SBA Growth Accelerator Study

The goal of this report is to evaluate the scope and value of the SBA’s Growth Accelerator Fund Competition program as a federal government-sponsored means of spurring innovation and small business growth. The analysis included in this report is based on a literature review of scholarly research on the growing accelerator movement; data and reports from the Aspen Institute’s Global Accelerator Learning Initiative, Crunchbase, the Global Accelerator Network, and PitchBook; SBA-required reporting by the 2014–16 GAFC winners; interviews with key experts in the field; and a survey of the 2014–16 GAFC winners to build the fullest picture possible of the program’s impact.