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 (the instalments of a grant) on one programme record. Available in the United Kingdom from early 2027.
From early 2027How does Kinnow help an incubator or accelerator? Applications are scored and move step by step to an accepted place in a cohort. Mentoring sessions are booked, held and recorded. Each venture carries milestones, regular KPI figures and a risk rating, and grant tranches are released as approved accounting entries against them. Your committee makes every accept or reject decision, and nothing goes to a funder without a person sending it.
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. Sponsors, corporates and grants fund you, and each funder wants a report pulled together from portfolio spreadsheets. Desks and lab space are what you have least of, and they are let again and again.
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
Four ready-made routines come set up: Cohort to graduation, Mentoring to outcome, Sponsor to signed programme and Obligation to filed. A sample year for a programme in, say, Leeds or Bristol looks like this.
| Step | Who | What Kinnow does | Where a person approves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sponsor to signed programme | Programme head | You plan and approve a cohort call, contact the sponsor, agree terms and send a programme proposal; the sponsor is then invoiced for the signed programme. | The proposal and the invoice each need approval. |
| 2. Intake | Programme team | Applications are scored against your cohort scoring sheet across evaluation rounds. The screener flags a likely duplicate and drafts a recommendation: SHORTLIST, REVIEW or HOLD. Interview, offer and acceptance follow. | The committee decides. The screener never rejects. |
| 3. Onboard the venture | Programme manager | The chosen venture joins the cohort in the portfolio. Desks and lab space are given out as agreements. | An allocation above a base rent you set needs approval. |
| 4. Mentoring | Mentor, founder | A mentor is matched, a session is booked, confirmed and held, and the notes recorded. Mentors use a link with no login, and a confirmed session appears in their calendar. A missed session is offered again. | The programme manager confirms matches. |
| 5. Track the venture | Programme manager | Milestones and regular KPI figures feed a green, amber or red risk rating. A chaser drafts requests to ventures that are late to report. | A person confirms the rating. |
| 6. Release the tranche | Finance manager | The grant is awarded and paid out in stages. Each tranche is an accounting entry posted against the milestone. | The finance manager approves; nothing moves without it. |
| 7. Report to funders | Programme head | Kinnow drafts a funder report from a summary of the whole cohort (graduation rate, funds raised, jobs created, ventures at risk), 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 quiet, and the cohort closes after graduation. | Recorded by a person. |
| 9. Close and report | Finance manager | Twelve month-end checks, seven of which must pass. Where you are VAT registered, the groundwork to draft the nine-box VAT return and file for review is completed before launch. | A person closes the books; a person files the return. |
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 already holds the details, so the mentor needs no account.
Chased once, politely
A reminder goes to whichever side is being waited on, with a cap on how many, spaced further apart each time. It sends on its own only after the programme manager has approved that rule once, with a named approver and an end date.
Notes become a recap
Kinnow turns the mentor's own note into a draft recap, a next action and a line for the funder. Veil, our privacy layer, holds back personal data first.
Gaps shown
A weekly summary lists ventures at risk, missed milestones and ventures with no mentor at all.
What the incubation setup includes
| Safeguard | Effect | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Desk or lab agreement, base rent above a value you set | Approval | Allocations are your scarcest asset |
| Programme commitment above a value you set | Approval | A commitment to a cohort is hard to undo |
| Accounting entry above a value you set (grant money moves this way) | Approval | A disbursement decision |
| Cohort outreach with no named audience | Blocked | The record of consent under PECR (the UK marketing-consent rules) needs an audience to point to |
| Cohort outreach budget above a value you set | Warning | A check on spend before a campaign runs |
| Return filing, net payable above a value you set | Approval | A person reviews before anything is filed |
| Client credit limit above a value you set | Warning | A sponsor invoice larger than usual |
We set the limits with you; none is preset for the United Kingdom.
