Supporting Entrepreneurs at the Local Level : The Effect of Accelerators and Mentors on Early-Stage Firms

We investigate the association between entrepreneurship support programs and the likelihood of receiving funding for early-stage firms. We use a novel database of 2,887 early-stage technology companies from nine local ecosystems in eight countries...

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Main Authors: Qian, Kathy, Mulas, Victor, Lerner, Matt
Format: Brief
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/929481536299307313/Supporting-Entrepreneurs-at-the-Local-Level-the-Effect-of-Accelerators-and-Mentors-on-Early-Stage-Firms
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30384
id okr-10986-30384
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-303842021-05-25T10:54:41Z Supporting Entrepreneurs at the Local Level : The Effect of Accelerators and Mentors on Early-Stage Firms Qian, Kathy Mulas, Victor Lerner, Matt ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING BUSINESS TRAINING MENTORSHIP BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT ACCESS TO FINANCE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT BUSINESS SUPPORT We investigate the association between entrepreneurship support programs and the likelihood of receiving funding for early-stage firms. We use a novel database of 2,887 early-stage technology companies from nine local ecosystems in eight countries that includes data about the founders’ demographic characteristics, educational background, work experience, and entrepreneurial history; we also use data about the start-ups’ history and evolution that follow their progress through support programs and early-stage funding. We isolate two support interventions—acceleration and mentorship—that the literature has found to have a larger effect on a firm’s performance, and we test if such effect is supported from an ecosystem perspective. After accounting for variations in founder characteristics and business environment, we find a positive association between acceleration and mentorship by experienced founders and the likelihood of receiving funding, whereas other support programs, such as incubation, are negatively correlated with funding. We also find that some founders’ characteristics, such as increased education and experience, have a positive correlation with funding. 2018-09-07T17:27:32Z 2018-09-07T17:27:32Z 2018-09-06 Brief http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/929481536299307313/Supporting-Entrepreneurs-at-the-Local-Level-the-Effect-of-Accelerators-and-Mentors-on-Early-Stage-Firms http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30384 English Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation in Focus; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Brief
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic ENTREPRENEURSHIP
TRAINING
BUSINESS TRAINING
MENTORSHIP
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
ACCESS TO FINANCE
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
BUSINESS SUPPORT
spellingShingle ENTREPRENEURSHIP
TRAINING
BUSINESS TRAINING
MENTORSHIP
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
ACCESS TO FINANCE
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
BUSINESS SUPPORT
Qian, Kathy
Mulas, Victor
Lerner, Matt
Supporting Entrepreneurs at the Local Level : The Effect of Accelerators and Mentors on Early-Stage Firms
relation Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation in Focus;
description We investigate the association between entrepreneurship support programs and the likelihood of receiving funding for early-stage firms. We use a novel database of 2,887 early-stage technology companies from nine local ecosystems in eight countries that includes data about the founders’ demographic characteristics, educational background, work experience, and entrepreneurial history; we also use data about the start-ups’ history and evolution that follow their progress through support programs and early-stage funding. We isolate two support interventions—acceleration and mentorship—that the literature has found to have a larger effect on a firm’s performance, and we test if such effect is supported from an ecosystem perspective. After accounting for variations in founder characteristics and business environment, we find a positive association between acceleration and mentorship by experienced founders and the likelihood of receiving funding, whereas other support programs, such as incubation, are negatively correlated with funding. We also find that some founders’ characteristics, such as increased education and experience, have a positive correlation with funding.
format Brief
author Qian, Kathy
Mulas, Victor
Lerner, Matt
author_facet Qian, Kathy
Mulas, Victor
Lerner, Matt
author_sort Qian, Kathy
title Supporting Entrepreneurs at the Local Level : The Effect of Accelerators and Mentors on Early-Stage Firms
title_short Supporting Entrepreneurs at the Local Level : The Effect of Accelerators and Mentors on Early-Stage Firms
title_full Supporting Entrepreneurs at the Local Level : The Effect of Accelerators and Mentors on Early-Stage Firms
title_fullStr Supporting Entrepreneurs at the Local Level : The Effect of Accelerators and Mentors on Early-Stage Firms
title_full_unstemmed Supporting Entrepreneurs at the Local Level : The Effect of Accelerators and Mentors on Early-Stage Firms
title_sort supporting entrepreneurs at the local level : the effect of accelerators and mentors on early-stage firms
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2018
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/929481536299307313/Supporting-Entrepreneurs-at-the-Local-Level-the-Effect-of-Accelerators-and-Mentors-on-Early-Stage-Firms
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30384
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