Accelerators are playing a greater role in getting start-ups funded
In 2015, some $199m was invested in almost 9,000 start-ups around the world, according to the 2015 Global Accelerator Report from Gust and Fundacity.
The report, which provides an important insight into how the accelerator industry globally is evolving, surveyed 836 organisations, out of which 387 qualified as accelerators.
These 387 accelerators invested in 8,836 start-ups during 2015.
The US and Canada lead with the most investment ($90m), followed by Europe ($41m) and Latin America ($31m).
Europe leads the world in new accelerator launches
In 2015, 77 new accelerators programmes were launched around the globe; with the most (26) launching in Europe.
The Middle East has the highest number of not-for-profit accelerators (49pc); most other regions are comprised of between 75pc and 65pc for-profit accelerators.
Some 91pc of accelerators rely on alternative revenue sources to start-up exits in order to operate in the short-term, yet 25pc report relying on start-up exits in the long-term.
Europe has the highest number of accelerators that rely on funds through corporate sponsorship in both the short-term (78pc) and long-term (64pc).
The most active accelerators in 2015 were Entrepreneurial Spark (UK), which accelerated 660 start-ups, followed by Plug and Play (global), which accelerated 403 start-ups, and Start-Up Chile, which accelerated 250 start-ups.
The most popular category of start-up ideas that accelerators reported an interest in investing in were internet of things (75pc), big data analytics (65pc), SaaS (65pc), and fintech (64pc).
Accelerators image via Shutterstock
