ERP for incubators. Applications to graduation, mentors to funders, in one programme record.
An incubator's real product is the mentoring, and its real accountability is to funders. Kinnow keeps applications, cohorts, mentors, desk allocations and grant tranches on one programme record.
From December 2026How does Kinnow help an incubator or accelerator? Applications go through a scored funnel to an accepted place in a cohort. Mentoring sessions are booked, held and recorded. Each venture carries milestones, KPI snapshots and a risk band, and grant tranches are released as approved journals against them. Your committee makes every accept or reject decision, and nothing goes to a funder without a person sending it.
Singapore edition, from December 2026. Nothing on this page is live in Singapore today. The ready-made setup for incubation (we call it an industry pack) is already built into the product. We apply it with you when the edition opens.
Your programme, in one paragraph.
You run cohorts of ventures through a programme of weeks or months. Applications arrive by form and email and screening takes the team weeks. Mentors give time that is rarely recorded, so a founder who met nobody for a quarter looks the same as one who is thriving. You are funded by sponsors, corporates and grants, and each funder wants a report built from portfolio spreadsheets. Desks and lab space are your scarcest recurring asset.
Three things keep the programme head awake: a grant tranche released before the milestone landed, the founder who quietly stopped turning up, and the funder report due on Friday that nobody has started.
How your year runs on Kinnow
The setup gives you four step-by-step routines: Cohort to graduation, Mentoring to outcome, Sponsor to signed programme and Obligation to filed.
| Step | Who | What Kinnow does | Where a person approves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sponsor to signed programme | Programme head | A cohort call is planned and approved, the sponsor is contacted, terms agreed and a programme proposal sent; the sponsor is invoiced for the signed programme. | The proposal and the invoice each need approval. |
| 2. Intake | Programme team | Applications are scored against the cohort rubric across evaluation rounds. The screener flags a likely duplicate and drafts SHORTLIST, REVIEW or HOLD. Interview, offer and acceptance follow. | The committee decides. The screener never rejects. |
| 3. Onboard the venture | Programme manager | The selected venture joins the cohort in the portfolio. Desks and lab space are allocated as agreements. | An allocation over your rent limit needs approval. |
| 4. Mentoring | Mentor, founder | A mentor is matched, a session is scheduled and confirmed, held, and the notes recorded. Mentors use a link, with no login, and a confirmed session syncs to their calendar. A missed session is re-offered. | The programme manager confirms matches. |
| 5. Track the venture | Programme manager | Milestones and periodic KPI snapshots feed a green, amber or red risk band. A chaser drafts requests to ventures that are late to report. | A person commits the flag. |
| 6. Release the tranche | Finance manager | The grant is awarded and drawn down in stages. A tranche is a journal posted against the milestone. | The finance manager approves; this step cannot be skipped. |
| 7. Report to funders | Programme head | A cohort roll-up (graduation rate, funds raised, jobs created, ventures at risk) is drafted as a funder report, and the grant reporting schedule shows what is due. | Your team reviews and sends. |
| 8. Graduate or close | Programme head | The venture graduates or goes dormant, and the cohort closes after graduation. | Recorded by a person. |
| 9. Close and file | Accounts head | Twelve month-end checks, seven of which must pass. If you are GST-registered, the quarter's F5 (the quarterly GST return) is drafted for review once the groundwork is completed before launch and filed by your team. | Books closed and the return approved by people. |
Bring one cohort and one funder report; we will show both on a single programme record.
Mentoring that leaves a record
Without a login
A mentor opens a link to set office hours and confirm sessions. The link carries the context, so the mentor needs no account.
Chased once, politely
A nudge goes to whichever side is being waited on, capped and backing off. It sends unattended only after the programme manager approves that policy once, with a named approver and an expiry.
Notes become a recap
The mentor's own note becomes a draft recap, next action and funder line. Personal data is held back by Veil, our privacy layer, first.
Coverage gaps shown
A weekly digest lists ventures at risk, missed milestones and ventures with no mentor at all.
What the incubation setup puts in place
Four sign-off routes come with it (allocation, disbursement, return filing and project approval), with nine Ask Kinnow starters and eight reports. Your words are used from day one: application, venture, programme or cohort, grant tranche, funder report, office hours. Every limit is set in Singapore dollars with you in the first week.
| Limit | Effect | Why it is there |
|---|---|---|
| Desk or lab agreement, base rent over your limit | Approval | Allocations are your scarcest asset |
| Programme commitment over your limit | Approval | A large programme commits staff and funds |
| Journal over your limit (grant money moves by journal) | Approval | A disbursement is a decision |
| Cohort outreach without a named audience | Blocked | It has no consent behind it and still spends the budget |
| Cohort outreach budget; client credit limit | Warning | Both deserve a second look |
Agents for an incubator
Application Screener
Scores an application from its evaluation rounds against the cohort rubric, flags a likely duplicate and drafts a shortlist recommendation. It never rejects; a low score shows as HOLD.
Mentor match proposer
Ranks a cohort's mentors for a venture by the needs it stated and the mentor's room this week. Assigns nobody.
