NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Examination of accelerator program performance reveals misperceptions about emerging market ventures and entrepreneurs

WASHINGTON — May 4, 2017 — Today the Global Accelerator Learning Initiative (GALI)—a partnership between the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) and Social Enterprise @ Goizueta at Emory University— released its second major report revealing that emerging market entrepreneurs and accelerator programs are more similar to those run in high-income countries than previously believed. Across a range of countries, entrepreneurs that go through accelerator programs report more capital raised, more revenue, and more full-time employees.

Accelerating Startups in Emerging Markets: Insights from 43 Programs examines data from over 2,400 early- stage ventures that applied to 43 acceleration programs run by twelve different organizations in nine countries. The report, developed in partnership with Deloitte Canada, compares the performance of accelerators in emerging markets with those operating in high-income countries (categories as defined by the World Bank). It challenges commonly held assumptions about the perceived differences between the two geographies using quantitative and qualitative data collected from entrepreneurs, ventures, and the accelerator programs themselves.