Abstract Open innovation and innovation performance have been widely studied in the literature. However, few studies have examined the impact of openness to different types of external knowledge on start-ups’ innovation performance. Moreover, previous literature could be further complemented by additional investigation into how the coworking spaces provided by accelerator programs may engender informal sources of knowledge that enhance the innovation performance of accelerated start-ups. To address this research gap, we investigate whether start-ups participating in accelerator programs can enhance their innovation performance through information transfer from informal networks provided by business accelerator programs. In order to do so, we draw two-stage data collection data from 113 start-ups accelerated by Italian accelerators from 2013 to 2016 and the response data collected in 2018. Our results reveal that coopetitors, educators, and investors are beneficial for different innovation outcomes of accelerated start-ups. These findings contribute to the innovation management literature, the small business management literature, the literature on accelerators and the coworking spaces literature.
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