Data Report

The only industry-wide report of its kind, showing early

program data from a global community of the world’s
most respected independent accelerators.

Global Community

122 Total Number of Accelerators

in the GAN Community
Today, the GAN Community is a network of 122 accelerators
across a total of 126 locations, spread across more than 109
cities and 6 continents. Together, we help startups around
the world access the human and financial capital they need
to create and grow their businesses, wherever they are.

Accelerator & Startup Overview

W eeks Spent in Accelerator

6.7
19 Average per
accelerator
Average Age of
Accelerators in Years

1,760
Total Startups Graduated
in 2020
29.83 average per accelerator

16,824
Total Startups Graduated

35,499 From Accelerators

All Time

Jobs Created by Startups


All Time

Percentage of Startups at Each Stage

Before Accelerator in 2020 After Accelerator in 2020

100%

80%
73% 54% 62%
68%

53% 31% 41%

Had a working MVP Had paying or R aised some equity Generated

or prototype non-paying users funding revenue

Top Accelerator Decisions

Impacted by COVID-19

72% Percentage of accelerators that shifted their

demo days to virtual format. 22% Percentage of accelerators that ended or
suspended an office space lease.

40% Percentage of accelerators that increased

technology spend. 20% Percentage of accelerators that had
to decrease staff size.

22% Percentage of accelerators that increased

the number of startups they supported.

Percentage of Accelerators That

Meet in Person With Startups
On average, accelerators meet with individual startups
2x per week, either virtually or in person.

Pre-COVID-19 Right Now During COVID-19

100% 33% 22%

Startup & Accelerator Diversity

Shining a Light on DE&I

GAN expanded its focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in 2020. Impressively, 40% of
startups, on average, have a female on their founding team and 37% have a founder who
identifies as a racial or ethnic minority; accelerator teams themselves have even higher
representation of each.

Percentage of Accelerator Teams

Identifying as a Racial or Ethnic Minority

67%

Percentage of Accelerators With a Female

Team Member

9 8%

Startups With a Female on the Startups With a Founder Who Identifies as

Founding/Executive Team a Part of a Racial or Ethnic Minority
Average per accelerator Average per accelerator

2020 40% 2020 37%

All Time 34% All Time 31%

Percentage of Founders Who Are

First-Time Founders
All Time

Average per accelerator location 79%

Accelerator Terms

An Upwards Trend in Valuations

After the decrease in seed funding we saw in 2018,
the average amount of seed funding offered to
startups by accelerators has hit a high of $53,620.
This is in addition to the services and products they
offer startups going through their programs.

Size of Equity Deals Offered The Average Percent of Equity

by Accelerators Taken per Startup
$53,620

$45,000
6%
$38,000
$33,000

$24,000

2015 2016 2017 2018 2020

Deal Flow

Total Applications Received in 2020

Total Applications 32,837

Total Interviewed 7,905 5.4%

accepted

Total Accepted 1,773

Distance of Accepted Startups From

Accelerators Before Joining Programs Top Verticals Sought by
in 2020 Accelerators in 2020

< 100 miles > 100 miles Outside the

160 km 60 km
1 country
57% Agnostic

14%
32% Financial

27% 59%
32% SaaS

30% Data/Analytics

Top Three Models Sought 27% Health care

by Accelerators

95% 78% 87% 27% Artificial Intelligence

B2B B2C Software/
SaaS

Mentorship

Appreciating Mentors

The majority — 87.6% — of accelerators don't

provide monetary compensation for their mentors.
However, accelerators still reward their mentors, and
encourage their startups to do the same, through
publicity (82%), hosting an event specifically for
mentors (63%), allowing mentors to help choose
startups (58%), and more.

M entors Involved in All Accelerators

7,294
That's an average of 123.6 and a median of
75 mentors per accelerator location.

Accelerator Staffing

Strengthening Accelerator Teams

On average, accelerators employ 5.35 positions in
addition to their program manager and managing
director. Marketing/design, community manager,
operations, administrative, and communications
positions most often round out accelerator teams.

Additional Positions Beyond

MD and PM

5.35 3
Average number Median number
of positions of positions

Startup Fundraising

Big Money
GAN Startups worldwide have raised $3.9B. And the
cumulative total valuation of all GAN Startups, all
time, is a whopping $7.8B — an average of $290.6M
and median of $120M per accelerator.

Startups Generating More Than $ 7.8B

$1M in Annual Revenue

All Time
Cumulative Total
Valuation of All GAN
14% Startups
Combined
More than 14% of startups

are making over $1M in Amount of Money

Raised by Accelerated
revenue.

Startups in GAN
All Time

$ 3.9B

$ 414K 48.84
Average Amount Raised per Startup in Startups That Have Engaged in
12 Months Following an Accelerator Pilots With Corporations
Average per accelerator

3.1 6.9 months

Average Number of Startup Exits Time To Raise a Round

With Positive Returns Following Program
Average per accelerator Average per accelerator

Accelerator Trends

Impacts of COVID-19
Many of the trends we're seeing, such as hosting
virtual demo days and running an accelerator for a
partner organization, are likely results of COVID-19
and the shifts it forced upon the industry.

Percentage of Startups That Had Top Things Accelerators Started

Been Through the Following Before Before 2020
the Accelerator
38% 1. Focus on a specific vertical

21%
Had been through
14%
Had been through another
32% 2. Add a "pre-accelerator" accelerator

28% 3. Focus on earlier-stage startups

a pre-accelerator investment accelerator
23% 4. Host multiple demo days or road show

22% 5. Use rolling admissions (tie)

22% 6. Run an accelerator for a partner org. (tie)

Top Things Accelerators Top Things Accelerators Are

Started in 2020 Starting in 2021

67% 1. Have part (or all) of the accelerator be virtual 22% 1. Run an accelerator for a partner organization

65% 2. Host a virtual demo day 20% 2. Add a "post-accelerator" accelerator (tie)

23% 3. Focus on later-stage startups 20% 3. Add additional locations (tie)

13% 4. Focus on earlier-stage startups 17% 4. Add a "pre-accelerator" accelerator

12% 5. Run an accelerator for a partner organization 15% 5. Focus on later-stage startups

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