Over the past fifteen years, the startup accelerator sector has emerged as a vital component in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, offering structured support to novice entrepreneurs. This study explores the impact of mentorship within accelerators, shedding light on the critical role mentors play in the success of early-stage entrepreneurs. Utilizing comprehensive data from 779 graduates of Israeli accelerators, we investigate six dimensions where accelerators enhance entrepreneurial success: entrepreneurial human capital, network expansion, fundraising skills, legitimacy, psychological development, and operational progress of the venture. We hypothesize that mentorship amplifies accelerators’ impact across these dimensions. Our findings confirm that founders who engage with personal mentors during accelerators, rather than solely relying on ad-hoc experts, and those with more intensive mentorship experience significantly greater progress across all six dimensions. These findings hold when accounting for background variables. These insights enrich the study of accelerators, emphasizing the value of personal mentorship in enhancing the positive effects of accelerators

在过去的十五年里，创业加速器行业已成为创业生态系统的重要组成部分，为新手企业家提供结构化支持。这项研究探讨了导师制在加速器中的影响，揭示了导师在早期企业家成功中发挥的关键作用。利用来自以色列加速器的 779 名毕业生的综合数据，我们调查了加速器促进创业成功的六个维度：创业人力资本、网络扩张、筹款技能、合法性、心理发展和企业的运营进度。我们假设辅导会放大加速器在这些方面的影响。我们的研究结果证实，在加速器期间与个人导师互动的创始人，而不是仅仅依赖临时专家，以及那些接受更深入指导的创始人在所有六个维度上都取得了显着更大的进步。这些发现在考虑背景变量时成立。这些见解丰富了加速器的研究，强调了个人指导在增强加速器的积极影响方面的价值