Overview 

The Germinator is a 6-month incubation program designed for innovative people who wish to transform education into a force that expands the human consciousness, regenerates cultural and ecological connections and helps others live a more beautiful life. If you believe your knowledge, pedagogy and worldview can help youth reclaim their curiosity and imagination and rebuild their connection with self and the world, then Germinator Group can help you take your knowledge to others. 

The intention of the Germinator program is not only to nurture new learning initiatives but also strengthen existing ones and help them deepen their impact. This program empowers educators/changemakers by providing essential funding and mentoring support to help initiate their learning project or elevate an existing one to the next stage. This support can be used to conceptualise and execute experiments aimed at solving existing challenges of the project - like how to design offerings, how to reach out to learners and co-create with them, how to become financially sustainable etc.  Germinator mentors and support community includes subject matter experts and successful edu-preneurs who have already built a thriving and self-sustainable learning community and can help you build yours.

Since its establishment in 2021, the Germinator Group has successfully helped over 50 changemakers globally, turn their ideas into reality. Germinator is a global initiative by www.ecoversities.org which works towards supporting learners and communities around the world to reclaim their own processes of un/learning, knowledge co-creation and sharing, and community building.

Grant details & Mentorship support

Germinator support in form of funding & mentorship - spans approximately six months. 

The level of funding and mentorship support varies based on the unique nature/context of the project. Some projects may require more funding for experiments, while others may benefit more from additional mentoring. Therefore, the support offered is tailored to each shortlisted application. It's worth noting, however, that the funding for each idea is capped at $1200 (or INR 100,000) to ensure broader support for a greater number of projects.From our experience, this amount usually suffices for the purpose of conceptualising and executing prototypes to test out different ideas/solutions aimed at solving an existing challenge.

Germinator assigns dedicated Mentors for each shortlisted project, alongside a pool of resources/consultants who can be drawn in for help with specific aspects like marketing, team-building, finances etc. Germinator also facilitates engagement with coaches, who can help bring in clarity of thought for the grantee and provide necessary anchoring and psychological support through the ups and downs of the project.

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Application eligibility 

To qualify for a Germinator grant, an idea must meet the following criteria:

• Learning Initiative:

  • The idea should center around the theme of learning.

  • A community of learners should be involved, and knowledge creation/exchange must be integral to the concept. The learners can be across diverse age groups but must also have representation from youth (14 year old or more) who can potentially create impact in the world with gained knowledge.

  • The focus of learning can encompass anything that enhances understanding of oneself, others, and the planet. This includes endeavours that contribute to deepening human consciousness or fostering cultural and ecological connections. Examples include permaculture, mindfulness, water restoration, conscious relationships, alternative healing, mindful parenting, self-development, sustainable economy, zero-waste lifestyle, creative expression, indigenous wisdom and similar themes.

  • The learning initiative can be either online or offline.

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• Fund usage:

  • Germinator money can only be used to fund experiments/prototypes aimed at finding solutions to existing challenges one’s project might be facing. Eg. as test budget for trying out different marketing strategies, logistics cost for trying out offline version of workshop, subsidising fees for initial set of learners (in order to test content), travel cost to try out corporate pitches etc

  • Germinator can NOT be used for general expenses of an ongoing project like salaries, general marketing, operations etc. It also cannot be used to fund capital expenditure either like laptops, furniture, building residential space etc. Instead Germinator support and funds can be used to try out different strategies of raising additional funding which can eventually support these expenses.​