The startup world is one that is constantly in flux, which keeps the accelerator industry and the world on their toes! Below are the top ten news the accelerator industry saw in 2015.
- Research coming out of the University of Emory found that startups who are in an accelerator program raise almost double the investment than startups who did not go through an accelerator, thus validating the accelerator model as a way to get investment. See and hear the research findings for yourself here.
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- Techstars acquired Up Global, bringing all Startup Weekends and other UP Global startup events under the fold of Techstars. Read more about it here.
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- Y Combinator stepped into the content generation world by launching a publication called The Macro. This site houses all the stories, advice, and experiences from Y Combinators.
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- The Seed Accelerator Rankings Project selected the top twenty accelerators in the U.S. Of these top twenty, more than half are located in smaller cities rather than the big coastal cites and almost half on the list are GAN members! See the list here.
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- The Code school market more than doubled in 2015. See the survey results here. Also doubling in size this past year was the amount of co-working spaces, which has maintained this growth rate for the past few years. See the study here.
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- New investing rules called Regulation A+ of the JOBS Act took effect. The two major changes; smaller companies have easier access to investor capital through equity crowdfunding and more people are able to invest because the criteria for an investor has lowered. To learn more about the changes read this blog.
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- The Kauffman Foundation research shows small business activity is on the rise in the majority of the U.S. The increase is prevalent in 49 of the 50 states and 38 of the top 40 largest metropolitan areas. See the study here.
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- The Federal Communications Commission in the U.S. voted in favor of net neutrality, putting into action the strongest protections the Internet has ever seen. Maintaining an open, unregulated Internet allows a level playing field for startups of all shapes and sizes. Read more about this landmark ruling here.
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- H-Farm is the first accelerator to go public – they were officially admitted to AIM (Alternative Investment Market) in Italy! To learn more about the record move, read this article.
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- Accelerators are becoming known as an asset class for investing. Accelerators take out some of the risk of investment; not only are investors putting their money behind multiple companies in a program but the companies have been vetted by the selection process of the accelerator. Read more on this new investing trend here.
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