What is an accelerator? What services does it provide to startups?

Accelerators are one of these support institutions that play a significant role in improving the results of entrepreneurial activities because employment is the most important concern of every person during his life. Usually, after graduating from university, people look for jobs in different companies and search for their desired job in job advertisements or job search websites.
Some people also want to start their own business or startup. Especially since the trend towards entrepreneurship in Iran has grown significantly in recent years and the word startup is heard more than ever.
Currently, various start-ups have been formed in our country, which are trying to solve the problems and deliver suitable solutions for the problems of different sections of the society. But starting a business and activities such as creating a website is undoubtedly accompanied by many challenges that if people are not able to face it, the result will be nothing but failure. This is where the role of supporting or accelerating institutions is. appear in the growth and development of startups, but what services do these accelerator companies provide to startups? What benefits do they seek in exchange for these services? Where is the place of accelerators in the startup ecosystem?
What is an accelerator?
Accelerators are institutions that invest in startup ideas and provide a specific set of services to accompany new businesses on the path of growth and development.
With the help of accelerator companies, the owners of innovative ideas will be able to present a prototype of their desired product or service and get the necessary preparation to enter the competitive market.

How did accelerators come about?
Accelerators were born in England in 2005. “Y Combinator” as the first accelerator in the world started its activity in Cambridge, England. Unlike other traditional institutions, the services of this company were limited to a certain period of time.
In this way, the startups entered this center at the same time and after receiving services during a certain period, they left it. Y Combinator was later moved to Silicon Valley by Paul Graham. After this center, the companies “TechStars, Seedcamp and Startupbootcamp” started their activities as accelerators in 2006, 2007 and 2010, respectively.
The start of accelerator institutions in Iran goes back to 2013. This year, with the proposal of “Sorna Sattari”, the vice president for science and technology, Pardis Science and Technology Park developed a program to develop the country’s startup ecosystem and bring as many university students and graduates into the innovative business environment as possible.
Based on this program, a project titled “100 x 100 Program” was created, which supported the holding of 100 entrepreneurial events in the major cities of the country with the aim of promoting the culture of entrepreneurship.
Following this, “Avay Tech Campus” accelerator started its activity as the country’s first official accelerator in Tehran University Technical Faculty under the supervision of Campus Science and Technology Park. After that, “Diamond Accelerator” was established in Sharif University of Technology.
Currently, various accelerators are active in various fields such as information technology, content production, social activities, etc. in Iran and are taking steps to promote entrepreneurial culture and support innovative and creative businesses.

Services provided by accelerator companies
The services that an accelerator provides to businesses include:
• Providing physical space for work
• Mentoring and consulting services
• educational services
• Providing the necessary infrastructure for the development of startup work
• Providing different technologies and equipment
• Commercialization
In addition, they provide certain capital to the teams and receive a percentage of their shares in return. These shares are actually the main source of income of an accelerator.
One of the biggest opportunities provided to startups during the acceleration period is to communicate with a network of experts, entrepreneurs, investors and managers of entrepreneurial companies.
In fact, being in a space where many people are working hard and working in the form of different startup teams with similar concerns will double the motivation of people and will have a great impact on their morale and perseverance. Therefore, in today’s startup community, accelerator companies are of great importance.

The importance of the startup accelerator

The importance of accelerators is that many emerging businesses face many problems and challenges at the beginning of their activities.
So that financing is only one of their concerns.
They may not be able to solve various problems in the fields of management, marketing, technology, etc. alone.
On the other hand, lack of experience, knowledge and strong communication network, as well as behavioral challenges and lack of proper understanding of the target market and society will also be problematic for them.
For this reason, the existence of a support organization such as accelerator companies can have a significant impact on solving challenges and the growth and development of emerging businesses.
It is possible for startups to grow and develop without the presence of an accelerator, but the outstanding thing about the services of accelerators is that they accelerate this process of growth and development and will allow a startup to become a company in a shorter time.
In this situation, after leaving the acceleration period, it can compete alone in the market. Therefore, this institution plays a prominent role in the startup ecosystem just like startups, investors and other related organizations.
The role of accelerators in the startup ecosystem
Accelerators, as one of the main elements in the startup ecosystem, have a direct effect on this ecosystem and are able to provide the basis for its transformation and progress as much as possible.
Financing entrepreneurs will reduce their worries and focus more on the development of their product or service. Although, as mentioned earlier, financial and economic support is only one of the tasks of accelerator companies, but despite all the advantages of such companies, being in an accelerator cannot be considered a guarantee for the success of a business.
In some cases, excessive interference of accelerators in the details of a business may also cause problems. Therefore, before entering an accelerator, it is better to weigh all the different aspects of this matter correctly.
Despite the wide impact of the accelerator in the entrepreneurial environment, this institution is not very old and most of the changes that have taken place around it date back to recent years. Developments that, despite their short history, have opened a new window of entrepreneurial activities for young people.

