Going Online: Entrepreneurial Peer Networks in a Startup Accelerator before and during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Startup accelerators – fixed-term, cohort-based entrepreneurship program(s) – aim to support entrepreneurial activity (Bergman & McMullen, 2021; Chan et al., 2020; Cohen & Hochberg, 2014; Dushnitsky & Sarkar, 2018). Key to this support is accelerators’ ability to create “social capital surrounding entrepreneurial efforts” (Hochberg, 2016, p. 33). To do so, accelerators invest significant resources in facilitating a supportive peer environment and forging social networks among entrepreneurs through an array of formal and informal social events such as weekly dinners or guest speakers but also through the unique cohort approach that has entrepreneurs from different teams work alongside throughout the program (Cohen, 2013; Cohen & Hochberg, 2014). The resulting peer entrepreneur networks are powerful conduits to the flow of resources that include knowledge, advice, referrals, but also emotional support, generally representing one of the most important mechanisms through which accelerators deliver value (e.g., Amezcua et al., 2013; Hallen et al., 2020; Yu, 2020).