Top 10 Web3 Grants You Should Know About

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Scofield Idehen

The cryptocurrency landscape has witnessed remarkable growth in recent years, attracting diverse users and investors. However, a pressing need has emerged as the industry evolves: developing user-friendly applications that can bridge the gap between cutting-edge blockchain technology and mainstream adoption.

To address this challenge, a wave of grant programs has swept across the Web3 ecosystem, providing crucial support to ambitious projects to build more accessible and intuitive solutions. These initiatives recognize the importance of fostering innovation across various domains, from decentralized finance (DeFi) and gaming (GameFi) to infrastructure development.

Grant programs have become vital launchpads, offering financial resources, invaluable mentorship, marketing opportunities, and connections with industry leaders. By empowering visionary developers and entrepreneurs, these grants pave the way for a future where blockchain-based applications are seamlessly integrated into our daily lives.

As the demand for user-friendly crypto experiences grows, various grant programs have emerged to support innovative ideas across different fields. These initiatives fuel the development of groundbreaking applications, nurture the growth of entire ecosystems, foster collaboration, and drive mainstream adoption.

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This guide spotlights 10 prominent grant programs that ambitious Web3 developers and entrepreneurs should consider. From blockchain infrastructure to DeFi, GameFi, and beyond, these initiatives cover various domains and offer varying levels of funding and support.

Whether you're a solo developer or a startup team, securing a grant could be the catalyst that propels your project into the spotlight. Let's explore the opportunities:

Vara's Gear Foundation Grants Program

The Gear Foundation nurtures the Vara Network ecosystem through its grants program. It funds various Web3 projects spanning DeFi, GameFi, infrastructure development, and more. In addition to financial aid, recipients access strategic guidance and other intangible resources.

• Application

  • Provide details on how your project contributes to the Vara ecosystem, typically by augmenting users or unlocking new use cases.
  • E.g, increased network/network operator adoption, dApp development and integrations, community engagement
  • Grants are milestone-based. Applications should include suggested milestones for funding.

Click here to get started.

COTI Builders Program

COTI's recently launched grant program targets emerging projects in the DeFi and privacy spheres. Aiming to bolster its Layer 2 Ethereum ecosystem, COTI offers grants from $1,000 to $100,000 alongside technical support, marketing campaigns, partnership opportunities, and educational resources.

Projects We Seek to Fund

We welcome a diverse range of applicants but are particularly interested in the following categories:

• Developer tooling, SDKs, and existing SDK improvements
• Infrastructure improvements such as bridges and network optimization tools
• Privacy-preserving decentralized applications (dApps)
• Privacy focused research and development that prove or highlight real-world use cases
• Efforts to expand the reach and understanding of COTI through educational content, community engagement, and developer support
• Protocols and tools with unique privacy features or needs
• Services that leverage COTI’s privacy capabilities
• Service integrations (SIs) that enable developers, products, services, and originators to work with or build on COTI
• Financial applications such as decentralized exchanges, lending and borrowing platforms, and NFT marketplaces
• RWA and enterprise integrations, applications, and their enablers ## Who Can Apply

The COTI Builders Program is open to most individuals and entities who are looking to support the growth of:

• The COTI V2 network and ecosystem
• Advancements and adoption of real-world privacy solutions and use cases on blockchain

Get started here

EOS Network Foundation Grant Framework

The EOS Network Foundation provides grants ranging from $10,000 to $200,000 for open-source projects to foster EOS blockchain growth. The framework includes categories for new project proposals, maintenance grants for reviving existing tools/SDKs, and responses to specific proposal requests (RFPs).

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Which projects can apply for direct grants?

There are three types of grants that the ENF considers.

• New Proposal: These projects are initiated by community members and range from core chain enhancements, SDKs, tools, and applications.

• Maintenance Grant: The community can also initiate maintenance grants to bring back support for a library, SDK, or tool that has fallen out of maintenance.

• RFP Response: From time to time, the ENF will propose a work request to the community as an RFP. All community members, teams and companies are welcome to apply to the RFP.

In all cases, all projects must meet the following minimum requirements.

• All code produced as part of a grant must be open-sourced and not rely on closed-source software for full functionality.

• MIT Projects given priority, but Apache 2.0, GPLv3, or Unlicense are also acceptable.

• Grants are not awarded for projects that have been the object of a successful token sale.

• Grant deliverables must contribute to the EOS network first and foremost.

• As a general rule, teams are asked to finish a grant before applying for another one.

• Projects that actively encourage gambling, illicit trade, money laundering or criminal activities will be rejected.

• All projects are required to create documentation that explains how their project works.

• At a minimum, written documentation is required for funding.

Get started here

DOT Grants Program

The Web3 Foundation has allocated $20 million and 5 million DOT tokens for grants to innovative projects within the Polkadot ecosystem. This unparalleled opportunity empowers developers to build on the cutting-edge modular blockchain network.

How to apply:

1. Please read the FAQs, category guidelines, announcement guidelines, and Terms & Conditions to familiarize yourself with the subtleties of grants, applications, and the program.

2. Fork our grants program repository.

3. In the newly created fork, create a copy of the application template. If you're using the GitHub web interface, you will need to create a new file and copy the contents of the template inside the new one. Make sure you do not modify the template file directly. In the case of a maintenance application, use the maintenance template instead.

