Keys of accelerators success: evidence from Spain

Abstract

Among the policies to support entrepreneurs, accelerators of companies are recog- nized in the academic, political and business environment as effective tools to sup- port the creation of new companies by meeting their needs in their early stages. The purpose of this article is to detect variables relevant to predicting the success of an accelerator. To that end, a questionnaire of 87 questions was designed and distrib- uted to all accelerators present in Spain at the end of 2022. In the first instance, an index is proposed to measure the success of accelerators using the statistic tool Prin- cipal Component Analysis. The index includes information such as the percentage of projects that have achieved the objectives set during the programme, the percentage of projects that continue their activity or the percentage that have received public/ private funding. In this paper, through a multivariate lineal regression analysis, we identify the elements in an accelerator which contribute to its success, measured by the index obtained initially. The key factors that contribute to the success of accel- erators are Profit making entity, Number of calls and Training seminar. This work offers suggestions for future research to explore the potential of business accelera- tors. From a practical perspective, the article provides managers of accelerators a guide to design and improve programs according to their goals.