Acceleration programs in the ecosystem of social entrepreneurship support

The development of social entrepreneurship in Russia belongs to the topical areas of state policy and is aimed at creating conditions for the formation of the social services market, the participants of which, along with government agencies and non-profit organizations, become social enterprises. Social accelerators are a new tool for their development that requires systemic understanding. The article reveals the role of acceleration programs in the emerging ecosystem of social entrepreneurship support institutions initiated by the state, shows their common and specific features. The empirical basis of the study was formed by the data posted on the websites of Russian foundations supporting social entrepreneurship. We consider the general scheme of acceleration programs of the Social Projects Support Fund, Social Investment Fund, The Foundation of regional social programs “Our Future” and RAISE University Accelerator (RANEPA), including an analysis of the basic events organized for the participants of accelerators. This article presents systematized data on such interrelated elements of social acceleration as training, mentoring, partner and client networking, local community of social entrepreneurs, direct and indirect funding, and information support. The programs we analyzed followed the same pattern. They include a set of segments, each with a specific function for the development of promising social enterprises. We have identified the problems of exaggerated selection criteria for the acceleration cycle, the lack of direct financing as an element of Russian acceleration programs, which reduces the potential for participation of interested target groups, and weak information support for existing programs. Thus, the results of this study contribute to the study of the strategic advantages and limitations of social acceleration.