Public-private startup accelerators in regional business support ecosystems

The benefits of support to early-stage growth-driven companies from startup accelerators are now widely recognised. Originally developed by private investors, accelerators have gained popularity over the last decade among policymakers and have become a key component in regional business support ecosystems in many European regions.

This policy brief first takes a look at European initiatives that support or are relevant to business accelerators. A list of references where to find out more about these programmes and initiatives is provided at the end of the document.

The policy brief then discusses a range of public-private partnership-based accelerator models being set up as a response to the challenge of identifying and supporting innovative startups with significant growth potential and consequent benefits for regional economies. It explores different models identified by Interreg Europe projects and presents a series of lessons learned, which we hope will be useful for policymakers considering setting-up an accelerator especially on the basis of a public-private partnership.