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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. 

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

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Best Practices for Screening, Selection & Due Diligence

  • 3 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 the process of screening, selection, and due diligence of entrepreneurs

  • Category: Pipeline Sourcing & Selection
  • Type: Best Practices & Lessons Learned

Organization: Pollinate Impact

Guide to Impact Incubation & Acceleration

  • 5 Views

This is an interactive resource for entrepreneurial support
organisations (ESOs) who are running impact-focused
incubators or accelerators in the Asia-Pacific, and
beyond

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

Organization: Frontier Incubators Program

Venture Development Framework (VDF)

  • 6 Views

To describe the development of early-stage science- and technology-based ventures.

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

Organization: Venturewell

ynos

  • 4 Views

YNOS is India’s largest information and analytics platform for early-stage startups and investors. The platform uses advanced data integration tools, analytical search methods, and powerful filters to screen and search startups, investors, and incubators across hundreds of industries and sectors.

  • Category: Pipeline Sourcing & Selection

Organization: IIT Madras

Gender Lens Incubation and Acceleration Toolkit

  • 5 Views

(GLIA) toolkit is an interactive resource, to guide accelerators and incubators (or ‘intermediaries’) through the journey of uncovering how our activities impact, and are experienced by, different gendered groups.

  • Category: Incubator Design, Strategy & Impact
  • Type: Toolkits

Organization: Sasakawa Peace Foundation, ygap, Conveners.org and SecondMuse

Accelerating Women Entrepreneurs – A Handbook for Practitioners

  • 5 Views

This handbook is an interactive resource for you, whether you want to attract
more women entrepreneurs and/or better support them, want to improve the programme
or learn from the challenges and successes of others, select the right partners to run a programme, new to entrepreneurship support programmes &
women’s empowerment

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

Organization: GIZ

ESO Collaborative

  • 6 Views

This platform is a community resource developed by the ESO Collaborative which brings together government, the Ghana Hubs Network, and other enterprise support organisations. It provides entrepreneurs, startups, businesses, freelancers etc. with extensive details of programmes provided by Enterprise Support Organisations (ESOs) in Ghana.

  • Category: Pipeline Sourcing & Selection
  • Type: Research

Organization: Impact Investing Ghana

Academy

  • 6 Views

The AfriLabs Academy is an initiative of AfriLabs and implemented under the AfriLabs Capacity Building Programme that is designed to equip African Hub managers and staff with the training and management skills needed to improve their ability and capacity to support the growing number of startups and MSMEs in their communities

  • Category: Talent
  • Type: Trainings & Capacity Building

Organization: Afrilabs

NEX Portfolio

  • 4 Views

Please find our detailed database of some of our portfolio businesses here. Our aim is to provide more connections and global network opportunities to businesses that have participated in NEX programming as well as offer market expansion opportunities.

Listing of companies, many of which are seeking out collaborators, we’ve supported in 12 countries. This database is still being enriched and more data to be added by end of March.

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

Organization: New Energy Nexus

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Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Diagnostic Toolkit

  • 1 Views

This resource is a practical methodology to understand how entrepreneurship ecosystems work, identify their structural conditions, and guide evidence-based decision-making.

The model provides a clear way to analyze entrepreneurship ecosystems based on their core elements: the eight structural domains, the participation of key actors, the stages of the entrepreneurial journey, and digital maturity as a cross-cutting component. It enables the identification of strengths, gaps, bottlenecks, and opportunities for coordinated action in each territory.

  • Category: Incubator Design, Strategy & Impact
  • Type: Toolkits

Organization: ANDE

Reimagining the Future of Entrepreneurship Support Organisations in East Africa

  • 52 Views

The report identifies the interconnected challenges facing entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs), including incubators and accelerators. This WDI report takes a solutions-oriented approach for better serving entrepreneurs, maximizing the impact of limited donor resources, and strengthening the pipeline of investable companies.

  • Category: Incubator Design, Strategy & Impact
  • Type: Reports & Research

Organization: William Davidson Institute

Supporting Waste Management & Circular Economy Innovation

  • 9 Views

The toolkit brings together lessons from Kenya’s waste and circular economy ecosystem and global best practices. It is designed to be practical, adaptable, and action-oriented.

  • Clear explanations of waste management and circular economy principles
  • Guidance on designing and running effective support programmes for waste-focused SGBs
  • Real-world case studies from Kenya and beyond
  • Best practices across the full enterprise support journey — from recruitment and programme design to post-programme support and ecosystem engagement
  • Tools and frameworks for measuring environmental, social, and business impact
  • Category: Incubator Design, Strategy & Impact
  • Type: Toolkits

Organization: ANDE

Application Form Template & Program Information Kit

  • 5 Views

This is a sample of a program application form for a University based incubator. It also includes clear description of the program, what is included in the program, and the expectations from applicant entrepreneurs.

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

Organization: Oxford University Innovation

Building Strong Funder Relationships & Navigating Funding Rejections

  • 5 Views

Every nonprofit leader knows the thrill of submitting a compelling grant proposal—and the sting of receiving a “no.” But what if rejection could be a catalyst for deeper alignment, stronger relationships, and future funding success?

That was the heart of our recent Masterclass hosted on the Catalyst NOW platform, “Building Stronger Funder Relationships and Navigating Funding Rejections,” featuring wisdom from sector leaders Tia Hodges, President & CEO, MetLife Foundation, Tanya Jaramilla, Director of Impact & Operations, Julian Grace Foundation, and Natalie Rekstad, Founder & CEO of Black Fox Global.

  • Category: Donor & Investor Relations
  • Type: Trainings & Capacity Building

Organization: Black Fox Global

Investment Readiness Accelerator for Businesses

  • 4 Views

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

  • Category: Pipeline Sourcing & Selection
  • Type: Templates

Organization: ANGIN

Frontier Incubator Masterclass Series

  • 2 Views

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.

  • Category: Pipeline Sourcing & Selection

Organization: Frontier Incubators (DFAT)

Running Effective Mentoring Programmes

  • 5 Views

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 don’t even take off.

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

Organization: The Human Edge

Empowering FP/RH innovations for scale – Scale Up Lessons

  • 4 Views

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, Strategy & Impact
  • Type: Best Practices & Lessons Learned

Organization: USAID & MOMENTUM Innovation Accelerator

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