Catalyst Weekly #116: Annual Report 2025 & Budget Proposal

Hello there, beautiful soul!

Hope these words find you in a good place and time.

It’s been some time since Fund13 concluded, and since then, over 180 projects have launched, fulfilling commitments made to the community. I’d like to extend a special thank you to all the milestone reviewers who are actively contributing to daily activities and ensuring verifiable accountability for ongoing projects. Equally, patient grantees as they complete all their onboarding requirements.

What’s new? Although our Zoom town halls have been on hold between rounds, the community team has been hosting more informal town halls every Wednesday on X. To stay updated on the next session, follow @Catalyst_onX.

I invite you to explore the recently released Catalyst Horizons Annual Report 2025, which is the most significant and impactful publication in the program’s history. Additionally, our team has been actively participating in the 2025 budget process led by Intersect. As part of this effort, we’re excited to share our vision for the next twelve months. Team also had a chance to present Catalyst proposal at DRep forum. Catch a recording of that convo here. You can learn more about both initiatives in the newsletter below and share your thoughts with us.

Warm regards,

Danny & The Catalyst Team

Town Halls on X

:light_bulb: Recording: Apr 9 Link here. Apr 16 Link here. Next TH? Apr 23 at 5PM directly on Catalyst_onX.

Catalyst Horizons Annual Report 2025

Today, this report stands as the most important and impactful publication produced by the Catalyst team to date. It comprehensively aggregates the breadth and depth of our ecosystem impact. Not feelings, actual facts and figures that the entire community can proudly build upon and reflect on the past four years. Equally, to imagine what next could be like. This achievement is a testament to a collaborative team effort. And not just on our team’s part but equally community’s efforts that fuel Catalyst everyday forward. This one is for you!

Read the full report now:

Catalyst 2025 Budget Proposal For Cardano

As Cardano’s governance matures, the need for robust, decentralized, and efficient innovation funding becomes mission-critical. Project Catalyst has already made significant strides, supporting well over 2,000 projects across 114 countries through more than 3 million on-chain decisions. However, to meet growing demand and ensure Cardano’s competitiveness, Catalyst must evolve.

Today, the Input Output Catalyst team has submitted a comprehensive proposal for 12 months starting from moment of budget approval, addressing key challenges like operational efficiency, user experience friction, and enhancing decentralized governance. This proposal, totalling ₳69,459,000, aims to transform Catalyst into a unified, scalable, and an even more resilient platform.

Read the full forum post and dive into the proposal itself here.

Under The Hood

In the last two months, the community team has led with a new initiative to help resurface the amazing work of silent heroes often working behind the scenes to bring the program you love into fruition. To date, two episodes have been shared.

You can watch the first episode here featuring Mike McNulty, Catalyst Product Manager, diving deep on what one might expect in terms of changes heading into Fund14.

Did you like that one? Glad you asked. You can watch the second (latest) episode here

taking a deep dive with our Lead Architect, Steven Johnson, into the key system updates and what the community can expect from the new Catalyst App going forward.

Big shoutout goes to Fay Addams and TK Princewill for putting these episodes together - bringing to the forefront the hardworking team members. Keep an eye or further episodes.

Show & Tell Demos

Project Catalyst is more than just funding - it’s an evolving ecosystem driven by innovation and community collaboration. To enhance transparency and keep the community informed, we’re launching a new video series showcasing key features, tools, and improvements within Catalyst. Through exclusive walkthroughs, live demos, and expert insights, we’ll provide a clear look at how these innovations are shaping the future of Catalyst - making participation smoother, governance stronger, and collaboration more impactful.

This initiative is all about bringing the community closer to Catalyst’s ongoing development, ensuring visibility into our progress and fostering greater engagement in the decision-making process. Stay tuned as we unveil the latest advancements - because transparency is key to building a stronger Catalyst!

Catch the first release in the series here and keep an eye on when next ones drop.

Catalyst Working Groups

The Catalyst Working Groups (CWG) workshops focused on three core areas: Catalyst Funding Priorities, Operating Parameters, and Entrepreneurial Incubation and Acceleration. These pillars helped organize the broad and varied insights Catalyst needs for continued growth, from resource allocation to business support. 24 working groups have formed around the globe to uncover invaluable insights. CWG’s global reach is a testament to Cardano’s commitment to fostering a community-driven approach to blockchain development, and each region contributed its own context and expertise to the initiative…

Continue reading the full blog here.

Catalyst roadmap & deliverables

In the last couple of months, the Catalyst team continues to deliver diligently on the roadmap deliverables based on Fund10 proposals. Number of key milestones have been hit across all proposals - delivering on the promise and commitments to the Cardano community.

Looking for the latest updates regarding Catalyst’s development roadmap? Follow along with milestone developments via Catalyst Gitbook to stay up to speed!

Get in touch

And that’s a wrap. Don’t forget to follow Catalyst on X (twitter) to keep an eye on all the latest.

Catalyst Team


Please note: References in this newsletter to the 3rd party projects, products, and services are provided for information purposes only and are not endorsements. Everyone should carry out their own investigations before relying on the information provided in this newsletter.

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Any chance of finally answering some questions about the un-distributed-to-funded-projects treasury Ada?

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Hey @Homer_J

Apologies for the delay - it’s been a hectic few weeks with Fund10 proposals progressing, alongside Fund13 onboarding, legacy fund closures, and preparations for Fund14. I’ve seen your messages in a few places while catching up on DMs this week.

Just to confirm, you haven’t been ignored; there’s simply a lot going on right now. For future reference, submitting a support ticket can help get things resolved faster if you’re not getting traction through social channels. As it can be overwhelming for those managing public-facing communications.

On topic - we’re in the final stages of completing one of the last deliverables from the Fund10 operations proposal, which will directly address your questions - I trust to full satisfaction. We’re almost done and will share full context very soon as it’s a corner stone of the grant program framework which is now, basically complete in current iteration.

Thanks for your patience - we’re nearly there!

D.

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Hey Danny, any news about the Catalyst Voices proposal as well?