Unpacking the performance of corporate accelerators: can management structure and strategic focus explain their success in supporting startups exits?

Abstract

Corporate accelerators have emerged as a prominent corporate venturing strategy, enabling large corporations to engage with entrepreneurial opportunities by supporting and nurturing startups. While existing research has explored various dimensions of corporate accelerators, such as location, size, and program design, scant attention has been given to the influence of management structure and strategic focus on accelerator performance. This paper aims to fill this gap by investigating how these dimensions shape the effectiveness of corporate accelerators in fostering startup success. Using a dataset of 188 corporate accelerators registered on Crunchbase as of February 2023, we conducted econometric analyses to examine these relationships. Our findings reveal that in-house accelerators, where corporations internally manage program activities, outperform powered-by accelerators in facilitating startup exits and survival. Furthermore, accelerators with a broad or no strategic focus (horizontal) are more effective in supporting startup exits than those aligned with the corporations’ core business (vertical). Conversely, vertical accelerators prove more successful at promoting startup survival. These results enrich the sparse literature on corporate accelerator performance by demonstrating the critical role of management structure and strategic focus and provide valuable guidance for entrepreneurs in selecting acceleration programs and for corporations’ managers in designing their acceleration programs.