International Accelerators Operating in the U.S.

In an increasingly globalized marketplace, the ability to penetrate the ultra-valuable U.S. market is still an end goal for companies throughout the world. Since the early 2000s, foreign governments have opened accelerators as one mechanism to provide funding, mentorship, and additional support for young firms hoping to enter the U.S. market. Although many of these accelerators feature common characteristics, each has its own strategy for best reaching the needs of its young and promising companies.

Perhaps no country has been more active than Canada in the establishment of accelerators. Currently there are Canadian Technology Accelerators (CTAs) for Canadian tech startups in New York, Silicon Valley, and Boston, as well as for health IT companies in Philadelphia, life sciences firms in San Francisco, and cleantech companies in Denver. The goal of each of these accelerators, which are managed by the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, is to help Canadian companies enter the U.S. market by making office space freely available, helping in the refinement of business models, collecting competitive intelligence, and helping in the pursuit of clients, partners, and additional financing options. To date, more than 170 companies have utilized CTAs.

Europe, in particular, has been active in establishing incubators in the United States. In 2000, swissnex, an initiative of Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation (SERI) and the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER), was established in Boston as the world’s first “science consulate,” an avenue for the Swiss government to partner with businesses, universities, incubators, and venture capital firms. Each year since its inception, swissnex Boston brings twenty promising Swiss entrepreneurs to Boston for an immersive 10-day business development course to strengthen their skills and their businesses. The swissnex model opened in San Francisco in 2003 and also has locations in Bangalore, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai and Singapore, as well as 18 “science counselor” locations throughout the world.

The German Accelerator, supported by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy among other partners, is a program in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, and recently, New York City that supports tech startups incorporated in Germany but hoping to enter the U.S. market. Office space, mentoring, a bootcamp on the U.S. and its business environment, networking and business-pitching events, marketing and PR feedback, peer sessions, office hours, and additional support services are included as part of the German Accelerator’s three-month, hands-on mentoring program. There are currently 13 companies involved with the accelerator, and 37 alumni firms.

The Spain Tech Center, located in San Francisco, is an initiative to facilitate the commercial implementation of Spanish tech firms in the North American market. Over a six- to 12-month period these Spanish companies receive document review, consultations, VC preparation, and mentorship and networking as part of the program sponsored by Santander, ICEX (a division of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness) and red.es (a division of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism).

Innovation House is a combination co-working office space and soft landing concept for Norwegian entrepreneurs hoping to enter the U.S. market. Through sponsorship of Innovation Norway, the space also offers numerous programs such as a four-week incubator program for Norwegian startups, a study-abroad-esque program through the University of California at Berkeley, and a business bootcamp.

Innospring, the first U.S.-China accelerator, is a joint project between Tsinghua University Science Park (TusPark), Northern Light Venture Capital (NLVC), Shui On Group, and Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Located in Santa Clara (CA), Innospring has housed 40 companies in its 13,500-square-foot space in the last year while investing $2 million in 12 of them. Recently, InnoSpring has also partnered with the Nantong (China) government to work on smart buildings, smart lightings, and smart construction initiatives, and is also in the process of raising a second fund to help U.S. and Chinese tech startups expand their borders.

The Global Commercialization Group at the University of Texas at Austin is home to an accelerator for small-to-medium technology enterprises from Chile, in partnership with the Chilean Economic Development Organization (CORFO). Selected companies reside in Austin and work closely with GCG business development managers to advance their business and enter new markets.

Overall, a combination of mentorship and support services has largely defined these foreign sponsored accelerators. Although free office space and business training is valuable to foreign entrepreneurs, it is the mentorship, connections to capital, and networks that are arguably the most valuable tool for foreign governments in helping their young companies enter the U.S. market.

Learn More at SSTI’s 2014 Annual Conference!
Join our panel of experts for Democratizing Entrepreneurship: The Growth & Evolution of Accelerators, Co-working Spaces & Incubators, as they share their insight on the evolution of fast-paced, flexible startup strategies and how accelerators and the like contribute to a region’s innovation ecosystem. For more information about this session and many other visit the conference website: http://ssticonference.org/.