TL;DR Chia is launching the Chia Cultivation Grant to invest in independent developers who are looking to create new and exciting tools to benefit the Chia ecosystem at large.
Chia Networks is excited to announce the Chia Cultivation Grant program. As we are committed to growing and nurturing the Chia ecosystem, we realize that we can’t (and shouldn’t) do everything ourselves. Not only are we striving to build applications and functionality in-house, but we want to encourage our highly engaged community to unleash its creativity as well. We know that members of the community will create amazing open source projects of their own, and that some of those projects will very likely stand as pillars of the community and ecosystem. To that end, in an effort to further support these high-potential projects and teams, we have created this grant program.
Recipients of this grant are people or teams who have caught the eye of Chia’s senior leadership and presented a compelling proposal as to why they feel their vision, talent, and expertise are uniquely positioned to add material value to the community through the creation of Chialisp applications, Wallets, blockchain tools, and other projects. We plan to recognize this potential value by providing to them some modest financial support to help realize their vision, as well as highlighting the potential value Chia feels they bring to the ecosystem with promotional assets and support.
To further support this program we have launched the Chia Cultivation Grant homepage, which currently reflects a basic outline of the program, but as time goes on will soon also showcase profiles of current recipients of the grant, an FAQ, and more. Until then, watch that space for more updates, and if you have a team with a project vision you think would be a potential candidate for a Grant, you can reach out to us at the contact info posted on that page!
FAQ
Q: Is Chia paying out the grant in XCH and/or from the Strategic Reserve?
A: No. Chia has a solid footing of funding, which is used to run the company day to day and also to pay for activities such as these in Fiat USD. As always, you can track the Strategic Reserve here: Chia Network pre-farm tracker
Q: Who decides which applicants get the grant?
A: The Chia Cultivation Grant is managed by a Committee made up of several key executives at Chia Network with experience in this space and a vision towards what kinds of projects will further grow the Chia ecosystem. They collectively review and discuss the various proposals sent in that meet the baseline requirements, and work with the applicants to administer the grant funding when chosen. The day to day administration of things like communications, in-bound proposal filtering, and other miscellaneous logistics, are overseen by the Ecosystem team.
Q: How much money is given out to recipients of the grant?
A: There is no fixed amount, but we aim to stay within a range of $30k to $250k per grant. However, we don’t focus on a specific target and instead we look at the applications given to us, the amount asked for, how it is proposed to be used, and work from there to find a practical amount that helps the team reach their goals without them being entirely dependent on us for continued success.
Q: Is there a limit to how many recipients can be awarded Grants or a maximum that will be given out?
A: No. At this time we do not have a fixed dollar amount to cap, nor do we have a limit on the number of recipients we will award a Grant to.
Q: What is required to submit a grant application?
A: While there is no specific checklist of criteria, we focus on proposals that are well thought out and have a fleshed out vision and roadmap. Think of the application process as similar to pitching a startup idea to seed investors… We’d like to see in-depth proposals that incorporate not only a solid idea, but milestones, fiscal and resource budgets, team background information, contingency plans, go to market strategies, post launch support plans, etc.
Q: Are grants awarded on a rolling basis, or is there a limited application window every year?
A: Grants are awarded as-needed. We constantly review submissions and organic interactions we have with people in the ecosystem to look for potential recipients. We award Grants any time we feel we have found a great team and idea.
Q: What are the technical requirements for applicants (i.e. free, open source, etc…)?
A: We require that the fundamental core product released by the grant be open source and compatible with the Apache 2.0 license, however, we understand that we are investing in people and ideas that want to improve the ecosystem long term, which generally means helping create a viable, self-sustaining venture. To that end, we understand that a revenue model is key to this success and are comfortable with recipients creating “premium” experiences as a commercial product to extend beyond the core products we funded.
Q: Can I submit multiple applications?
A: A person or organization can submit as many applications as they like, but do note that due to volume we can’t respond to every application that doesn’t meet the threshold for further communications. Please do not submit the same submission repeatedly. We do encourage you to resubmit ideas with improved supporting documentation and planning if it will help elevate your original application to a higher quality!