Research study on business accelerators in India

Abstract

Jim Jen, director of Pittsburgh start-up accelerator AlphaLab, defines a true accelerator as a timespecific, mentorship-driven program designed to provide start-ups with critical resources to help them make rapid progress on product and customer development. So, basically, it is an environment where many budding entrepreneurs can meet, discuss their ideas, learn from peers, get advice from experienced mentors, get an opportunity to meet lot of investors and venture capitalists, build a strong network and even get seed money or obtain other forms of funding by pitching their ideas. So, while the popular thinking is that every entrepreneur’s biggest help is getting angel investment, accelerators are changing the notion by proving that it’s the mentoring and network building which is more likely to help a venture in succeeding. The money is certainly a boost, but the real draw for start-ups is the exposure--to knowledge, experts and funding--accelerators can provide. One of the marquee benefits is access to mentors who can offer experienced insight and advice in a concentrated amount of time.i According to Jen, focussing on funding in the very beginning can lead start-ups to put the cart before the horse -"If they don't have the product and some early market traction, they're not going to get very far in the funding anyway," he says, "so the best thing they can do to work on their funding is work on the product.