Policy by the Numbers: Seed-DB: A tool for monitoring seed accelerators

Seed-DB: A tool for monitoring seed accelerators

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Jed Christiansen is Head of Channel Sales for Emerging Markets at Google and founder of Seed-DB.In the summer of 2005, Paul Graham and three partners kicked off the “Summer Founders Program.” They aimed to combine seed-stage investing in startups with mentorship for young entrepreneurs. What made this program unique was that investments occurred synchronously via “classes” of startups funded at the same time and advised together. Their program became Y Combinator.Their success kicked off a global movement of institutions that combined funding and education for entrepreneurs, commonly known now as seed accelerators. Seed accelerators are invaluable to generating economic growth and fostering entrepreneurial culture in communities. To demonstrate their importance, I created Seed-DB to track programs and the companies that have graduated from them. As of today, we’re tracking 134 seed accelerators in 33 countries. These accelerators have funded over 2000 startups, and seed companies have raised over $1.6 billion in funding. One hundred of these companies have already sold for an estimated total of over $1 billion.In a thesis I wrote on seed accelerators in 2009, I surveyed entrepreneurs that had gone through seed accelerators. One of the more interesting results was that the funding they received was the least important aspect of the program. What mattered more was the community they were accepted into via the accelerator. As more and more startups go through each program, the alumni network becomes bigger, more diverse, and stronger. Thus, each class of startups receives more value than the class before it, building a virtuous circle.Seed accelerators also affect their local economies through job creation. New jobs in the SMB sector are very important to society: Between 1980 and 2005 all net job growth came from firms less than five years old. And in times of economic downturns, small businesses can buck overall trends by creating new opportunities instead of scaling back.The startups that have gone through seed accelerators have created over 4800 jobs. These are brand-new, high-value knowledge worker jobs. And even if an individual startup fails, founders’ experiences will be very valuable to traditional corporate employers.Though the data in Seed-DB isn’t 100% complete (it relies on startups self-reporting), some important conclusions can be made. Seed accelerators are a new kind of institution that promote and celebrate a culture of entrepreneurship. Most programs fund 10-20 startups per year, educating between 20-50 entrepreneurs. Programs and entrepreneurs support each other through challenges, make key introductions for each other, and build communities that give startups the best chance of success. Were all accelerators to self-report, I estimate the number of jobs created would be more than 7,000.From just one accelerator in 2005, to a handful in 2007, to over 130 around the world today, seed accelerators—and the jobs they create—are a positive change in the economic infrastructure of the technology industry.Get in touch with Jed with any questions or suggestions for Seed-DB via Google+ or by e-mail jed.christiansen[at]seed-db.com.

1 comment :

Anonymous said...: Pretty please Jed: On each entry line, can you include the $amount of seed funding that the listed accelerator provides. That would be so awesome and time saving for entrepreneurs using Seed-DB to research programs.

Thank you!!!; December 4, 2012 at 12:14 PM

Policy by the Numbers

Seed-DB: A tool for monitoring seed accelerators

1 comment :

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