accelerators

The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that it will commit $4 million to the second round of the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. Launched in 2014, the competition makes awards of $50,000 each to help fund operating budgets for accelerators and other entrepreneurial ecosystem models in parts of the country where there are fewer conventional sources of access to capital (e.g., venture capital and angel capital investors). For this round of funding, applications are encouraged from manufacturing accelerator models. Applications are due June 1. Read the announcement…

A new report released last week by Hermann Hauser, one of Britain’s most renowned technology entrepreneurs, announces his support for the expansion of the UK’s Catapult Network, a series of national centers focused on innovating around specific industry areas. Hauser played a critical role in the launch of the Catapult Network and was tapped by cabinet officials to conduct a review of the program’s progress. In Review of the Catapult Network: Recommendations on the Future Shape, Scope and Ambition of the Programme, Hauser notes that in order to take advantage of its world-leading science base, the UK must drastically increase its funding for innovation programming and the size and scope of its Catapult Centers.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently named the 50 winners of the first Growth Accelerator Fund competition, which recognizes accelerators building stronger entrepreneurial ecosystems in underserved parts of the country. Each organization will receive $50,000, in exchange for providing SBA with quarterly reports on their activities, impact and partnerships. SBA hopes to use the data to build a national database of information about accelerator programs and forge long-term relationships within the accelerator community.

An Aug 22 Readwrite post drew our attention to a potential “peak app” period arising. That wasn’t the intended conclusion of the ComScore, Inc. according to the authors of the white paper, The U.S. Mobile App Report. The report’s focus is on how much of the digital media market is dominated by mobile devices so companies should direct more of their advertising budgets here. There are a few compelling stats, though, that should have many in the accelerator, co-work, and weekend/bootcamp/competitions wondering about the future viability of all of the new app-oriented startups we’re encouraging people to create. 

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.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a $2.5 million funding competition for accelerators and other entrepreneurial ecosystem models to compete for monetary prizes of $50,000 each to fund operating budgets. The Growth Accelerator Fund Competition is open to business accelerators, incubators, coworking spaces, shared makerspaces, and other entrepreneurial ecosystem models from across the country.