No-Show Recoverer
Re-offers missed mentoring sessions daily, so a no-show does not end the thread.
Session Recap Composer
Drafts a recap, next action and funder line from the mentor's own note, for the mentor to confirm.
Portfolio Risk Monitor
Advises a green, amber or red band from a declining KPI trend, missed milestones and mentor no-shows. A person commits the flag.
KPI collection chaser
Finds ventures that are late or have never reported and drafts the request. Sends nothing.
Funder Report Composer
Rolls up a cohort's outcomes into a draft funder report. You review and send.
Cohort Digest
The weekly programme-manager digest of ventures at risk, off-track milestones and mentoring gaps.
Every agent is validated with each client before it works on their books, and every output waits for a person.
Ask us to show the risk band and funder report on a sample cohort of yours.
Statutory and funder calendar for an incubator
Kinnow prepares; a person confirms and files. Dates are confirmed with the authority or the funder, not printed here.
| Obligation | What Kinnow prepares | What stays with you |
|---|---|---|
| GST F5 return (quarterly) | Boxes 1 to 8 of the F5 for the quarter, from the sales invoices, credit notes and purchase bills in your books; a credit note reverses its line. Kinnow prices each line at 9 per cent, zero-rates a customer outside Singapore and carries a short exempt list. The calendar puts each return one month after its quarter ends, from the accounting cycle IRAS (Singapore's tax authority) gave you; it refuses to guess the cycle. | A person reviews every box and files through the IRAS portal with their own CorpPass (the government login for businesses) login. Kinnow does not submit it. A Singapore adviser checks the box layout against the current IRAS form before the first filing. |
| InvoiceNow (e-invoicing) | An invoice to another business is marked to go through InvoiceNow, Singapore's national e-invoicing network. Kinnow builds the invoice file in the Peppol format that InvoiceNow uses, addressed by UEN (the company registration number), and refuses one with no supplier UEN. It runs against a test connection only: nothing reaches the network. | Connecting a certified access point (an approved sender on the InvoiceNow network) is a commercial step with a provider. Once delivered, an invoice cannot be cancelled; a credit note corrects it. |
| CPF and the Skills Development Levy (monthly) | Payroll works out CPF (the Central Provident Fund contributions) by age band, on the ordinary-wage ceiling, and the employer's Skills Development Levy, on each payslip. It needs a recorded date of birth and citizen or permanent-resident status, and lists anyone it had to skip. It withholds no income tax: Singapore has no PAYE for citizens and permanent residents. | Payment and submission to the CPF Board happen outside Kinnow. IR8A, IR8S, Appendix 8A (the yearly employee pay statements) and the monthly CPF submission are named in the Singapore setup as filings; Kinnow does not prepare or submit them. |
| ACRA annual return, AGM, estimated chargeable income, corporate tax return | Tracked as registrations on your company, each with the due date Kinnow works out and a lead time before it. The AGM and the annual return are two items, because they run on two clocks. | The company secretary and finance head confirm every date against ACRA (the company registrar) and IRAS, and file. |
| Funder and grant reports | A reporting schedule per grant, with the report drafted when it falls due. | Your team reviews and sends. A format prescribed by a particular funder is adapted by hand. |
What the programme head sees
| Ask Kinnow | Answer built from |
|---|---|
| Which startups are in the current cohort? | Cohort and portfolio |
| What desk space is unallocated? | Property agreements |
| How is each portfolio venture progressing? | Project value by status |
| Which mentoring sessions are overdue? | Mentoring sessions |
| Which agreements are up for renewal? | Lease register |
| Which cohort campaigns are running? | Campaign register |
Each answer shows its source and what it will cost before it runs. Veil, our privacy layer, holds back bank, tax and ID numbers and swaps names for placeholders before an AI call. It covers Ask Kinnow and most agents today; the rest are being added.
Ask us to run these questions on your own cohort.
Questions
Does the screener reject applicants automatically?
No. It scores applications against your cohort rubric, flags likely duplicates and drafts a shortlist. Your committee makes every accept or reject decision.
Can mentors book without a Kinnow login?
Yes. A mentor opens a link to set office hours and confirm sessions, and a confirmed session syncs to their calendar.
Can we report to funders from Kinnow?
Yes. The Funder Report Composer drafts the cohort roll-up and each grant has a reporting schedule. Your team reviews and sends; nothing is published automatically.
How are grant tranches controlled?
A grant moves from awarded to drawn down in stages, and a tranche is a journal that a finance manager approves, and nothing moves until then. Journals over your limit also need approval.
Can we allocate desks and labs in the same system?
Yes. Desk and lab allocations are agreements with a start, end and renewal date, and a large one needs approval.
How long does set-up take?
About two weeks to first results for one company, counted from when your Singapore edition is switched on in December 2026: masters and opening balances in the first week, agents switched on and a first close in the second.
Does it work on a phone?
It works in the phone browser. There is no separate mobile app.
Show me Kinnow for incubators.
Answer three questions. Get the applications, the agents and a two-week plan for your business.