SCALING SOCIAL VENTURES AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF SOCIAL INCUBATORS AND ACCELERATORS

This article addresses the specific role of programs that attempt to help social ventures scale. We utilize combined experience in the Momentum Project from ESADE Business School and the Global Social Benefit Incubator at Santa Clara University, as well as an exploratory study of 40 social incubator and accelerator programs around the world, to frame the issues. We make a comparison among different programs and classify them as social incubators and social accelerators according to targeted social ventures and portfolio of resources offered. We note opportunities for research on social entrepreneurship and discuss relevant issues for both academics and practitioners such as the structure of these programs, the variance of approaches, and the resources needed by social ventures in their scaling processes. Acknowledgements. We wish to acknowledge the support of a Willem and Maria Roelandts grant through the Center for Science, Technology, and Society at Santa Clara University. We also would like to express our appreciation to Lucas Flagg, who provided invaluable research support, to Thane Kreiner and an anonymous reviewer for their useful comments and suggestions, and to Marc Ventresca for his continued mentorship. Finally,