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Incubator Tool Library

A collection of vetted tools and resources to help impact incubators run smarter, scale bigger, and better support their entrepreneurs.

Pollinate Impact Tool Library

Welcome to your shortcut to the good stuff.

When we say โ€œtoolโ€, we mean anything that helps incubators thriveโ€”software, templates, handbooks, or any resource that lets you level up your game. Weโ€™ve curated the best for impact incubators across the Global South, so skip the search, grab what you need, and get back to making magic happen.ย 

Share your tool! If you have a tool, template, or resource that others could benefit from, submit it for review.ย 

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Babele

  • 13 Views

Babele is the online platform to manage your mission-driven innovation ecosystems & effectively engage stakeholders

  • Category: Scaling & Growth
  • Type: Technology Platforms & Software

Organization: Babele

Angel Networks in Emerging Markets: A Guide for Development Institutions

  • 14 Views

Even as these ecosystem-building efforts generate progress, accessing sufficient
financial capital remains a critical challenge for entrepreneurs at this early, high-
risk stage. Increasing the flow of private capital into early stage enterprises to help
them bridge the pioneer gap is a key pillar of PACEโ€™s work to drive broader economic
development in emerging markets. This guide was commissioned by PACE to identify
specific leverage points for USAID and other development institutions to support an
instrumental source of early-stage capital โ€“ local angel investor networks.

  • Category: Donor & Investor Relations
  • Type: Handbooks, Playbooks, & Guides

Organization: SEAD @ DUKE & CASE

Decoding the ABCs of Effective Enterprise Acceleration: 10 Lessons from SEAD

  • 33 Views

Like learning a new language, scaling an enterprise is full of unknowns, imperfect attempts and lessons for the future. Enterprise accelerators often serve as translators between their participants and the outside world. In doing so, accelerators must decipher between what they assume will be effective and what the enterprises they serve want and need. How can enterprise accelerators crack the code?

  • Category: Incubator Design, Strategy & Impact
  • Type: Best Practices & Lessons Learned

Organization: SEAD @ DUKE & CASE

ESO Mapping Fatigue In Kenya

  • 9 Views

Are we experiencing โ€˜Mapping Fatigueโ€™ with the BIG question being what is the mapping end game?. Is it just a question of counting heads or is there a bigger play in terms of informing policy or identifying gaps?

  • Category: Pipeline Sourcing & Selection
  • Type: Media Resources

Organization: Victor Otieno Agolla

Social Investment Toolkit

  • 10 Views

In 8 modules, the toolkit guides entrepreneurs on each step of the way, from how to define your social mission to creating a compelling investor pitch. It also shows entrepreneurs how social investors think and what they are looking for. There is also a social investment readiness test to help entrepreneurs work out which areas to focus on.

  • Category: Financial Sustainability
  • Type: Toolkits

Organization: Social Investment Toolkit

Financial Sustainability of Startup Incubators

  • 14 Views

The primary objective of this report is to
outline various revenue streams (not to be conflated with funding sources) accessible to
startup incubators and recommend a revenue mix which ensures that the incubator remains
focused on its core activities related to provision of entrepreneurial support to its incubatee
startups.

  • Category: Financial Sustainability
  • Type: Research, Reports, Data & Insights

Organization: Atal Innovation Mission & Niti Aayog

Best Practices for Designing Inclusive Programs & Support

  • 15 Views

This resource is a collection of both the key challenges and the best practices that have been effective in addressing the common challenges faced by ESOs globally in designing inclusive programs to support the diverse entrepreneurs in the ecosystem.

  • Category: Enterprise Support & Portfolio Management
  • Type: Best Practices & Lessons Learned

Organization: Pollinate Impact

Business Incubator Managers Incubation Management Training

  • 14 Views

The Business Incubation Management Training Program was created for business incubator managers and stakeholders in developing countries and emerging markets. Through its network of certified facilitators, infoDev has helped more than one thousand people increase their understanding of business incubator models, how to finance an incubator, monitoring and evaluation, mentoring programs, and more. The training program was designed for face-to-face delivery with each module requiring one day of classroom learning.

  • Category: Incubator Design, Strategy & Impact
  • Type: Trainings & Capacity Building

Organization: infoDev, World Bank & IFC

Incubator Collaborative Learnings Document

  • 10 Views

A compilation of the challenges and struggles of incubators and accelerators in the Global South as well as proposed solutions sourced from the dozens of online meetings, and in-person workshops hosted by Pollinate Impact. Spoiler Alert – Irrespective of the geographich location or the type of entrepreneur supported, the challenges and the solutions largely remain consistent across the field.

  • Category: Incubator Design, Strategy & Impact
  • Type: Best Practices & Lessons Learned

Organization: Pollinate Impact

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Pre-Seed + Seed Investor Database

  • 12 Views

A database of 1,600+ early stage lead investors curated by Michael Houck, a founder whose built startups that have raised from a16z and others that have bootstrapped to seven-figures of revenue.

