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Anyone is welcome to apply for a grant. Projects funded through our program are broad in scope, but our focus lies on projects with a strong technical focus that add value to the Polkadot ecosystem. Furthermore, you should be able to demonstrate a solid, long-term roadmap, be it through the project's significance to the community (such as for research-oriented projects) or an in-depth market analysis (for business-oriented projects).
Generally, your project will have better chances to be accepted if:
- it presents a well-researched or tested concept, for which ideally you are able to show some prior work;
- you have tangible proof how and to what extent the project is a benefit to the Polkadot ecosystem and its users;
- you can demonstrate that the project will be maintained after completion of the grant, be it through an obvious commitment to the technology from your side, additional funding sources, or an existing business model;
- your team has proven experience with the relevant languages and technologies and/or a strong technical background. You will be asked to provide the GitHub profiles of your team members as part of your application, which we will examine for past activity and code quality. Naturally, you can also link to projects on other platforms;
- your application is rich in technical details and well-defined;
- you can present how your project stands out among competitors or implements technology that doesn't exist in the ecosystem yet.
Additionally, it must fulfill the following requirements:
- All code produced as part of a grant must be open-sourced, and it must also not rely on closed-source software for full functionality. We prefer Apache 2.0, but GPLv3, MIT, or Unlicense are also acceptable.
- We do not award grants for projects that have been the object of a successful token sale.
- Applications must not mention a specific token. Furthermore, the focus of the application should lie on the software that is being implemented/research being carried out as part of the grant and less on your project/venture/operation. For the purpose of the application and delivery, think about how others might also benefit from your work.
- As a general rule, teams are asked to finish a grant before applying for another one.
- Lastly, we do not fund projects that actively encourage gambling, illicit trade, money laundering, or criminal activities in general.
- The benficiaries of the grant must successfully go through a KYC/KYB check during the application phase in order to be eligible.
In addition to the information provided on your application, note that your project will need to comply with our Guidelines for Milestone Deliverables. In particular, we require all projects to create documentation that explains how their project works. At a minimum, written documentation is required for funding. Tutorials or videos are also helpful for new users to understand how to use your product.
Please also heed our Announcement Guidelines for grant-related communications.
Finally, we take licensing and the right of all teams in and outside the ecosystem to be recognized for their work very seriously. Using others' work with no attribution or indication that this was not your own work as part of a milestone delivery will lead to immediate termination. Please reach out to us before submitting if you have any doubts on how to comply with a specific license and we'll be happy to help.
We also try to enforce our code of conduct and, based on this, may block users.