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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Landscape Analysis of the Uganda Innovation Ecosystem

The report provides an overview of the research on the Entrepreneurship Support Organisations (ESOs) in Uganda, how they are set up, what they offer, to whom, and how. It particularly looks at the state and opportunity of collaboration among stakeholders in the ecosystem, especially among the ESOs, but also with the public sector. It gives a list of 16 recommendations to bring the Ugandan entrepreneurship ecosystem forward and ensure that entrepreneurs get better support faster.

Organization: Response Innovation Lab & Start Up Uganda

Lean Research: Human Centered Approach to Research

Lean Research is an approach and an initiative to improve the practice of data collection involving people and communities in development and humanitarian contexts.

Organization: D-Lab

Lean Data Approaches to Measure Social Impact

In this course, learn the Lean Data methodology, a new way to collect insights from customers in order to measure your outcomes and make decisions that maximize impact.

Organization: Acumen

Embedding Circularity in Entrepreneurial Support: Learning from Pilot Programs

The document enlists the best practices and recommendations for incubators and accelerators to support circularity entrepreneurs. Impact Hub launched the โ€œCircularity by Design” program in 2021 with the hypothesis that just like profitability is a design principle for most businesses, circularity can also become a design principle for enterprises. Impact Hub developed the โ€œEmbedding Circularityโ€ toolkit for incubators and accelerators, provided capacity building to business support organizations, and validated the tools with entrepreneurs and businesses through pilot incubation and acceleration programs with 12 Impact Hubs in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.

Organization: Impact Hub

Tools for Designing Inclusive Entrepreneurship Support Programmes

The Toolkit is organised in line with the common
steps of designing and running a business support
programme. You can easily navigate these different
steps below and jump directly to where you are at,
or you can read from beginning to end to get a better
grasp of the many facets and perspectives when it
comes to inclusion and accessibility in incubation and
business support. For each step, different tools are
listed and you can pick out what best fits your reality.

Organization: Impact Hub

Collection of Best Practices in Inclusive Entrepreneurship Support Programmes

The document aims to provide actionable insights for incubators & accelerators, NGOs, policymakers, funders, and other stakeholders to be applied in the design and implementation of inclusive incubation and support programs, strategies, and/or policies.

Organization: Impact Hub

Toolkit for Inclusive and Relevant Business Support for Indigenous Entrepreneurs

This guide is for Indigenous support organizations who walk alongside Indigenous entrepreneurs, helping them grow ideas into realities that honor their cultural, social, and economic aspirations. It’s a starting point for aligning business support with the deep-rooted values and needs of Indigenous communities.

Organization: Impact Hub

HerVenture

HerVenture is an award-winning app designed to fit business learning into the busy lives of women entrepreneurs. It offers essential business training and support on topics like launching a business, accessing finance, expanding market access, e-commerce, and digital marketing. The app targets women in low or middle-income countries who are starting or running micro or small businesses in any sector.

HerVenture provides a personalized learning journey for each entrepreneur, delivering content in bite-sized, easily digestible formats like swipe-able cards and quizzes, which can be accessed offline. The app also facilitates networking among users and informs them about local business events. Through HerVenture, women gain foundational business knowledge, skills, confidence, and support to start, grow, and digitize their businesses.

Organization: Cherie Blair Foundation for Women

Creating programs for Women Entrepreneurs with Disabilities

This is a guide with real life stories of women in Cambodia living in the coastal communities who rely on fishing as their primary
source of income, who are part of a program co-implemented by Agile Development Group and Aide Et Action Cambodia(AEA) in the purpose of improving their socio-economic development

Organization: Agile DG

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Investment Readiness Accelerator for Businesses

This is a 3 in 1 tool that:
1) assists incubators and accelerators how to map up investor prospects through a sales funnel,
2) offers a fundraising pipeline management tool, and
3) includes an extensive due diligent checklist that includes the following broad categories – Product feasibility,vision and strategy, market attractiviness,business model, financial health etc

Organization: ANGIN

Frontier Incubator Masterclass Series

Frontier Incubators launched a series of webinars to connect leaders from global accelerator and incubator programs with program managers who are seeking to serve entrepreneurs in the Asia-Pacific. Key insights from the session include the value of alumni as ambassadors, partnering with other programs, creating mutually beneficial partner arrangements, the potential of sector specific cohorts, the importance of program partner selection, ongoing application opportunities, incentive structures, and the significance of clear selection criteria.

Organization: Frontier Incubators (DFAT)

Running Effective Mentoring Programmes

Is your mentoring programme not delivering the results you were expecting? Are you planning to run a new mentoring programme?

Many structured mentoring programmes achieve sub-par results because their planning and execution does not draw on best practice. Often, they start off strong but then slowly fizzle out, and other times, they donโ€™t even take off.

Organization: The Human Edge

Empowering FP/RH innovations for scale – Scale Up Lessons

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 userโ€™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 – 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 userโ€™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 userโ€™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 (GSBIยฎ), 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 GBSIยฎ 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

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