A typology of clean technology commercialization accelerators
Ian McCarthyJournal of Engineering and Technology Management
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Abstract
Accelerators are a type of incubation program that are concerned with attracting, supporting and developing new ventures. Although there is significant enthusiasm for accelerators and their potential benefits, there is limited research on how their core capabilities can vary. In response, we develop a typology of accelerator capabilities taking into account their strategy, governance, business model, operations and finance. To develop the typology we carried out a benchmark analysis of six clean energy commercialization accelerators (CECAs). From this we verified and illustrated the dimensions of our typology and identified four types of accelerator capabilities: R&D focused, technology enabled, market enabled, and network enabled. We then use a seventh accelerator case to illustrate how our typology can be used to describe, understand and prescribe appropriate capabilities for a CECA. We conclude our paper by explaining the research and practice implications of our research.
Key takeaways
- We call these clean energy commercialization accelerators (CECAs).
- As we focus on CECAs, we introduce the clean energy technology sector in Canada (which is home to half the cases in our paper) and explain the role of accelerators in this country, and elsewhere, in helping ventures commercialize their technologies.
- We now explain how this logic for using accelerators to nurture a clean technology industry is linked to the genesis and use of clean energy commercialization accelerators (CECAs).
- This has led to the emergence of clean energy commercialization accelerators (CECAs) to attract and support early stage ventures by facilitating large-scale demonstration projects (Ulhøi, 1997).
- The aim of this paper was to develop a typology of clean energy commercialization accelerators (CECAs) that would help scholars and practitioners understand how the capabilities of these organizations can vary to suit different goals.
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