Last week, on November 15, Projects Catalyst Fund 11 kicked off with a live town hall showcasing the various updates and improvements to the overall initiative. With a new approach to funding, Fund 11 introduces three primary categories, each addressing different aspects of Cardano and community development. In Fund 11, a total of 50 million ada is being disbursed. The recording of the town hall can be found here.
Category 1: Cardano Use Cases
This category is at the forefront of Fund 11, focusing on real-world applications of the Cardano blockchain. It’s designed to support projects at various stages of development, from initial concepts to fully-fledged products. This category is split up into three tracks:
- Cardano Use Cases - Concept: Allocated 7.5 million ada, with a maximum of 100k ada per proposal, focusing on prototypes and ideas.
- Cardano Use Cases - Solution: 7.5 million ada allocated, targeting early blockchain startups with up to 300k ada per proposal to reach Cardano’s testnet or MVP.
- Cardano Use Cases - Product: 7.5 million ada for more mature projects, with a cap of 750k ada per proposal, aimed at adding new features to well-known projects.
Category 2: Cardano Open
“Cardano Open” represents a broad spectrum of initiatives, from technical developments to community and educational projects. This category is divided into two tracks, each with its own focus and funding cap, nurturing the ecosystem and developer community within Cardano.
- Cardano Open - Ecosystems: 10.5 million ada for non-technical initiatives to foster education and community, with 200k ada per proposal.
- Cardano Open - Developers: 10.5 million ada for developing open-source tooling, with a cap of 200k ada per proposal.
Category 3: Catalyst Improvements
Catalyst Improvements aim to refine Project Catalyst, enhancing its processes and impact. This category split into two tracks, is critical for sustaining and evolving the framework of Catalyst, ensuring its effectiveness and efficiency in supporting the Cardano community.
- Catalyst Improvements - Discovery: 1.5 million ada, focused on architectural design research, with no proposal cap.
- Catalyst Improvements - Development: 1.5 million ada, with no cap, targeting other areas of improvement.
Fund 11 Incentives
To incentivize participation and reward community members reviewing, moderating, and contributing to Project Catalyst, 3.5 million ada have been allocated towards this initiative.
Other Important Changes
- Downvoting Removed: Downvoting is removed for F11; there will only be Yes/Abstain.
- Limit of Number of Proposals: applicants may only lead or co-propose a maximum of five Catalyst proposals across all categories. Only the first five will be eligible.
- Active Projects: Projects with open proposals from F7 or prior will be unable to submit new proposals.
- Track Record: lead and co-proposers with five or more active projects in F8 and beyond must have a track record of submitting at least three monthly reports in the six months preceding the submission of a proposal in F11.
- Leftovers: Leftover funding logic will exclude the product track in Cardano Use Cases and both Project Catalyst Systems Improvement tracks to focus on grass-roots innovation; leftovers should go to new projects.
- Fund Rules: For a full rundown of the guidelines, please refer to the F11 Rules on docs.projectcatalyst.io knowledge base.
Fund 11 of Project Catalyst represents a significant evolution in distributing community funding. By segmenting the budget into these three distinct categories, Project Catalyst demonstrates a commitment to nurturing a wide range of projects and ideas, fostering a robust and diverse ecosystem. For more details about Fund 11, visit https://docs.projectcatalyst.io/project-catalyst-funds/current-fund/fund11.
