The influence of accelerators in the development of social entrepreneurship at the Base of the Pyramid

• Grant number: 23/09247-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: January 01, 2024
• End date: June 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Administration - Business Administration
• Principal Investigator: Edgard Elie Roger Barki
• Grantee: Edgard Elie Roger Barki
• Host Investigator: Pablo Muñoz
• Host Institution: Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (EAESP). Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Durham University (DU), England

Abstract

Although the field of social entrepreneurship has been studied in the last two decades, there is still scant literature on the challenges of entrepreneurs that come from the peripheries and suffer with a lack of several resources, including financial, social, and human capital. In the social entrepreneurship ecosystem, there is a proliferation of acceleration programs that offer support for those entrepreneurs. However, there are few studies that analyze their effectiveness and how they might influence confidence and authenticity of the entrepreneurs. Our research aims to explore the role accelerators might play on supporting social entrepreneurs from the Base of the Pyramid in their business narrative and to uncover and understand how traditional acceleration programs might fit (or not) entrepreneurial identities of peripherical entrepreneurs. To reach our objectives we will implement different methodologies approaches. The data will be based on the pitches of around 50 entrepreneurs before and after two acceleration programs (ANIP and Vaitec). The analysis will focus in the changes on the pitches in terms of their business structure as well as the emotions of the entrepreneurs. This analysis will be divided into four steps. In the first one, the pitches will be assessed by market experts. Secondly, we will perform a content analysis of the pitches delivered by the BoP SEs to identify the key elements of their business models. Thirdly, we will evaluate the videos using a software that specifically analyzes facial and voice emotions of the entrepreneurs. Finally, we will interview some of those entrepreneurs to understand their perceptions about the acceleration programs and how they influenced their journey. As a result, we aim to have a better understanding of the influence of acceleration programs in social entrepreneurs that come from the peripheries of Brazil in a decolonial perspective. (AU)