Title: Value-adding impact of accelerators on startups' development

Authors: Tamara Naulin; Alexandra Moritz

Addresses: Chair of Entrepreneurship and Finance and Manchot Graduate School, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany ' Faculty of Management, University of Trier, Universitätsring 15, 54296 Trier, Germany

Abstract: Smart capital is supposed to provide startups not only with necessary financial resources but also with nonfinancial resources that create added value. One of the recent players to emerge on the entrepreneurial finance landscape that offers this type of support to early-stage startups are business accelerators. Business accelerators are a phenomenon of increasing practical relevance, yet their actual impact on startups is unresolved so far. We tap into this research gap by investigating the value-added outcomes for startups generated by the value-adding inputs provided by the accelerator. Using a multiple case study approach, we show that accelerators add value to startups by providing them with eight categories of value-adding inputs, which lead to value-added outcomes on the entrepreneur's individual level, as well as on the firm level. Our study contributes to the literature on entrepreneurial finance, accelerators, and entrepreneurial learning and has practical implications for various accelerator stakeholders.

Keywords: business accelerators; startups; value-added; smart money; smart capital; nonfinancial resources; entrepreneurial finance; multiple case study design.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEV.2022.128037

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 2022 Vol.14 No.6, pp.699 - 729

Accepted: 08 Feb 2021
Published online: 04 Jan 2023 *

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