I really suggest this website, especially for these three articles on microseed accelerators. In their last article on the subject, they look at the success rate. Without going into the detail I recommend you read the article; they recommend that you seek out the accelerators if that fits your business model.

The only drawbacks they point out is the unwillingness of some entrepreneurs to part with 6% of stock for 25k. The reality is that this is not a tremendous amount of money, but at the same time, you are more likely to get this funding, which in turn will make you more likely to get later funding through their contacts. This investment typically values a company at $416,000. However, with the next level of investment you can value a company between $2,000,000 and $8,000,000; meaning that another 25% to 50% stake can get you $500,000 to $4,000,000 in more working capital.

Until you have been through the rounds trying to get money or working with VCs considering money you do not realize how hard it is to get investment. By lowering the barriers to getting investment (smaller dollars, willingness to take on higher risk) microseed accelerators could be opening the doors to a lot more entrepreneurs to get investors. At the same time the accelerators are providing tangible benefits of training and contacts. Translate contacts into future sales.

My only concern is on the investor side: is the risk to return ratio good enough for the microseed accelerators to make money. Right now, its too early to tell, but I hope to address this at least theoretically in a future post about this subject.