Acceleration steps and process
Although different accelerators follow different work processes according to their specialized field of activity, the main acceleration process consists of specific elements, which are generally as follows:
• In the first stage, a large number of startup teams apply to enter the floater and the accelerator examines these requests. After completing the necessary checks, a limited number of teams will be selected to enter.
Usually, accelerators that have a high standard level have a low acceptance rate and the competition to enter it is very intense.
• When the teams enter the accelerator, they will be taught basic business concepts during a period of 1 to 3 months, and at the end, some of the present teams will be selected for the main acceleration period.
• At this stage, a certain amount of capital will be provided to the selected teams, and in return, 1 to 20% of the above team’s shares will be from that accelerator.
• During this period, which will last about 4 to 9 months, startups will try to commercialize their initial plan by receiving training and advice from experts active in the accelerator.
During this time, the required space and facilities have been provided to the team members and they will be able to benefit from the experiences and points of view of the other teams present.
• At the end of the above period, the teams are required to present the progress and results of their activities to the jury and investors on a day called “demo day”.
At this stage, a large number of teams will leave the accelerator and only a few will remain. The remaining teams will have the possibility to receive the original capital.
Usually, these teams are introduced to investors by the accelerator, or if they receive capital from the accelerator, the percentage of shares allocated to this institution will also increase.
You might imagine that other facilitators go through the same process as accelerators. This is despite the fact that institutions like the growth center have some similarities with the accelerator, they have fundamental differences with this institution in their work process.
The difference between an accelerator and a growth center
That being said, some equate an accelerator with a growth center. This is despite the fact that these two institutions are not only independent institutions, but also have many structural differences with each other, but what is the difference between an accelerator and a growth center? It should be said that accelerators have 4 characteristics that distinguish them from other support institutions, including growth centers:
1. Method of training and counseling
Accelerators enter into the details of a startup’s activity by providing advice and specialized training and request a lot of information from the teams.
While growth centers usually do not enter into business activities and do not provide specific advice. Rather, they are only satisfied with general and general guidelines.
2. The duration of the teams’ presence
Another difference between this institution and the growth center is the duration of a team’s presence in them. Growth centers usually do not limit the time of presence and businesses can operate in them even for several years, but accelerators only accept teams for a certain period of time and their acceleration time is limited.
3. Investment

It is clear that accelerators operate with economic motivation and invest in an idea that has a greater chance of growth, but growth centers do not ask for shares from teams and do not provide capital to businesses.
4. Competitive environment
Another difference between an accelerator and a growth center is the element of competition. In a growth center, all businesses operate together and somehow share all resources.
While the competitive environment is an inseparable part of an accelerator. Because in the end only a limited number of teams will remain and they will attract large capital.
You have probably thought that success is impossible without an accelerator, but you should know that nothing is impossible for a creative and hardworking entrepreneur. Whether you are solopreneur or in an accelerator, what will lead to your success is your own effort.

Does the startup’s life depend on the accelerator?
As the name of the accelerator suggests, this institution accelerates the growth and development of a business and accelerates this process. For this reason, the team that participated in the accelerator will enter the competition market in a shorter time than the team that worked independently, but this does not mean that without the presence of the accelerator, the desired goals of a business cannot be achieved. acquired. Because all the services that an accelerator offers you can also be obtained independently.
Referring to various investment institutions, availability of educational resources, use of shared workspaces, etc. can easily replace the services of an accelerator. But the superiority of this institution is that it will provide you with all these elements at the same time.
On the other hand, an accelerator, like any other business, is looking for profit and personal benefits and will take part of your startup’s shares. This is a point that may not be pleasant for many people.
Therefore, before participating in the accelerator, we should find out whether receiving the services of this institution can be an alternative to losing part of our business shares. If you answered yes to this question, you need to pay attention to some points in order to be accepted into an accelerator.

How to be accepted in acceleration?
As mentioned, accelerators that provide high-quality services have a very low acceptance rate, and you, as a startup, need to have certain components to enter them. Some of these components are as follows:
• Before submitting an application to be in the accelerator, it is necessary to sufficiently examine your ideas and conduct market research.
It is also necessary to prepare a business model and interview potential customers.
• Send your request according to the specific conditions of the accelerator.
Preparing a fixed request without considering the need of the accelerator and sending it to a large number of institutions will not result in the request being rejected.
• Include everything the accelerator needs to know about your business in your application.
Providing sufficient information and referring to the details that may influence your selection by the accelerator is one of the most important points that must be observed.
• State your differentiation from other startups.
An accelerator may review hundreds of requests in a day. What will make you choose from other teams is your competitive advantage over them.
• Send your request as a “PDF” file.
Other formats such as PowerPoint, Keynote, etc. may have problems when called. In this case, the responsible person will not spend his time to solve the problem and your request will be easily ignored.