There was a lively discussion on the merits of corporate accelerators on a panel at an event run by Nesta, a UK-based innovation charity.
Andy McCartney, the outgoing CEO of Microsoft Ventures in the UK, advises entrepreneurs to only consider being involved with accelerators that are run by entrepreneurs, rather than corporate staff, as entrepreneurs better understand the challenges faced by young companies.
McCartney also said that he does not believe that accelerators should take equity stakes in their startups as it is unfair for entrepreneurs to be required to give away part of their companies.
David Fogel, deputy director of phone company Telefonica’s accelerator Wayra in London, disagreed: “Equity puts your money where your mouth is and means we stay involved with the startup after they finish in the accelerator. We give them a lot of help; board advisors of companies invested in by Wayra are appointed from among the top 50 Telefonica executives worldwide.”
Also on the panel was Henry Lane Fox, a co-founder of travel website lastminute.com and now a partner of private technology network Founders Forum which has recently announced that publishing group Holtzbrink is the first corporate investor in its newly launched accelerator Founders Factory.
The event was arranged to announce the launch of a Nesta report on the interaction of startups with corporates. The report, Winning Together: a guide to successful corporate-startup collaborations, aims to help corporates to understand the value that startups can bring to their organisation and provides a three step approach and framework to evaluate and select suitable programmes to engage with startups. The report also features case studies of 11 corporates, including Dell, Accenture, Enel, BMW and glh Hotels, highlighting their different models of engaging with startups, which fall into four categories: rejuventating corporate culture; innovating big brands; solving business problems; expanding into future markets.
Download Winning Together; a guide to successful corporate-startup collaborations.
Download GCVs report on early stage investing.