Re-acceleration: what is it, and why are startups doing it?

Photo credit: kasto / 123RF Stock Photo.

About a week ago, I walked over to one of the many startup founders situated at our co-working space to congratulate him for his graduation from an acceleration program at a recent demo day. He gratefully accepted my congratulations and then nonchalantly replied: “Oh, and we recently got into another accelerator program, and we’re starting that program soon.”

A few months ago, I would have been very surprised. Why would anyone join another program so soon after just completing one? Initially, I was taught that going through acceleration twice does not reflect well on your startup. If you really went through proper acceleration, your startup would have reached the next level of maturity (e.g. from seed to Series A), and you would not need to go back.

Initially, I was taught that going through acceleration twice does not reflect well on your startup.

It may even hurt your startup if you have to give away equity to an accelerator more than once. So, if you had to go through it twice, either your startup or the accelerator program was not good.

However, while this may be true in certain situations (there are bad accelerator programs out there and, of course, bad startups), I would think there are much fewer proponents of this one-accelerator view now. Instead, what is in vogue is something I like to call re-acceleration — putting your startup through one, two, or even three accelerators to enjoy the unique benefits of each one.

And there are many examples of this. Currenseek, who just graduated from Startupbootcamp’s (SBC) fintech accelerator program in Singapore, just joined another acceleration program in Malaysia. PolicyPal, another SBC startup, was recently selected into the top 9 in NTUC Income’s insurtech accelerator program, Income FutureStarter. The list goes on.

So why are startups looking to join as many programs as they can? Maybe it is because of the deluge of accelerators available nowadays or because many of these programs now do not take equity and just give out “free” money. But are there more concrete reasons why a startup would want to be re-accelerated? Here are some points to think about.

To try again

It is a known fact that many early-stage startups fail. Even for good accelerator programs, many find that less than 50 percent of their startups succeed. So for one that did not quite make it the first time, getting into another program might be a second shot at success — to raise funds, pitch a slightly different business model or idea, or to get some notable traction.

I realized something about startups: sometimes, all you need is one big break. This breakthrough may be an investor willing to take the plunge, a business client willing to pilot your solution, or just getting into a new acceleration program.

To accelerate at a different stage

Early-stage startups come in many different shapes and sizes and need different levels of acceleration. Finding the right program to boost your startup at your current stage of growth may be key to your success.

For example, NephTech, which developed an evidence-based surveillance program for dialysis centers, joined TAG.PASS and enrolled in Income FutureStarter a few months later.

Joining another program to accelerate your startup at a different stage would be similar to accelerating at a different gear. So if you enter an accelerator and find that you are spending a good amount of time doing business model validation and confirming your product-market fit, it might make sense for your startup to enter another program to focus on expansion, commercialization, and going-to-market.

To enter a new market in a different country

Sometimes the best way to penetrate a new market is to join an accelerator in that market; this is one of the main reasons why startups join more than one program. A key accelerator value is market knowledge and connections to business opportunities, two things that startups always need.

To target a different customer segment or to launch a new product

To partner with a big corporation

Conclusion