1. (PRE) ACCELERATE
TOWARDS THE FUTURE!
INSIDES, TRENDS & UPCOMING ACTIONS

2. August 2015
Today we are happy to release our first white paper on pre-acceleration, with
the outcomes of the Pre-Acceleration Summit, that happened in the
beginning of June in Porto.
This first Pre-Acceleration Summit is the direct result of an ongoing
conversation that we are having since last October, when for the first time we
started talking about the growing number of pre-accelerators in Europe and
the lack of clarity on pre-acceleration, its goals and formats.
On June 1 we brought together 11 of the most prominent pre-accelerators in
Europe and, for an entire day, we discussed what is a pre-accelerator, the
most important metrics, different business models and how does the future
look like. For all involved, this white paper is a state of the art of the pre-
acceleration scene, but we all acknowledge that pre-accelerators are still
evolving and maturing and a lot is expected to happen in the next years, if not
months.
As a final note, we want you to look at this as a starting point for a bigger and
wider discussion.
Enjoy!
Inês Silva & Carmen Bermejo
Startup Pirates & Tetuan Valley

3. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary
What is a Pre-Accelerator
Metrics
Business Model
Future
4
6
12
16
20

4. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This year Startup Pirates, with the support of Tetuan Valley and Beta-I,
held the first European Pre-Accelerator Summit. For an entire day, pre-
accelerator leaders from 11 organizations working all over Europe
gathered to discuss what is going on and what is the future of pre-
acceleration.
The main goal of the Summit was to understand how is the pre-
acceleration working in Europe and to identify challenges and
opportunities for pre-accelerators through dynamic talks.
Even though the startup acceleration definition is widely known, the
term/expression pre-acceleration is pretty recent and undetermined.
We developed this white paper to collect not only the main conclusions
of the Summit, but also to make information regarding Pre-
Acceleration available to all the community.

6. WHAT IS A
PRE-ACCELERATOR

7. SPECIFICATIONS/ PROFILE
Very early and pre-seed stage. Pre-Acceleration Programs work in different stages, that
go from having people that don’t even have an idea or team to market validation.STAGE
TARGET
Generally first time entrepreneurs and recent graduates. A big part of pre-accelerators
are also dedicated to unemployed people, researchers and students.
PROGRAM LENGHT Shorter than the acceleration programs, usually go from 1 to 8 weeks.
DEMO DAY In most cases they have a demo day at the end of the program, where the teams pitch in
front of judges, mentors, investors or even the general public.
SUBJECTS It is common for the programs to include Customer Validation, Marketing, Pitch, Product
Development, Prototype, Business Model Canvas.
MENTORS
All programs have a strong presence of experienced mentors. Some of them have
supermentors/godfathers, that work exclusively with one team during the entire program.

8. WHEN WE STARTED THERE WAS NOT EVEN
A WORD FOR PRE-ACCELERATION.
INÊS SILVA, STARTUP PIRATES
’’

9. DIFFERENT GOALS
TOP PRE-ACCELERATION GOALS:
1. Provide tools and knowledge
2. Find Problem/Solution Fit
3. Foster entrepreneurial mindset
4. Build the local ecosystem
5. Get into accelerators
1.TOOLS AND KNOWLEDGE
Pre-Acceleration programs aim at
empowering people with valuable tools,
educating them about what it takes to
create a business. These programs are
also effective channels to raise the
community’s awareness regarding
entrepreneurship.
DIFFERENT PRE-ACCELERATORS,
DIFFERENT GOALS:
Especially in the earlier-stage pre-
accelerators, the program acts like a
discovery journey for aspiring
entrepreneurs: they take a glance at
what being an entrepreneur means,
experiencing also some of the
obstacles they’ll have to face in the
future.
In more advanced-stage pre-
accelerators people go further and
deeper into entrepreneurship, working
on their projects until they reach the
quality level that might lead them to
acceleration programs.
2.PROBLEM SOLUTION FIT
The Pre-Acceleration programs focus
on helping people identify exactly what
is the problem, and develop a solution
that fits it. This is one of the most
important stages for any first time
entrepreneur and where pre-
accelerators can add the most value.
4.BUILD LOCAL ECOSYSTEM
Pre-Accelerators maintain a strong
network, and link experienced mentors
and inspiring entrepreneurs with the
participants, working on helping people
create new startups that will be part of
the ecosystem and boost the local
economy. In countries without an
entrepreneurial mindset their action is
even more relevant. Everybody knows
what difference does it make in a local
ecosystem when the startup community
is truly connected and cooperates.
3.ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET
Pre-Accelerators goal is not only to
technically skill-up entrepreneurs, but
also to enhance and leverage people’s
entrepreneurial mindset.
5.GET INTO ACCELERATORS
Many startups applying for acceleration
programs do not fulfill all the
requirements, or the expected quality
level. Some Pre-Accelerators already
prepare teams and startups for the next
phase, the acceleration, where they
can grow and expand quickly.

