Polkadot Fast-Grants Bounty

Hey Everyone!

We’re honoured to propose the Polkadot Fast-Grants Bounty.

The purpose of this bounty is to fund the fast-grants programme for early-stage builders on Polkadot. This will be modelled on Solana’s fast-grants model with a similar goal, but for Polkadot: anyone who wants to build on Polkadot can get initial funding to do so.

The problem (summarised)

This bounty is a response to the following problems in the Polkadot builder funnel:

1. Polkadot doesn’t have clear funding opportunities for very early-stage builders; and
2. There is no fast way for developers inspired about Polkadot to get funding to build.

These are both holding back the Polkadot ecosystem, and other blockchains that have solved this are rapidly growing their developer base.

The solution (summarised)

The good news is that the answer to the above problems is simple:

1. A clear programme for early-stage builders to get funding (up to $10,000 each); and
2. Approvals made as fast as within 72 hours

Curators

The curators have deep, sector-specific experience across the Polkadot and builder ecosystems, and are strongly positioned to steward this bounty. The multisig will be a 3 out of 5:

1. Otar Shakarishvili (Project Advisor and Governance Specialist at JUST Open Source, ex-Parity Project Manager)
2. Sacha Lansky (Developer Relations at WebZero, ex-Parity Engineering)
3. Flavio Bianchi (Polimec Foundation Council Member, Polimec Marketing and BD)
4. Phil Kwok (Co-Founder of EasyA and the EasyA x Polkadot University)
5. Dom Kwok (Co-Founder of EasyA and the EasyA x Polkadot University)

Community feedback

Thank you to everyone who helped shape this bounty, from the discussions we had on our previous post, to those who gave feedback live when we presented on AAG for that earlier discussion post (the recording for which is available here).

We’ve reviewed it all in detail as curators, and are delighted to have updated our proposal taking into account your feedback.

The main points/questions from the community were:

1. How will success be measured
2. How many projects will be funded (and for how much)
3. What expertise the curators have to manage the bounty

In summary, we have:

1. Reduced the bounty size by half (to demonstrate success first)
2. Clarified the definition of what success looks like
3. Made clear that this is not an EasyA bounty, but an ecosystem-wide one which will benefit the whole community and has a broad base of support (EasyA is just one of the proponents)
4. Confirmed the types of projects which will be funded

Executive summary

Summarised in 5 points, this bounty is:

1. Fast: Because we don’t want people to dismiss Polkadot for other ecosystems
2. Retroactive: So builders can’t leave with the funds without delivering
3. Milestone-based: So we can ensure developers are building what we want to see on Polkadot
4. Low-risk: If there aren’t enough satisfactory projects to fund, the bounty will simply be returned
5. First point of contact: Designed to open opportunities and a way into Polkadot (not designed to be the last point of contact).

Full proposal

As curators, we’ve brainstormed together and refined our approach to maximise the success of the bounty. This is now reflected in our updated full proposal here.

This includes more detail on the differences between this Bounty and the others that already exist, how it will work with those ecosystems, success metrics, budget, the Bounty manifesto, and other important information.

This bounty will benefit the whole Polkadot ecosystem, including programmes further downstream, producing top talent for bounties like the Dot Play and Open Source Developer Grants Bounty, with whom we are collaborating closely. Importantly, this bounty is synergistic with, and different from, the other active bounties.

We will be presenting on the upcoming AAGs to share more about our vision for the Fast-Grants Bounty as well as answer any questions the community have, and we would also be delighted to have your feedback here.

We’re looking forward to attracting the best talent to Polkadot with these fast-grants! Especially with smart contracts coming to Asset Hub, JAM on the horizon and so much more coming for builders on Polkadot, the time is now!

Updates

We presented this proposal together as curators on the AAG (9 Jan 2025) to share why it is so important for the Polkadot ecosystem. If you're wondering why this bounty is absolutely critical, hear it from the people who are working day in day out on Polkadot's success (Otar, Flavio, Phil and Dom). Here's the snippet: https://x.com/TheKusamarian/status/1878396510947475875.