pollinate logo svg

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 “tool”, we mean anything that helps incubators thrive—software, templates, handbooks, or any resource that lets you level up your game. We’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. 

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

Tool Category
Resource Type

Search

A Strategic Mess – Developing an Impact Strategy

  • 17 Views

When it comes to developing strategy, it’s easy for a social venture’s leadership team to revert back to the same old strategic planning process they’ve used in the past: Inertia is real and repeating the same process, even if you know it’s not the best, is comfortable and easy.

  • Category: Scaling & Growth
  • Type: Media Resources

Organization: SSIR

Board Risk Resilience Checklist

  • 14 Views

Effective governance means more than compliance. It requires awareness, foresight, and the courage to lead with purpose in times of uncertainty. This checklist is designed to help nonprofit boards and executives assess whether their organization is prepared to respond to today’s shifting legal, political, financial, and reputational risks.

  • Category: Governance
  • Type: Templates

Organization: BoardSource.org

Application Form Template

  • 20 Views

This is a sample of a program application form for a incubator. It also includes clear description of the program, what is included in the program, and timelines.

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

Organization: Innovate UK

Incubation Monthly Update and Review Template

  • 16 Views

Use this template to gather monthly updates on all programs within the incubator and review progress, challenges, to help identify corrections and pivots

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

Organization: Villgro

Mentor Feedback Template

  • 11 Views

Use this form to gather quick feedback from your mentors, as they meet with the entrepreneurs after each session.

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

Organization: UK-South Africa Tech Hub

Mentor Application Form

  • 22 Views

The hub can use this template to collect details of potential mentors.

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

Organization: UK-South Africa Tech Hub

Incubator – Mentor SLA Document

  • 16 Views

Outline of an agreement / SLA document between incubator hub and the mentor

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

Organization: UK-South Africa Tech Hub

The Hub Specialization Playbook

  • 23 Views

This playbook covers the ten success factors to consider in your specialisation strategy.

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

Organization: GIZ Make-IT in Africa

Mentoring Assessment Tools

  • 19 Views

Receive personalised feedback and clear recommendations on your assessment, as a mentor, mentee or mentoring program managers

  • Category: Enterprise Support & Portfolio Management

Organization: The Human Edge

Tool Category

Resource Type

Search

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 PACE’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 – 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 ‘Mapping Fatigue’ 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

Submit a tool

[tool_custom_submit]

Get in Touch!

Our Network is a community of stakeholders in the impact incubation ecosystem within the Global South.  We work together to scale change, so get in touch and don’t be a stranger.

Media Inquiries

Connect with Us

LinkedIn
Instagram
Facebook

We can't wait to chat!

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Name*
Location
Organisation
Consent*