11. PRE-ACCELERATION INSTITUTIONS
STRUCTURED
PROGRAMS
Startup Pirates
Tetuan Valley
Beta-start
Startup Next
INNOVATION
HUBS
NUMA
Betahaus
Google Campus
Impact Hub
UNIVERSITY
iMinds
STRUCTURED PROGRAMS:
Short programs dedicated to foster
entrepreneurship, through an agenda
that fits the participants’ needs and the
goals of the program.
UNIVERSITY:
Lots of startups and entrepreneurs
come from there, and we are now
watching the evolution of education,
through the implementation of
entrepreneurship and innovation
courses. However, Universities in
Europe still have a long way to go.
INNOVATION HUBS:
Many started as coworking spaces
where the community grew. They
provide workshops, education, tailored
services and a healthy environment for
people creating their own business.

12. METRICS

13. DIFFERENT METRICS
Pre-Accelerators select different
metrics to measure their impact. Some
choose to have external metrics for
communication purposes and internal
metrics to analyze the program.
TOP METRICS:
1. Number of startups created
2. Investment raised by startups
3. Number of participants
4. Recommendation rate
5. % of startups getting into
accelerators
WHY MEASURE
Pre-Accelerators, like all the other
organizations, should evaluate the
impact of their programs.
This
information is not only valuable to
communicate the programs outside (to
media, sponsors, other organizations,
future organizers and participants), but
also for the Pre-Accelerator to
understand what’s it position, and what
should be changed.

14. LIMITATIONS
DIFFERENT APPRECIATION
Pre-Accelerators need to find a balance
between KPI’s for internal and KPI’s for
external use. On one hand it is
important to manage expectations and
understand the participant’s feedback
(e.g. “Do participants recommend the
program?”).
On the other hand we have the
sponsors and stakeholders, that prefer
to see the impact in terms of
dimension, reaching potential, and
media presence (e.g. “number of
editions”, “number of participants”,
“number of startups created”).
COMMUNITY IMPACT
As part of a complex entrepreneurial
ecosystem, entrepreneurs and startups
work with not only Pre-Accelerators but
also other organizations and people
like Accelerators, Incubators, etc. And
ideas, startups, the market, are always
changing and evolving. So it is kind of
presumptuous to consider the impact of
a program as a solo-effort.
INDIRECT RESULTS
Most of all Pre-Accelerators educate
people on entrepreneurship. Even if in
the end of the program they don’t have
a startup created, it doesn’t mean that
the participants will not use the
knowledge obtained in other areas or
future businesses. An important
question arise: How can we measure
indirect/future impact?
COMMUNICATION ISSUES
As the number of editions and the
community grow, it becomes more
difficult for Pre-Accelerators to follow all
the ex-participants and their projects. It
is also hard to get answers from ex-
participants, which leads Pre-
Accelerators create different strategies
to engage the community (e.g. invite
alumni to join recent programs, reward
the fastest answers).

15. IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE MENTALITY,
CHOOSE SHORT AND INTENSE PROGRAMS
– THERE ARE NO EXCUSES, YOU FEEL THE
PRESSURE.
DUARTE FONSECA, BETA-I
’’

16. BUSINESS MODEL

17. SEARCHING FOR SUITABLE
BUSINESS MODELS
There is no universal business model for pre-
accelerators. Each deals with its own sustainability
concerns in a different way, that is conditioned by a lot
of distinct factors such as: location, size, position,
partnerships, law, and so on. All the models have pros
and cons, and most pre-accelerators are now
choosing hybrid models, that gather different
components and split the risk and dependency.
We present you some of the most popular ways of
funding pointed out during the European Pre-
Accelerator Summit:
SPONSORSHIP
EQUITY PUBLIC FUNDS
PARTICIPATION FEE
PRE-ACCELERATION
AS A SERVICE

