What is the purpose of community and network building?

• To scale the impact of incubators across the world through a collaborative network that deploys proven resources and leverages partnerships.
• Build a collaborative community of impact incubators.

How do I  benefit from the membership?

Knowledge Experiential: Villgro has, over 20 years of experience, developed specific competencies in:

• incubating social enterprises for BoP impact and
• a refined incubation process for early stage enterprises, and
• process knowledge in technology, business acumen, investing

Who can apply to be a Villgro Community or Villgro Impact Network (V.I.N) member?

Incubators / Accelerators with a mission to support impact oriented social enterprises and its active staff.

What is the commitment needed from me (the incubator) after becoming a Villgro Impact Network member?

• Commitment to the fundamental goal of social impact
• Ability to participate in the training and peer learning sessions
• Share performance data to hep measure effectiveness of incubator
• Open to future partnerships with Villgro

Do I need to adapt Villgro's methodology in order to be a network member?

No. As part of the peer learning and training sessions, Villgro is only sharing the best practices / proven processes with it’s network members. It is totally up to the member incubator to adapt some / all /none of the practices / processes.

Are there multiple levels of membership available?

There are two levels of membership:

• Community Membership
• Network Membership

When does the next V.I.N cohort begin? How do I apply?

Cohorts are formed on a rolling basis. You can apply here

How will the training be conducted for V.I.N members?

The training will be conducted online via virtual sessions.

What kind of partnership opportunities are there?

• Implement a project together with Villgro, where member is a regional partner bringing an understanding of the local ecosystem
• Co-investments in portfolio companies
• In some cases, member incubator can choose to become a local franchise partner of Villgro

Is there a selection criteria that Villgro has to admit members into V.I.N?

• Ability to commit to V.I.N Charter - mainly the goal of social impact
• Alignment in organizational goals:
  • supporting SEs with market driven models
  • aiming for social impact
  • in regions that are of interest to Villgro’s expansion

What are the offerings of each level of membership?

Enquire here

What is the cost of membership?

• Community Membership is FREE for social impact incubators
• Please write to us for the cost of Network Membership

How many employees from my company can join the training/peer learning sessions?

At this time, we welcome 2-5 key members of the impact incubator to participate in the virtual sessions. We do offer custom trainings if more than 5 members per incubator are interested.

Who will mentor the members and how?

Our Villgro-hub leaders, who have significant experience in leading / launching impact incubators will mentor incubator members. The engagement will happen over regular virtual sessions.

Will Villgro USA grant funds to its members?

This is in the works. In the near future Villgro USA plans to support its members through multiple avenues:

• a capacity-building grant for scaling,
• short-term credit for SE's of its members
• and eventually direct investment into the incubators (or their funds) through a 'fund of incubators'.

Is there a V.I.N charter you can share?

V.I.N Members Charter: Members of V.I.N strive towards excellence in our chosen mission. Members are aligned to this global goal, this single and unified purpose, of positively impacting lives at the base of the pyramid. Members want to achieve this goal through innovation and entrepreneurship. To realize this goal, members will incubate innovative entrepreneurs. In this shared effort of achieving this, members are coming together and will grow together. Members commit that they will:

• execute best global practices in incubation
• participate in periodic reviews to become the best in what they do
• be impact focussed and commit to measure and report on impact annually
• generously share knowledge & learn from each other
• share networks and become powerful as a collective
• together inspire the best minds to work on incubation
• strive for inclusion and diversity, in teams, boards, incubatees they serve
• be climate responsible
• be fair, ethical, empathetic and demonstrate high integrity in their actions
• collectively represent the voice of the incubator community at the global level and have our voice heard