Peer Entrepreneur Networks in a Startup Accelerator Before and During the Covid-19 Pandemic

In response to the global spread of COVID-19, startup accelerators have shifted all activities online. To understand how this shift affects peer entrepreneur networks – a key constituent of accelerators value proposition to participating entrepreneurs – we draw on longitudinal network data from two editions of the same startup accelerator program before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on interaction ritual theory and the physical proximity principle, we hypothesize and test how online acceleration limits social connectivity. We find that in the online, compared to the offline cohort, networks became less dense, entrepreneurs reached fewer peers via indirect connections; and clustering increased. We highlight the impact of physical distancing on entrepreneurship and discuss contributions to theory on peer networks and startup acceleration.