Speeding up ventures - a bibliometric analysis of start-up accelerators

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to present the state of the art of research on start-up accelerators, to identify extant trends and gaps in the literature, and to inform future research. We used a bibliometric method to analyse the body of research reported in 21 articles on start-up accelerators indexed in the Web of Science database for the period 2010-2019. Such articles display theoretical voids, fragmented approaches and coincidental views and findings on core aspects and focus on corporate accelerators. We hypothesise that the reason for such little research reported in this field may be due to the novelty of the start-up accelerator phenomenon and its overlapping with business incubators. Consequently, organising and presenting some of the most recent and indexed work will hopefully guide future research and decision-making in this field.