Title: Unveiling the power of corporate accelerators: an integrative review

Authors: Shabnam Virdi; Sabyasachi Sinha

Addresses: Department of Strategic Management, Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, Prabandh Nagar, Off Sitapur Road, Lucknow 226013, India ' Department of Strategic Management, Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, Prabandh Nagar, Off Sitapur Road, Lucknow 226013, India

Abstract: This article presents an integrative review and synthesis of the corporate accelerators (CAs) literature. CAs are a growing phenomenon in the literature on corporate-startup engagements. CAs are cohort-based, time-limited programmes run/sponsored by large established corporations to fuel their open innovation agendas. By participating in these programmes, startups accelerate the commercialisation process of their innovative initiatives. In contrast, large corporations run these programmes to speed up their innovation outcomes and build a creative and entrepreneurial culture within their organisations, empowering them with increased competitive advantage to face rapidly changing business environments. This review tracks the progress of this new and emerging research domain in a timely manner and directs future research. We review 41 articles and create an integrated 'antecedent-phenomenon-outcome' framework summarising the extant literature on CAs. Based on this state-of-the-art literature review, we provide theoretical and methodological research gaps for future research.

Keywords: corporate accelerator; corporate-startup engagement; corporate entrepreneurship; open innovation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMED.2025.143788

International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, 2025 Vol.24 No.1, pp.42 - 66

Received: 14 May 2024
Accepted: 26 Aug 2024
Published online: 07 Jan 2025 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article