Cartesi Grants Program: Wave 1 Updates and Learnings

Cartesi Grants Program CGP Wave 1
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This post marks the end of the Cartesi Grants Program Wave 1, and the Grants Council is excited to share updates and key learnings from Wave 1. Please note that we are no longer accepting further applications under Wave 1.

Since the launch of the Cartesi Grants Program Wave 1, the Grants Council has been actively engaging with potential applicants, proposers, and grantees. We have seen a strong number of applications and increased awareness of the Cartesi Grants Program within the wider ecosystem.

Over the next few weeks, the Grants Council will complete the review of the newly submitted proposals and update the proposers. Once this process is complete, a full report summarizing Wave 1’s outcomes will be shared.

The Cartesi Grants Program is an iterative governance experiment aimed at growing the number of value-aligned builders within our ecosystem with a focus on long-term growth and participation in the ecosystem. We launched Wave 1 of the Cartesi Grants Program (CGP) on January 30th as an iteration of the Pilot program.

The aim of Wave 1 was to address some key pain points identified during the Pilot, including:

  1. Lack of clear funding guidelines that outline our priority areas for funding.
  2. Unclear application and review processes for proposers
  3. Challenges in monitoring and tracking proposal progress

To address this:

  • We partnered with Charmverse to host the grants program.
  • Introduced four areas of funding.
  • Set up stronger Grants Council procedures to oversee the grants program.

To date, we approved 6 grants across 6 teams, committing a total of $191,000 USDC out of the 500,000 USDC allocated for Wave 1. The funds will be distributed based on the successful completion of milestones for each project.

Wave 1 Program Summary

Grants Council Members

The Grants Council consists of four members responsible for reviewing proposals across all funding categories.

  • Hellenstans.eth - Grants lead
  • Pedro Argento - Technical reviewer
  • João Garcia - Technical reviewer
  • Gabriel Barros - Technical reviewer

Acknowledgment:
We would like to extend our gratitude to Jathin Jagganath for his invaluable contributions to the CGP as a technical reviewer and for providing support to the projects. We appreciate his dedication and commitment to the success of the CGP.

Grants summary

  • Traffic & Users:

    • 5,846 visits directed to Cartesi Grants Program
    • 253 users joined Cartesi Charmverse space
    • 54 proposals submitted

  • Proposals received during Wave 1 so far: 54 proposals have been received so far:

    • New ideas & dApps: 25
    • Research & Integrations: 5
    • Developer tooling: 10
    • Gaming: 14

Review Phase

All proposals received go through the following review stages:
Initial review → Final review → Snapshot vote

The Grants Council used the following rubric to evaluate proposals before recommending them for wider approval through a Snapshot vote.

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Final review

All 54 proposals submitted were reviewed by the Grants Council. You can view the published review results for approved grants here.

Approved Grants Summary - Wave 1

So far in Wave 1, we have approved several projects:

  1. Fastlane - $15,000
  • A fully on-chain, infinitely expanding game built on Cartesi, where players navigate a dynamic road with hidden obstacles and compete for ownership, powered by novel cryptography and play-to-earn incentives.
  1. ChainIDE for Cartesi - $35,000
  • The project proposes to build ChainIDE for Cartesi, which will be a multichain, cloud-powered, zero-setup, full-stack application development platform designed specifically for Cartesi. It will feature rich GUI-based tooling, simplifying the development process by offering a user-friendly interface that allows developers to configure, build, test, deploy, and interact with applications for Cartesi.
  1. Board Game.io-Inspired Library for Cartesi (RFP) - $41,000
  • The RFP proposal proposes the development of a new game library, inspired by the proven Boardgame.io architecture, with a unique focus on seamless integration with Cartesi technology. This library aims to empower game developers to create turn-based board games for the web, where game results are securely validated on the blockchain for transparency and trust.
  1. DCA.Monster - $50,000
  • The project’s second grant is developing an innovative suite of technologies for the DCA Monster project, including a mechanism for Layer 1-2 Rebasing Yields, a system for creating and managing auto-liquidatable Synthetic Tokens, and a fully permissionless Authority contract.
  1. World Tycoon - $10,000
  • World Tycoon is a fully on-chain city building game built on Cartesi, where players develop and construct cities using in-game funds, powered by novel cryptography and play-to-earn incentives.
  1. Locale Network - $40,000
  • Locale Network is building a decentralized finance solution focused on transforming small business (SBA) lending through dynamically adjusting smart contracts that utilize real-time zkData.