  • Category: Donor & Investor Relations
  • Type: Research, Reports, Data & Insights

Organization: Founding Journey

Business Coaching Playbook

  • 14 Views

This guide will assist you on your journey as a mentor, and gives you all the guidance you need to perform your duties as a mentor. It looks at proactive mentorship, the mentorship process and provides tips on how to be a good mentor. The guide also outlines the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation Framework to coaching. The guide concludes by sharing other mentorsโ€™ approaches to mentorship and key lessons that they have learned on their mentorship journey.

  • Category: Enterprise Support & Portfolio Management
  • Type: Handbooks, Playbooks, & Guides

Organization: Allan Gray Orbis Foundation

The measurement of success in a business incubation projec

  • 9 Views

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact and success of a business incubationproject on its participants. The study aims to consider the impact of the project in terms of developingand supporting entrepreneurial activity within Wales. It seeks to build on and enhance existingbusiness incubation literature and contribute to the ๏ฌeld by identifying โ€œgoodโ€ practice and considersthe measurement of success within such projects

  • Category: Incubator Design, Strategy & Impact
  • Type: Research, Reports, Data & Insights

Organization: University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd, UK

ANALYSIS OF THE RIO DE JANEIRO STATE INCUBATOR NETWORK (ReINC): CHARACTERISTICS AND INFLUENCE ON THE ORGANIZATION AND SUSTAINABILITY OF INCUBATORS

  • 12 Views

The emergence of incubators in Brazil occurred from the bottom-up in the context of the down-fall of the military government and the restoration of civil society in the 1980s. To develop its activities the incubators in 1987 organized a civil association called ANPROTEC. This national association encouraged the setting up of regional/state incubator networks, to bring together local incubators, exchange experience and seek support at the regional level. This paper presents the initial results of a study that is in course, the aim of which is to assess how the regional incubator network in the state of Rio de Janeiro, known as ReINC, has contributed to sustainability, based on theoretical concepts of social networks and social capital.

  • Category: Incubator Design, Strategy & Impact
  • Type: Research, Reports, Data & Insights

Organization: Rio de Janeiro State University

Setting up Startup Incubator In India [Metrics & Milestones for Successful Incubator Development]

  • 13 Views

A whitepaper for the Department of Science & Technology (DST) to institute standards for the establishment and working of incubators in India, titled โ€œGuidelines โ€“ Metrics & Milestones for Successful Incubator Development.โ€

The whitepaper aims at setting some of the much needed guidelines for incubation of startups in India and includes recommendations to set the motion for analysis, discussion & debate for policy review and modifications, for the benefit of both funding and host organizations that set up incubators.

Though developed for the government of India, this White Paper provides useful insights which incubators in the African context can take with them. Sections 2 and 3 are particularly useful. Their practical insights provide adaptable frameworks for incubators. It explains how to measure the success of the incubator, deal with commonly faced challenges, and conceptualise long-term impact.

  • Category: Incubator Design, Strategy & Impact
  • Type: Research, Reports, Data & Insights

Organization: Wadhwani Foundation NEN

Handbook for Non-Profit Incubator Managers

  • 14 Views

This handbook provides a deep explanation on how to set up and run an incubator. It provides examples, step-by-step guides, and frameworks. The annexures in particular provide useful templates for determining elements of a successful and effective incubator.

  • Category: Incubator Design, Strategy & Impact
  • Type: Handbooks, Playbooks, & Guides

Organization: Launch League. Published by GIZ & Authored by CIIE

Greentech

  • 14 Views

These resources cover key concepts in the green economy, and give insight into how to support green businesses and skills development.

  • Category: Enterprise Support & Portfolio Management
  • Type: Trainings & Capacity Building

Organization: Launch Leage

Launch League Cybersecurity and Data Protection

  • 18 Views

The Cybersecurity and Data Protection toolkit, developed by the British High Commission Pretoria and the South African Department for Communications Digital Technology, contains free open licence tools, templates and guides that equip small businesses with the foundational training materials and resources they need to increase their cybersecurity resilience and become compliant with the POPI Act.

  • Category: Enterprise Support & Portfolio Management
  • Type: Toolkits

Organization: Launch Leage

Launch League Let’s Talk Financing

  • 12 Views

The Launch League Letโ€™s Talk Financing toolkit, developed by the UK-South Africa Tech Hub and Viridian, is a set of open licence resources for hubs to use in running a workshop or guiding a conversation with entrepreneurs through a step-by-step process.

By completing their Financing Card, entrepreneurs will understand their businessโ€™ stage, revenue model, assets and risk appetite, and growth plans โ€” and therefore determine what financing options are available to them.

  • Category: Enterprise Support & Portfolio Management
  • Type: Toolkits

Organization: Launch Leage

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