Identification of Opportunity Evaluation Criteria in Accelerators

The acceleration process starts with the evaluation and selection of startups. Identification of the criteria used in the evaluation and selection process is important on the one hand for accelerators, and on the other hand, for the admission of applicants in acceleration periods. This study has been used mixed method to identify the criteria for evaluating opportunities in accelerators. In this regard, first, by systematically reviewing articles related to accelerators, as well as interviewing the experts, the evaluation criteria from three dimensions of the problem-solution, the entrepreneurial team and the accelerator were derived. Then, by analyzing the collected questionnaires completed by directors and trainers of active Iranian accelerators, opportunity assessment criteria and reasons for non-acceptance of opportunity were examined using SPSS software. The results of factor analysis show that accelerators use 11 criteria to evaluate the quadruple risks of market, technology, agency and capital. Clustering the importance of evaluation criteria for accelerators shows that evaluation approaches can be divided into two groups of team-oriented and market-oriented evaluation