Startup accelerators provide early-stage companies with funding, mentoring, and other resources to rapidly grow their businesses over the course of an intensive 3-month program. Accelerators operate by raising private funds, selecting a cohort of startups, immersing the companies in education and networking, and culminating with an investor pitch event. Their business model involves taking an equity stake in the startups in exchange for support, with the goal of achieving high-growth exits that provide returns to investors and allow the accelerator to reinvest funds into new programs. The first accelerators were Y Combinator in 2005 and Techstars in 2006, establishing the model that has since spread globally.