Key Learnings & Takeaways

  1. We found that successful proposals typically came from existing builders and grantees in our ecosystem, as well as from projects that had invested time in prior research and understanding of Cartesi technology before submitting their proposals.

  2. Wave 1 attracted many new builders to our ecosystem who had no prior experience with Cartesi. Consequently, their proposals often lacked a clear understanding of how they intended to use Cartesi technology and the value they proposed to bring to the ecosystem.

  3. It’s essential to clearly communicate our goals and objectives to developers. Throughout Wave 1, many developers expressed interest in contributing to the ecosystem but they were unsure of what would be considered impactful.

  4. Proposals often lacked a clear explanation of their value to the ecosystem, even when they fell within our focus areas. Clear goals are needed to help applicants align their proposals with ecosystem needs.

  5. More Request for Proposals (RFPs) are needed to engage the community effectively. While we attracted developers ready to respond to RFPs, the lack of available RFPs was a missed opportunity.

  6. We learned that a deeper understanding of our target audience, including their characteristics and expertise levels, is crucial. This understanding will help us tailor our outreach and support more effectively, ensuring we attract and assist the right developers.

  7. We observed that current milestone requirements are comprehensive, increasing the barrier for new developers. This insight suggests a need to shift from task-based milestones to outcome-focused milestones, aligning better with developers’ skill sets.

What we did well

  1. Successfully increased awareness of the CGP through effective marketing initiatives, attracting many developers.
  2. Provided clear funding categories, helping applicants understand our focus areas and streamlining the proposal submission process.
  3. Adopted the Charmverse platform, which improved workflow management and the application review process.
  4. Received proposals that aligned well with our funding categories, indicating effective communication of Wave 1 focus.

What we can do differently for Wave 2:

  1. Review Process: Many proposals came from new developers unfamiliar with Cartesi, leading to a longer review period. We will encourage developers to familiarize themselves with Cartesi technology before applying.

  2. Milestone Guidance: We will provide clear guidance to help applicants understand what a strong application looks like, with well-defined milestones and deliverables.

  3. Reviewing RFPs: We will be regularly checking the validity of RFPs to ensure their relevance and alignment with these contributions.

  4. Eligibility Criteria: We will refine our eligibility criteria to better filter proposals and identify quality developers and projects, speeding up the review process.

  5. Enhancing Transparency in the Review Process: We will use the Cartesi Discord to review proposals that pass the initial stage, encouraging public discussions and feedback. We see this approach as a way to invite participation from the community and Cartesi core unit members, fostering greater transparency and collaboration.

  6. Improve Grantee Community Participation and Engagement: The goal of the grants program is to support ecosystem projects and contributors, with a focus on long-term growth and active participation. We will encourage grantees to engage in discussions within the Cartesi ecosystem and present their projects to the community, fostering increased involvement in the broader ecosystem.

What’s Next?

Wave 1 of the CGP has marked significant progress in our funding thesis to attract value-aligned builders to the Cartesi ecosystem. The Grants Council is committed to innovating the grants process to find effective ways to allocate capital and maximize the impact of grants within the Cartesi ecosystem.

Now that Wave 1 is complete, over the next few weeks, the Grants Council will finalize reviews of the new proposals received and continue working with approved Wave 1 grantees to complete their milestones.

We are actively seeking community feedback on the program. We have a lot of exciting things in the pipeline for Wave 2, and your input is crucial as we prepare for it.

To get in touch with the Grants Council for any clarifications or feedback, please feel free to reach out to us on the Cartesi Discord under the #cgp-questions channel.

If you have feedback, please drop us a note in the comments section below. Let’s keep building!

Until Wave 2 is launched, interested builders are invited to send proposals to the Cartesi Foundation at contact@cartesi.foundation.