Four lists of who signs off, in order, come switched on: allocation, payout, return filing and project approval. Nine starter questions for Ask Kinnow and eight reports come with the ready-made setup for your industry (we call it an industry pack). Your own words are used from day one: application, venture, programme or cohort, grant tranche, funder report, office hours.
Agents for an incubator
Application Screener
Scores an application from its evaluation rounds against your cohort scoring sheet, 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 how much time each mentor has this week. Assigns nobody.
No-Show Recoverer
Offers missed mentoring sessions again each day, so a no-show does not end the conversation.
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 confirms the rating.
KPI collection chaser
Finds ventures that are late or have never reported and drafts the request. Sends nothing.
Funder Report Composer
Sums up a cohort's results in a draft funder report. You review and send.
Cohort Digest
A weekly summary for the programme manager of ventures at risk, milestones off track 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.
Dates a UK incubator keeps
The compliance calendar checks deadlines every night and alerts you 15, 7 and 1 day before each. Dates are as we understood them when this was written, so your adviser confirms each one. Which items apply depends on whether you are a company and whether you are VAT registered.
| Obligation | When it falls | What Kinnow does |
|---|---|---|
| VAT return (nine boxes), if registered | One calendar month and seven days after the period end; your HMRC stagger group (the quarter pattern HMRC gave you) decides the period | Groundwork to prepare the nine-box return and file from sales and purchase records, completed before launch. A person files it. Kinnow does not send anything to HMRC |
| Confirmation statement, if a company | Annually, at Companies House | Tracks the date and reminds you. Your adviser confirms it |
| Annual accounts, if a company | Nine months after the accounting reference date for a private company | Tracks the date; does not prepare or file the accounts |
| Corporation tax return | Twelve months after the period end; tax is due earlier | Tracks the date; does not work out the tax or prepare the return |
| ICO data protection fee | Annually | Tracks the date and reminds you |
| Payroll | Each pay period | PAYE (tax taken from pay each month), employee and employer National Insurance, pension contributions and student loan, worked out in a payroll run a second person approves |
| Funder and grant reports | The schedule in each grant | A reporting schedule for each grant, with the report drafted when it is due |
There is no default VAT stagger group: you set it, and Kinnow will not guess.
See your VAT and grant reporting dates on one calendar.
What the programme head can ask
| Ask Kinnow | The answer comes from |
|---|---|
| Which startups are in the current cohort? | Cohort and portfolio |
| What desk space is unallocated? | Desk and lab agreements |
| How is each portfolio venture progressing? | Project value by status |
| Which mentoring sessions are overdue? | Mentoring sessions |
| Which agreements are up for renewal? | Agreements list |
| Which cohort campaigns are running? | Campaign list |
| When is my next VAT return due? | Compliance calendar, once you have set your stagger group |
Each answer shows its source and 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.
Questions
Does the screener reject applicants automatically?
No. It scores applications against your cohort scoring sheet, 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 appears in their calendar.
Can we report to funders from Kinnow?
Yes. The Funder Report Composer drafts the cohort summary, 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 paid out in stages, and each tranche is an accounting entry that a finance manager must approve before it moves. Manual journals also need a second person, with the reason recorded.
Does Kinnow file our VAT return with HMRC?
No. Where your incubator is VAT registered, the groundwork to prepare the nine-box return and a file is completed before launch. A person files it through recognised software or HMRC. Your adviser confirms each box before first use.
Can we allocate desks and labs in Kinnow too?
Yes. Desk and lab allocations are agreements with a start, end and renewal date, and a large one needs approval.
Is any of this live in the UK today?
No. The United Kingdom edition is available from early 2027. The groundwork is built; the incubation setup is completed with early-access customers, and each agent is validated with each client before it works on their books.
How long does set-up take?
About two weeks to first results for one organisation: your lists (Masters), cohort scoring sheet and opening balances in the first week, agents switched on and a first close in the second.
Show me Kinnow for incubators.
Answer three questions. Get the applications, the agents and a two-week plan for your business.