3. The building blocks of an accelerator
Focus on teams,
rather than
individuals
Operates in cohorts
or classes
Time-limited support,
with intensive
mentoring and
programmed events
Offers pre-seed
finance (usually in
exchange for equity)
Application process
open to all, highly
competitive
3
4. Accelerator trends
Growth in the
number of
programmes
Changing
models
More vertical
specific
programmes
More
corporate
programmes
Increase in
social venture
accelerators
6. And now…
To date:
• 45 programmes in Europe
• 424 companies accelerated
• Total exits $17,000,000
• $105,377,697 in funding
• 1162 jobs created
(courtesy of www.seed-db.com)
6
12. The funding gap
Criteria of UK impact investors.
Startups must be:
• be revenue generating
• have a proven business
model
• have a measurable social
impact
• have a proven management
team
• have capital requirements
of £150,000+
12
13. Eight most cited needs of
early stage social innovators
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
13
15. Some criticisms of the model
• They exploit startup founders
• They’re helping to create a bubble
• Good companies still fail after accelerator
programmes
• Mentor apathy
• Manager dependency
15
