. Methodology: For this, besides a bibliographical study on the topics open innovation; entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship; strategy; startup and corporate accelerators, a questionnaire was applied, answered by six members of the top management of the company Souza Cruz, in which this study was conducted in its corporate accelerator program, Transforma Souza Cruz. Findings/value: It was possible to analyze, from the perspective of a company's top management, what the reasons are for developing an entrepreneurship acceleration program in a traditional company like the one analyzed, and how this affects the company's strategy, as well as to understand whether it develops concepts such as intrapreneurship in the company. Practical Implications: The practical impacts were the improvement of communication within the organization and the implementation of a culture of innovation, the development and strengthening of the concept of intrapreneurship. The program was considered a success within the organization and another acceleration opportunity is planned, proving that the company identified added value in the initiative. Research limitations: Obtain more information about the lessons learned from the processes and understand the improvements that could be made, in the opinion of the interviewees. Quantitative results on the success rate of the implementation of the proposals were not analyzed, since the program was not yet finalized.

Purpose: This study aims to examine the influence of Entrepreneurial Orientation and Competitive Intensity on Business Performance, with Competitive Strategy acting as an intervening variable. The research focuses on startups incubated and accelerated by the Indigo Program of PT Telkom Indonesia Tbk. This study builds upon previous research in competitive strategy theory, which highlights the relevance of Entrepreneurial Orientation and Competitive Intensity in shaping strategic business outcomes. Methodology/approach: A quantitative approach was adopted, utilizing data collected through structured questionnaires. The research sample consists of 65 startups under the Indigo Incubator and Accelerator Program. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with the assistance of SmartPLS 4.0 software. Findings: The findings reveal that Entrepreneurial Orientation has a significant and positive impact on Business Performance. Practical implications: These findings provide practical insights for startups regarding the importance of strategic positioning in a competitive environment to improve business performance. Originality/value: This research contributes to the understanding of how startups can utilize competitive strategies as a bridge between entrepreneurial orientation and competitive pressures to achieve optimal business performance, particularly in the context of startups under the auspices of corporate incubation and acceleration programs.