<p>Mentoring can provide numerous benefits for entrepreneurs, helping them dealing with the challenges of starting and growing a new business. Purpose: In this paper we analyse the role played by mentoring into incubators and accelerators in Spain. Design/methodology/approach: A sample of accelerators and incubators in Spain is obtained. The data are analysed through different statistical techniques: parametric analysis (Student´s t test for comparison of means), non parametric analysis (chi square test of independence) and multivariate analysis (unsupervised learning through clustering). Findings: The analysis shows the main differences between entrepreneurship ecosystems depending on whether they have a mentoring program or not. Furthermore, by focusing only on those ecosystems that do have mentoring, it is detected which type of mentoring produces the best effects on the functioning of the ecosystem. Research limitations/implications. Our data comes from a questionnaire filled in by the managers of 57 accelerators and 99 incubators in Spain, we did not have access to the entrepreneurs. Our findings delineate an agenda for future researchers to build upon the type of mentoring to improve any entrepreneurial ecosystem. Originality/value. By introducing mentoring agenda within an entrepreneurial ecosystem such as incubators and accelerators, we hope to contribute to improving their performance.</p>