Beyond Silicon Valley: Lessons from accelerator programs in small innovation ecosystems

Abstract

Accelerator programmes have become a prominent policy tool for stimulating entrepreneurship, yet rigorous evidence on their firm-level impact remains limited, especially in smaller economies. This article examines whether participation in Norwegian accelerators can be associated with performance gains for early-stage ventures. Using registry data from 2019 to 2023, we combine participation records from eight SIVA-affiliated accelerators (supported by the Norwegian government) with full-population accounting data and apply propensity-score matching to create a cross-sectional control group comparable on founding year, industry, region and total assets. Five outcomes are analysed one year after programme completion: employment growth, revenue growth, labour productivity, return on total capital and survival. Qualitative semi-structured interviews with former participants provide additional context for interpreting the quantitative results.

Key findings: Accelerator graduates expand employment about 31 percent faster than matched non-participants, a statistically and economically significant effect that interviewees attribute to heightened ambitions and improved recruiting networks. However, no reliable differences emerge in revenue, productivity or capital efficiency, and participants face roughly 2.2 times higher odds of bankruptcy, translating to an eight-percentage-point drop in the survival rate. These findings portray accelerators as effective catalysts for hiring but insufficient, on their own, to boost short-run financial performance and stability, highlighting the need for complementary post-programme funding and mentoring to convert rapid team growth into durable firm success. Given the limitations of this study, future research should adopt longitudinal designs to better capture the long-term effects and establish more direct links between accelerator participation and firm outcomes.