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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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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.

  • Category: Enterprise Support & Portfolio Management
  • Type: Technology Platforms / Software

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

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

Organization: Agile DG

Disability Innovation:Empowering Enterpreneurs

The report delves into the current state of the disability innovation ecosystem, highlighting the accomplishments and the importance of the perspective of leaders within the innovation ecosystem while identifying avenues for potential improvement.

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

Organization: Village Capital

Global Report on Assitive Technology

The Global report on assistive technology presents a comprehensive dataset and analysis of current assistive technology access, drawing the attention of governments and civil society to the need for, and benefit of, assistive technology, including its return on investment. The Global report sets out ten recommendations for improving access to assistive technology

  • Category: Incubator Design
  • Type: Research

Organization: WHO - World Health Organization

Disability Etiquette

This is a guide used to help ESO’s understand the acceptable language and behaviour when working with persons who are abled differently. From those who are visually impaired, physical impairment or mental impairment

  • Category: Incubator Design
  • Type: Handbooks

Organization: Disability.in

Decision Making Tool

Software can help make important decisions efficiently and fairly, and create powerful decision-making tools you can trust. This can be applied by ESOs in making decisions related to enterprise selection for a cohort.

  • Category: Pipeline Sourcing & Selection
  • Type: Technology Platforms / Software

Organization: 1000Minds

Women-Inclusive Return on Investment Calculations

This work addresses a gap in evidence from firms in lower—and middle-income countries (LMICs) on the ROI of women’s inclusion. This series profiles select small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have implemented women-inclusive (WI) initiatives and can demonstrate returns on investment (ROI).

The case study series features:

1) Grean World: How an Ethiopian energy company utilized female sales agents to attract female consumers and tackle last mile distribution.
2) Okeba: How a Uganda agribusiness provided care support to its staff and ultimately reduced costs.

Other reports include:
3) Navigating Firm Selection for Women-Inclusive ROI—A Learning Note: Provides key insights MSP gained from the process of vetting and selecting companies for WI-ROI.
4) Closing the Gap: A Synthesis Report on the Cases for the ROI of Women’s Inclusion: This report includes the findings, benefits, and considerations of the WI-ROI approach, which can be applied during implementation and to continue building on the evidence for returns on women-inclusive investments.

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

Organization: William Davidson Institute at University of Michigan

Mentoring Skills & Practice Course

Learn and practice the science and art of impactful mentoring and coaching with our self-paced Mentoring Skills and Practice Course. You’ll learn how to build meaningful relationships and have purposeful conversations, provide constructive feedback, and create a safe and supportive environment where people can learn, grow and perform.

  • Category: Talent
  • Type: Trainings & Capacity Building

Organization: The Human Edge

Mentoring Question Toolkit

Compilation of a number of impactful mentoring questions for you to explore together, support each other during difficult times, deepen your mentoring relationships and enhance your mentoring conversations. These questions are also excellent if you wish to self-mentor yourself and identify and learn about your own interferences, needs and areas of opportunity and growth.

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

Organization: The Human Edge

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The Innovation Playbook

The primary purpose of this Innovation Playbook is to provide a structured yet
comprehensive guide for stakeholders involved in the creation, management, and growth of
incubation and acceleration programs. The Playbook can serve as a guide to those looking to
support innovations, specifically in the health sector, with a lens of affordability and
accessibility. This playbook has been designed to simplify the processes associated with
establishing and operating successful incubation initiatives, ensuring consistency, efficiency,
and effectiveness across programs and mitigate challenges for new operators.

  • Category: Incubator Design
  • Type: Handbooks

Organization: Villgro Philippines & USAID

Empowering FP/RH innovations for scale

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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

  • Category: Incubator Design
  • Type: Handbooks

Organization: USAID & MOMENTUM Innovation Accelerator

Pre-Seed + Seed Investor Database

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

Organization: Founding Journey

Business Coaching Playbook

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 mentors’ approaches to mentorship and key lessons that they have learned on their mentorship journey.

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

Organization: Allan Gray Orbis Foundation

The measurement of success in a business incubation projec

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 field by identifying “good” practice and considersthe measurement of success within such projects

  • Category: Incubator Design
  • Type: Research

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

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
  • Type: Research

Organization: Rio de Janeiro State University

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

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

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
  • Type: Research

Organization: Wadhwani Foundation NEN

Handbook for Non-Profit Incubator Managers

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
  • Type: Handbooks

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

Greentech

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

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