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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 “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. 

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The Incubation Toolkit for Africa

  • 23 Views

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.

  • Category: Incubator Design
  • Type: Toolkits

Organization: FATE Foundation

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

  • 9 Views

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

  • Category: Incubator Design
  • Type: Handbooks

Organization: GIIN

Gender Toolkit

  • 5 Views

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

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

Organization: British International Investment

A framework to Drive Impact

  • 4 Views

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.

  • Category: Incubator Design
  • Type: Media Resources

Organization: DUKE

Igniting Innovation: A comprehensive handbook for incubators and accelerators

  • 2 Views

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

  • Category: Incubator Design
  • Type: Handbooks

Organization: Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC)

Lab to Market Commercialization Playbook

  • 5 Views

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

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

Organization: William Davidson Institute at University of Michigan

A Practitioner’s Guide to Effective Blended Finance Solutions for Social Enterprises

  • 4 Views
  • Category: Enterprise Support & Portfolio Management
  • Type: Research

Organization: Villgro

INCUBATION FUND MANAGEMENT: Investment Playbook for Startup Incubators

  • 6 Views

This playbook offers suggestive guidelines for early-stage incubators that have recently begun receiving seed grants from governments and other sources. While broadly relevant to all incubators managing an Incubation Fund, this guide would be most useful for incubators and incubation managers with limited prior experience in fund deployment and management.

  • Category: Incubator Design
  • Type: Handbooks

Organization: MeitY Startup Hub

The Circular Venture Blueprint: A Guide for ESOs

  • 3 Views

Supporting circular economy ventures calls for approaches that differ from traditional entrepreneurship support. These ventures often follow distinct growth paths, need specialised market connections, and create value in ways that mainstream metrics don’t capture.

  • Category: Incubator Design
  • Type: Handbooks

Organization: Circular Economy Innovation Cluster

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Screening Selection & Due Diligence

  • 1 Views

A collection of templates that are utilized by incubators to screen and select the right entrepreneurs to their program.

  • Category: Pipeline Sourcing & Selection
  • Type: Templates

Organization: Miller Center / Villgro / Villgro Africa / Villgro Philippines / Impact Hub Abidjan

New Leaders: Here’s how to hire a top talent

A great hiring strategy can have a positive impact on a manager’s career. While you may not always have the power to choose your team, learning how to spot and appeal to high-performing candidates can fundamentally impact your trajectory.

  • Category: Talent
  • Type: Media Resources

Organization: HBR - Ryan Renteria

Supporting Women Entrepreneurs in Developing Countries: What Works

This paper summarizes the evidence base on women’s entrepreneurship
and serves as an update to the 2022 version, Supporting Women
Entrepreneurs in Developing Countries: What Works?

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

Organization: We-Fi

Developing a Data Collection Plan

This guide provides accelerators with an overview of how to approach designing a data collection plan to generate actionable insights.

  • Category: Incubator Design
  • Type: Handbooks

Organization: GALI

Conducting Layoffs with Purpose

A guide providing a structure to conducting layoffs responsibly

  • Category: Talent
  • Type: Handbooks, Playbooks & Guides

Organization: Rippleworks

Defining Success for your Accelerator Program

  • 3 Views

This presentation provides an introduction to using a Theory of Change to clearly articulate what your program hopes to achieve, and an example of what an accelerator Theory of Change could look like.

  • Category: Incubator Design
  • Type: Handbooks

Organization: GALI

Innovators Academy for Impact

The academy aims to empower individuals and organizations to build and scale social business models that not only generate value but also contribute to social and environmental change. This platform provides learning opportunities for growth and resources tailored to the needs of social entrepreneurs and changemakers around the world. Our goal is to equip you with the knowledge, tools and networks you need to increase your social impact and turn your vision into action. Whether you’re starting out or looking to expand your skills, our Academy has everything you need. Watch the video to find out more.

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

Organization: Seimens Stiftung Foundation

Incubator Budget and Cash Flow Template

This is an example of an incubator’s budget and cash flow tracker.

  • Category: Governance
  • Type: Templates

Organization: SHE Investments

Recruitment, Hiring, Onboarding Processes

  • 2 Views

This is an example of an incubator’s documented recruitment, hiring, and onboarding processes.

  • Category: Talent
  • Type: Templates

Organization: SHE Investments

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