Exploratory analysis on startup accelerators to open-technology innovation: a study of business start-ups, Business incubators & Business accelerators

Abstract

This paper is interested in the acceleration of the open-technology innovation ecosystem of startups in a world that is chaotic and perpetually changing. Acceleration can be considered an innovation strategy that provides a cross-sectional perspective combining two worlds: strategy and entrepreneurship. Accelerators are crucial in helping entrepreneurs reach higher levels of “open-technology innovation” growth than incubators, which focus on the early stages of project development. Through the lens of dynamic capabilities theory, Our research aims not only to analyze how accelerators help their accelerated startups improve technological innovation, also, emphasizes the mutually beneficial relationship between startups and accelerators, which goes beyond incubation to speed up the cycle of “open-technology innovation”. Accelerators play a crucial role in the face of entrepreneurial ecosystem megatrends, not only by connecting startups with the market to maximize the effectiveness of their acceleration process, but also by creating collaborative strategies with other ecosystem participants, including investors, industry partners, and other startup founders working in the same sector. This ensures a more comprehensive acceleration offering that encourages the search for fresh, creative methods of incubation, acceleration, and support, assisting startups in creating a long-lasting climate of trust and sustaining an ongoing increase in “open-technology innovation”. This article focuses on acceleration beyond incubation in the Moroccan context, which is still in its infancy as a setting for entrepreneurial support. This highlights the necessity of a qualitative approach to gain a deeper comprehension of how accelerators boost the “open-technology innovation” of Moroccan businesses that have been accelerated as a new dimension have already exploded. This study analyzed three axes related to open-technology innovation: the selection criteria for an open-technology innovative project by accelerators, acceleration process for open-Innovative Startups, and open-technology innovation strategy through acceleration.We achieved this study by conducting 6 semi-structured interviews with four startups that have already experienced acceleration as well as an accelerator and incubator.