The Cultivator
Venture Builder |
Incubator |
Accelerator |
Collaborator
The Cultivator is Centre for Global Equality’s specialist venture builder, incubator, accelerator, and collaborator. It supports social entrepreneurs and research-led innovators to translate ideas into context-appropriate, scalable impact aligned to the SDGs.
Across the SDG landscape, too many promising ideas, people, and solutions are lost along the venture journey. Traditional funding and support systems can be fragmented, risk-averse, and misaligned with early-stage, challenge-led entrepreneurship. The Cultivator responds with a practical, long-term approach that connects those who deeply understand a problem with those who can help solve it.
Our Programme in Numbers (24/25)
How the Cultivator Works
We prioritise passionate, challenge-centric people and support them through four pillars:
Targeted funding opportunities
Awards and milestone based grants deployed at key development stages to unblock progress.
Long-term support & mentorship
Tailored guidance across the full venture journey from idea to impact, recognising that adoption and diffusion take time.
A community of social innovators
A diverse peer and alumni network that eases the isolation of entrepreneurship and unlocks sharing and networking.
Co-creation opportunities
Collaboration with challenge owners and CGE’s global partner network to test ideas, solve problems, and scale in‑context.
Inclusive Entrepreneurship
Inclusive innovation is the practice of creating solutions with the people who live the challenge, not merely for them. It emphasises context, equity, and collaboration so that solutions find their right place to thrive. At CGE, inclusive innovation is the organisation-wide strategy and organising principle. The Cultivator turns that strategy into action by:
- Positioning the challenge owner at the centre of venture design.
- Connecting the elements of change: entrepreneurs, researchers, public sector, industry, and civil society, to reduce risk and increase adoption.
- Translating research into impact through practical support, credible partnerships, and context-appropriate scaling pathways.
The Cultivator applies CGE’s inclusive innovation strategy in venture-building terms, helping entrepreneurs practise applied inclusive innovation so that solutions are legitimate, adoptable, and sustainable.
Who we support?
Social entrepreneurs and research-driven teams whose primary mission is to address an SDG-aligned challenge. Ventures can be nonprofit or for-profit; tech-push or tech-pull. What matters is a challenge-centric approach, co-creation with the intended users, and a commitment to context-appropriate scale. The Cultivator works across several thematic areas, including, but not limited to:
WASH
Health
Education
Climate
Food
Migration
Energy
DeepTech
OpenSource
Spotlighted Programme Members
Our Programme Theory of Change
Funders
CGE is actively seeking multi-year funders and aligned CSR partners to accelerate inclusive innovation through the Cultivator. We partner with foundations, corporates, family offices, and public funders who share our commitment to SDG-aligned, context-appropriate impact.
What can we offer you?
Amplify impact
Back ventures delivering measurable social and environmental outcomes in real contexts.
Strategic alignment
Direct your resources or impact priorities into credible pipelines.
De-risk innovation
Work with a trusted intermediary that cultivates ventures, brokers partnerships, and tracks progress.
Tell a stronger story
Access case studies, data snapshots, and co-branded communications.
Engage your people
Structured, skilled volunteering, mentorship, and secondment opportunities with mission-driven teams.
CGE Funder Partnerships
Get in touch today to discuss how we can collaborate and help you achieve your impact goals.
International Collaborators & Partnerships
Our work is only possible because of our deep relationship with international collaborators. The Cultivator is always looking to build partnerships with innovation ecosystems worldwide. Are you running a social entrepreneurship accelerator, incubator or makerspace? If so, we’d love to hear from you.
Spotlighted Collaborators
Interested in Joining The Cultivator?
We’re always on the lookout for passionate people with great ideas.
Are you an early-stage founder or research team with a great idea that you want to explore? A passionate, skilled individual who wants to contribute their skillset to a social end or join a team social team? Or are you someone who is facing a social challenge that you want to help solve?
