Unfortunately, the excellent government-backed national Growth- Accelerator scheme, launched in 2012, has now been discontinued, but many privately run accelerator and incubator programmes remainintheUK’slargestcities,particularlyfordigitalstart-upsand
growing digital companies.
Along with countless biotechnology and engineering firms, large media, tech and communications organisations such as Guardian
Media Group, Telefonica and Microsoft now have their own accelerator and incubator programmes, as does Barclays Bank. One of the largest digital schemes is Codebase, in Edinburgh.
Approximately 40 per cent of these schemes are privately run and, historically, 25 per cent of national schemes have been run by universities and business schools such as Oxford University Innovation, Kings Venture Accelerator at King’s College London,
Accelerate Cambridge at Cambridge University, the Imperial Incubator at Imperial College, and Edinburgh Research and Innovation at Edinburgh University. These usually capitalise on cutting-edge research originated within a group of partner universities. You can make contact with these organisations UK-wide via the Knowledge Transfer Network.
Accelerators and incubators both offer opportunities for fast growth to companies and entrepreneurs accepted onto them, and create a much better chance of getting interest from venture capital firms further down the line.
The two models work in different ways. Accelerators are focused on the rapid growth of existing companies by offering intensive business mentoring, expert advice and practical support worth several thousand pounds, in return for a small percentage of the equity. Some invest capital, others take an option to buy an equity stake in the future. The goal is to make companies investor-ready, and then help to pitch to investors.
Incubators are more geared towards interesting ideas and technologies that can be patented and/or turned into a company.
Essentiallytheyare‘hothousing’schemesthathelpcreateandthen
shape a company using co-working spaces. Many incubators offer seed funding, too, with investments ranging from £10,000 to very occasional six-figure sums.
Whichoneyouchoosewilldependonthetypeofcompanyyou
are, and how much control you would like to have over running your company. Obviously if you have already been going for a short time and have brought some good clients on board, you are in a stronger position when approaching one of these programmes for help.
According to a 2014 report by Telefonica, ‘The Rise of the UK Accelerator and Incubator Ecosystem’, the survival rate after the
first two years of companies created or grown in this way is thought to be approximately 92 per cent, much better than the average start- up survival rate of approximately 72 per cent.
Many start-ups have already been snapped up by big digital beasts such as Apple, Google and Facebook. Apple acquired Semetric, a music analytics company that created the MusicMetric tool,toenhanceApple’snewmusic-streamingserviceBeats.Google
bought several UK companies specialising in artificial intelligence including Dark Blue Labs, a data analysis tech company and Vision Factory, which develops visual recognition systems.
Some of the most interesting and productive accelerator and incubator programmes in the UK include:
Seedcamp
Founded in 2007 in London by a group of 30 European investors, Seedcamp operates as a micro-seed investment and mentoring programme.
Bethnal Green Ventures
An accelerator three-month programme for start-ups that want to create sustainable social innovations.
dotforge
Part of the Tech4Good group of accelerator programmes, dotforge is based in Sheffield. All of the Dotforge Impact start-ups are sparked by a desire to solve a social problem which is a catalyst for tech innovation.
BBC Worldwide Labs
This is a programme that supports innovative digital media companies and includes six start-ups each year to become part of the BBC ecosystem.
Firestartr
Firestartr helps start-ups by providing seed-stage capital to accelerate success.
Founder Institute
The Founder Institute offers a four-month entrepreneur training and start-up launch programme focusing on practical business-building skills, assignments and training courses.
Red Bull Amplifier
Thisisaprojectdesignedtofindandhelpthegrowthofthemost
promising new music start-ups through a creative partnership.
Innovation Warehouse
London’scommunityforentrepreneurs,offeringsupportinmentoring,
training sessions, investment (angel network), co-working, and everything that supports the high-growth business.
Pearson Catalyst for Education
A three-month programme that supports start-ups focused on learning-by-developing pilot programmes and providing resources from experts and industry leaders.
Microsoft Ventures
It’sathree-monthprogrammecreatedtohelpearlystagestart-ups
that work in cloud, mobile and internet. The programme provides training, top-quality mentorship and free tools.
Digital Greenwich
The accelerator programme gives business support to digital SMEs who are working on innovative products in health, transport, energy and digital home.
The Young Foundation
The accelerator, a four-month programme that supports start-ups in health, education and housing, provides expert tutoring, business support and social investment.
Entrepreneurs for the Future
FordigitalentrepreneurslivingandworkingintheWestMidlands.
C4DI
Based in Hull, this has focused on priority areas such as engineering, renewables, tourism and social/healthcare.