18. BUSINESS MODELS
PRE-ACCELERATION AS A
SERVICE
Since they already have experience,
understand how to create a community
and are inside the entrepreneurial
ecosystem, it doesn’t take them too
much effort to advise, manage or
create acceleration programs for other
organizations.
SPONSORSHIP
One of the ways to finance a Pre-
Accelerator is through finding one or
more sponsors. It is perceived by many
as easy money, however that’s a
misconception: it is difficult to find
sponsors, as the number of requests
for sponsorship increase; and there is
no stability in a business model that
only relies on that amount, that has a
chance of not being renewed.
PUBLIC FUNDS
In Europe it is quite ordinary for
organizations to get public/government
funding. There is a certain risk
associated with it: it works better in the
short run, the process can be very
bureaucratic and involve a lot of inside
knowledge, and the organization might
need to adapt the program to the
funding goals, getting away from the
core objectives.
PARTICIPATION FEE
Despite the fact that some programs
have participation fees, the amount
usually is not high enough to make the
organizations sustainable. Increasing
the price would be a barrier for almost
all the aspiring entrepreneurs, as
before the program starts they don’t
even understand or value what they are
about to learn, or how worthy are the
perks involved.
EQUITY
Although it is not very common, a few
Pre-Accelerators take equity in the end
of the program. However, since
startups coming out of the program are
so early stage, it doesn’t seem like a
viable choice. The exit cycle is way too
long most of the times, and when it
happens the amount of money received
is not very high due to the dilution.

19. THE ECOSYSTEM WAS NOT READY, WE
SWITCHED BACK OUR FOCUS. NOW WE ARE
ADAPTING OURSELVES TAKING IN
CONSIDERATION THE MATURITY STAGE.
PRE-ACCELERATORS CANNOT BE
IMMUTABLE.
CARMEN BERMEJO, TETUAN VALLEY
’’

20. FUTURE

21. FUTURE
1.UNIVERSITIES
For some, the work that is done by pre-
accelerators should be done by
universities. These institutions are
privileged positioned to provide tools
a n d a n e t w o r k t o fi r s t t i m e
entrepreneurs and accelerate their
entrepreneurial endeavors. However,
universities have been slow to adopt an
entrepreneurial mindset and actively
develop entrepreneurship programs.
This is going to most likely change in
the future which is a “threat” for private
pre-accelerators.
Pre-accelerators are a recent
“invention” and their future is still very
much unclear. While today, pre-
accelerators are an unquestionable
part of our startup ecosystem, in this
fast paced environment, it’s possible
that in a few years we won’t be talking
any longer about them. Or maybe we
will. There are a few risks and
opportunities in the horizon for pre-
accelerators:
2.FUNDING
Above we discussed the several
sources of funding available to pre-
accelerators. This might be one of pre-
accelerators biggest risks, since there
isn’t a clear business model for them.
While some are using sponsorship
money, others are taking equity or
using public funds, but it’s not clear if
this models have a long-term shot.
4.VERTICALIZATION
Most accelerators are going vertical, so
there is an increasing pressure for pre-
accelerators to follow. With the
proliferation of pre-accelerators it’s
natural that some will focus on areas
where demand is high.
3.INTEGRATION
We are seeing the first signs of
integration. Y Combinator recently
launched YC Fellowships and
TechStars recently acquired UP Global
(Startup Weekend, Startup Next,
Startup week, etc) both of them
showing that they want to increase and
improve their pipeline of projects.
5.EXTREMES
Are we going towards a time where
entrepreneurship will be completely
mainstream and the levels of
knowledge and basic understanding
will be so high that pre-accelerators
won’t be needed? Or are we
approaching a time where people are
tired of the all startup buzz and don’t
feel the need to explore more?

22. SOURCES
Participants from the European Pre-Acceleration Summit:
Aleksandar Tase - Superfounders
Ana Almeida - Startup Pirates
Carmen Bermejo - Tetuan Valley
Daniela Monteiro - Startup Pirates
Duarte Fonseca - Beta-i
Edite Cruz - Beta-i
Fiodor Tonti - NUMA
Inês Silva - Startup Pirates
João Cabral - Startup Sintra
Mar Mitjavila - Tetuan Valley
Mario López de Ávila - Startup Next
Pablo Rodriguez - Tetuan Valley
Rafael Pires - Startup Pirates
Ricardo Marvão - Beta-i
Rui Coutinho - Porto Design Factory
Sven De Cleyn - iMinds
Tiago Gomes Sequeira - Startup Braga
Tihana Marelja - Zip
White paper development led by Ana Almeida

23. ORGANIZATIONS IN EUROPEAN
PRE-ACCELERATOR SUMMIT
Special thanks:

24. WWW.STARTUPPIRATES.ORG