About Nesta

Nesta is an innovation foundation. For us, innovation means turning bold ideas into reality and changing lives for the better. We use our expertise, skills and funding in areas where there are big challenges facing society.

What next for Nesta's research into business incubators and accelerators?

Last April we published an updated directory of UK incubators and accelerators, together with an analysis of the existing programmes. So what has been happening since?

Certainly, the world of incubators and accelerators has continued to evolve. New models keep appearing - including some, like Deep Science Ventures, which challenge our categorisation.

In the world of corporate accelerators, we’ve sensed growing concerns about the financial sustainability, in terms of the internal rate of return, of programmes. How this will play out is yet unclear: some corporates will likely take the view that strict impact measurement is neither possible nor needed, especially if the ultimate goal is internal cultural change; others, however, will likely shift from internal corporate initiatives to third-party-managed, shared, vertical accelerators.

The end of last year also saw the announcement of a new incubator and accelerator network, organised by the Centre for Entrepreneurs. This may go some way towards filling the gap left by the closure of UK Business Incubation some years ago.

Nesta has not sat still, either. We are currently working on a follow-up study to our April 2017 report, in collaboration with BEIS, the Open University, the London School of Economics and the data provider Beauhurst.

This research will aim to probe more deeply into the impact of existing programmes, trying to quantify their impact on startups, as well as looking at their broader impact within ecosystems. Specifically, we will investigate:

  • Performance of participating vs. non-participating ventures: How do participating and non-participating startups differ in revenue growth, employment growth, investment raised, or other measures of success?
  • Most and least useful services: Which services commonly offered by accelerators and incubators (e.g. workplace, training and mentoring) do participating startups find most and least useful? Do these results vary by sector, stage of the venture, and location?
  • Barriers to maximising impact: What barriers do accelerators and incubators report in reaching their impact objectives?
  • Ecosystems effects: How do accelerators and incubators interact with other players in their ecosystem? Do they act as a focal point, helping a richer ecosystem to develop around them?

Why is this important?

As we’ve commented previously, research into the impact of such programmes has, unfortunately, not kept pace with their rapid growth. Unfortunately, as with much startup support, there is relatively little robust evidence to demonstrate what works, and for what types of company.

Our research should give us a richer understanding of the effectiveness of incubators and accelerators, help accelerator and incubator managers to evaluate and report their impact to potential funders, and help policymakers decide between different potential interventions.

However, we cannot do it alone.

If you work for a UK accelerator or incubator, or a startup which has recently been in one, we want to know about your experience. In the coming weeks, we will be releasing two surveys which will help inform our research, and would very much value your opinion. These will be distributed via email but also linked on this site.

The findings of this study will be made publicly available in a report published in September 2018. If you have additional questions about the research, please contact us at: [email protected].

Photo by Mathew Schwartz via Unsplash

Author

Christopher Haley

Christopher Haley

Christopher Haley

Head of New Technology & Startup Research

Chris led Nesta's research interests into how startups and new technologies can drive economic growth, and what this means for businesses, intermediaries and for the government.

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Jonathan Bone

Jonathan Bone

Jonathan Bone

Mission Manager, healthy life mission

Jonathan works within Nesta Cymru (Wales), focusing on working across public, private and non-profit sectors to deliver innovative solutions that tackle obesity and loneliness in Wales.

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Augustina Sol Eskenazi

Augustina Sol Eskenazi

Augustina Sol Eskenazi

Startups Intern

Sol was an intern in the Research, Analysis and Policy team. In this role, she supported research focused on the field of startups and entrepreneurship.

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