Andrew Humphries, co-founder at The Bakery, discusses why he thinks tech accelerators may become a thing of the past.
Corporate startup accelerators are, along with co-working spaces, increasingly visible in our tech-centric cities. In the past five or so years, we have seen the likes of Barclays Rise, and John Lewis’ JLAB – incubating nascent startups in the worlds of finance or retail – usually culminating in them raising capital from the corporates and other investors. They represent a modern marriage of corporate and startup.
But many seem to be playing at the casino, and losing. Lots of them launched with fanfare, and great intentions, but the true value of these accelerator programmes is perhaps yet to be seen. They may get one or two stellar successes, but it’s a high risk strategy. In many ways, the corporate accelerator is dead as we know it, and this next period is about finding a way of releasing real value, and supporting the start-ups through their lifecycle....