Revenue streams of social impact incubators and accelerators: the influence of program benefits

Purpose Initiating and successfully managing a social enterprise is no easy task and many social entrepreneurs fail in doing so. Spurred on by the provision of business start-ups, new programs of incubators and accelerators specifically developed for social enterprises have emerged. The purpose of this study is to take a closer look at these social impact incubators and accelerators (SIIAs) with the aim to better understand their organizational constitution, as well as their financing structure. Design/methodology/approach By applying benefits theory of nonprofit finance, the authors ask how the services provided by SIIAs affect the composition of their revenue sources. The data was collected through an international survey on SIIAs. Building on an extensive literature review, a research framework was developed and tested using a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings The results support the general assumption of benefits theory. SIIAs with programs that provide more economic rather than social benefits have a greater share of government income. Thus, this study provides evidence that economic orientation is highly important when targeting government funding in the hybrid context of SIIAs. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first global study on SIIAs and offers a unique insight on the organizational characters and the financing structures of these organizations that drive social enterprise development in early stages.