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. 

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Empowering FP/RH innovations for scale – Tool Kit

Empowering FP/RH Innovations for Scale is a set of resources to provide an approach to stakeholders to better assess and support the scale-up of FP/RH innovations and accelerate progress towards FP/RH goals. Along with a summary, this includes a scale-up guide, toolkits and templates, and scale-up lessons and case studies. These resources are not exhaustive and build off and reference other tools and resources.
Resources include –
1. Summary and user’s guide
2. Scale-up guide
3. Toolkit & Templates
4. Scale-up lessons and case studies

Organization: USAID & MOMENTUM Innovation Accelerator

Empowering FP/RH innovations for scale – Scale Up Guide

Empowering FP/RH Innovations for Scale is a set of resources to provide an approach to stakeholders to better assess and support the scale-up of FP/RH innovations and accelerate progress towards FP/RH goals. Along with a summary, this includes a scale-up guide, toolkits and templates, and scale-up lessons and case studies. These resources are not exhaustive and build off and reference other tools and resources.
Resources include –
1. Summary and user’s guide
2. Scale-up guide
3. Toolkit & Templates
4. Scale-up lessons and case studies

Organization: USAID & MOMENTUM Innovation Accelerator

The GSBI Methodology for Social Entrepreneurship

The Global Social Benefit Institute (GSBI®), a pioneer in social enterprise capacity development, has continuously improved its methodology since its founding in 2003. The lessons GSBI has learned from working with 365 social enterprises are broadly applicable to capacity development efforts across
sectors and geographies. This paper introduces GSBI and explains the GBSI® methodology, with the goal of helping the global social enterprise movement create more exits from poverty.

Organization: Miller Center for Global Impact

The Incubation Toolkit for Africa

The Incubation Programme Toolkit for Africa is a free, practical guide designed specifically for hubs, incubators, and ecosystem builders across Africa. It helps them design, implement, and improve incubation initiatives that deliver measurable business outcomes and stronger support for early-stage startups.

Organization: FATE Foundation

How to Measure the Gender Impact of Investments: Using the 2X Challenge Indicators in Alignment with IRIS+

A guidance resource for incubators, accelerators, and investors to measure and report gender impact using the 2X Challenge criteria, aligned with IRIS+ indicators.

Organization: GIIN

Gender Toolkit

Gender Toolkit is a free, practical online resource designed to help investors, companies and other stakeholders integrate gender-smart approaches into their processes and decisions. It offers guidance, tools, templates and sector-specific insights to support gender-inclusive strategies and investments — with the ultimate aim of advancing women’s economic empowerment and gender equality

Organization: British International Investment

A framework to Drive Impact

This explains how your Theory of Change can be an effective framework to drive impact. The video also highlights three points to keep in mind when creating your theory of change.

Organization: DUKE

Igniting Innovation: A comprehensive handbook for incubators and accelerators

Standardized templates and guidelines can greatly assist these entities in establishing a
governance structure, defining eligibility criteria, developing application
processes, and creating agreements with startups in a consistent and
efficient manner. By adopting these resources, incubators can improve
operational efficiency, reduce the risk of non-compliance, and align their
operations with industry standards and best practices. Pg. 377 onwards

Organization: Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC)

Lab to Market Commercialization Playbook

This resource covers the entire commercialization process in one place with highly practical tools, tips, and resources Include general and stage-specific guidance, and pertains to any university or research institution and any technology/sector, with a focus on energy & mobility

Organization: William Davidson Institute at University of Michigan

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Satsense App

This tool uses satellite earth observation for transparent digital monitoring reporting and verification of Natural Capital projects. It can evaluate the positive impacts of land management practices to help generate carbon, biodiversity and other green credits.

Organization: Satsense Solutions

Due Diligence Check list

Checklist of documents to put in your Data Room for a DD process

Organization: Impact Hub Abidjan

Creative Metier 4V Model Diagnostic Tool

The Creative Metier 4V Model offers socially committed impact networks, and their funders, the opportunity to significantly accelerate their impact by drawing on our work with national, regional and global networks.

It provides a diagnostic, a 360 view and a fresh perspective to strengthen network performance and impact.

The 4V Model Diagnostic Tool benchmarks your network now, informs strategic planning, sets annual priorities, reviews and refocuses, and stretches thinking about what might be possible.

Organization: Creative Metier

Impact-OS (Powered by Impact Amplifier)

Impact-OS (IOS) helps organisations create digital accelerator programmes in Africa.

IOS provides technology to investors, Enterprise Support Organisations (ESOs), and accelerators to setup, white label and manage scalable online programmes to entrepreneurs, particularly focused on grant and investment readiness.

Organization: Impact Amplifier

What Ugandan ESOs Can Teach the World

What’s working in entrepreneur support in Uganda?

“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” is a phrase associated with the principles behind entrepreneurship ecosystem development. When ecosystem actors collaborate, the value they create by working together is larger than if they work independently. This certainly rings true with what we’ve experienced working with more than 170 fellow Entrepreneur Support Organisations (ESOs) from 40 countries since 2015.

Sub-Saharan Africa is a hub for innovation. The continent has the highest rate of entrepreneurship globally, partly because of its young and digitally literate population. The support provided by tech hubs, incubators, and accelerators is invaluable. Depending on which resources you reference, Africa has somewhere between 600 to 1300 of these organisations across the continent and they provide the contextualised support that African entrepreneurs need to grow and
scale.

This report shares key insights drawn from the Ugandan ecosystem and a practical set of exercises developed in close collaboration with ESO leaders who have tried and tested building out their organisations’ financial, impact, and operational viability.

Organization: Village Capital

Unlocking Pipeline Africa. A Playbook for Entrepreneur Support in Africa

The Unlocking Pipeline Playbook compiles lessons, case studies, and trends gathered from our pioneering Village Capital’s Communities Africa program, which brought together leading African entrepreneur ecosystem builders to share best practices.

Organization: Village Capital

SMARTER SYSTEMS: How Tweaking Your Diligence Process Can Unlock Overlooked opportunities ACCELERATOR IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE

We found that there are discrepancies in how investors evaluate men-led and women-led
startups, potentially leading them to overlook promising startups and overestimate less
promising startups. This implementation guide outlines three steps we found that accelerators can incorporate into their selection processes to consistently evaluate all startups more accurately.

Organization: Village Capital

Capital Explorer

The objective of Capital Explorer is to equip and support entrepreneurs in exploring which funding options may be a good fit for their business and help them identify capital providers offering those options.

Organization: Village Capital

Product improvement tool

Use behavioral science principles to share user insights

Organization: Maha Accelerator

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