4. Name the new file after your project: project_name.md.

5. Fill out the template with the details of your project. The more information you provide, the faster the review. Please refer to our Grant guidelines for most popular grant categories and make sure your deliverables present a similar level of detail. To get an idea of what a strong application looks like, you can have a look at the following examples: 1, 2, 3, 4. Naturally, if you're only applying for a smaller grant consisting of UI work, you don't need to provide as much detail.

6. Once you're done, create a pull request. The pull request should only contain one new file—the Markdown file you created from the template.

7. You will see a comment template that contains a checklist. Once the pull request has been created, you can leave it as is and tick the checkboxes. Please read through these items and check all of them.

8. Sign off on the terms and conditions presented by the CLA assistant bot as a Contributor License Agreement. You might need to reload the pull request to see its comment.

Get started here

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Pyth Ecosystem Grants Program

Pyth Network, a leading Oracle solution provider, has allocated 50 million PYTH tokens for its grant program. The categories include Developer Grants for tools/integrations, Community Grants for events/content, and Research Grants to enhance the Oracle system's efficiency.

The Pyth grant program has three categories: community, research, and developer grants.

How to Apply

Community Grants
Community Grants are distributed to community members in the Pyth Network social channels who make educational, fun, or entertaining contributions, as determined by official community leaders.

The Community Grants program runs in 40-day cycles and operates as follows:

• Pyth Data Association has recognized several community leaders—Chirons in the Pyth Discord—to facilitate the issuing of grants.
• These community leaders are empowered by Pyth Data Association to issue grants for any contributions they encounter on the Pyth Network social channels.
• Community grants are distributed through the Discord and linked to a community member’s handle. The Discord also houses a comprehensive record of issued grants.
• Community grants are denominated in Impact Awards, which can be exchanged for PYTH on a 1:1 basis (plus multipliers based on earned Discord roles) every term.

For more information, please see the Impact Awards channel in the Discord.

Research Grants
Research grants come in the form of bounties in the Superteam Earn program. Bounties are typically structured as follows:

• Research topic and scope
• Conditions or additional requirements
• Deadline (if applicable)
• Reward structure

Anyone can take on the Research bounties listed in the Pyth Network page on Superteam Earn. Please carefully read the submission requirements and details of each bounty. Rewards for successful submissions are delivered through the Superteam platform.

Application Review
All submissions are reviewed on a rolling basis.
Reviews typically take between 1-3 weeks, depending on the bounty.

Decision and Contact
If your submission is successful, you will be emailed instructions on how to receive your bounty rewards.

Developer Grants
Research grants come in the form of bounties in the Superteam Earn program. Bounties are typically structured as follows:

• Project scope
• Conditions or additional requirements
• Deadline (if applicable)
• Reward structure

Anyone can take on the Research bounties listed on the Pyth Network page on Superteam Earn. Please carefully read the submission requirements and details of each bounty. Rewards for successful submissions are delivered through the Superteam platform.

Application Review
All submissions are reviewed on a rolling basis.
Reviews typically take between 2-8 weeks, depending on the bounty.

Decision and Contact
If your submission is successful, you will be emailed instructions on how to receive your bounty rewards.

Get started here

Astar Studio: Developer Console with $200K Grants

Astar Network has unveiled the Astar Studio Credit Grant, a $200,000 program to accelerate the adoption of its Developer Console marketplace solutions. Grantees also enjoy discounted fees on Astar's offerings.

The grant is awarded as credit, not cash or token equivalent, and will be used to purchase any developer tools within Astar Studio. Astar Network and Sequence will jointly select the grant recipients and the amount of credit granted for each project.

Grant recipient projects must utilize one or more marketplace solutions within Astar Studio, specifically the marketplace API or the white-label browser marketplace. These solutions will feature lower marketplace fees than standard marketplace fees for grant recipient projects.

Get started here

Stacks Grant Programs

Stacks offers a suite of grant initiatives to bolster the Bitcoin ecosystem, including Critical Bounties for infrastructure development, DeGrants for community-driven funding, Chapters for local engagement, and a Residency Program for long-term research projects, which include

• Critical Bounties

Critical Bounties fund infrastructure development, tools, research & other initiatives that drive Bitcoin layer development.

Although this category is closed, it will likely open in the coming month, so keep an eye out for it.

• DeGrants

DeGrants is a community-led initiative in which community members dole out grants for efforts they deem important or interesting and that fall outside the scope of Critical Bounties.

• Chapters

Chapters are local community groups driving activation in a specific geography. Support for chapters is a collaborative effort between the Stacks Foundation team & local leaders.

• Residents

The Residency Program fuels subject matter experts for open-ended research, experimentation, & other long-term projects.

Get started here

Tezos Foundation's Grant Program

The Tezos Foundation supports projects aligned with its research areas, such as advancements in banking ecosystems, developer tools, user-centric applications, privacy, and security initiatives.

Areas of Interest

• Baking

Tezos has a growing number of bakers in its ecosystem that help secure the network by signing and publishing blocks. Our goal is to empower bakers by supporting the development of standardized tools, tutorials, and cloud applications.

Proposal target list

• Developer Experience

The aim is to make it easy for Tezos to build on and onboard new developers to the ecosystem. To this end, they are looking to support tools, tutorials, and documentation to improve the user experience for all Tezos developers.

Proposal target list

• Education and Training

Tezos's growth and success are heavily linked to the community. To grow and support the community, we want to enable all ecosystem members worldwide.

Proposal target list

• End-User Applications

Tezos enables new types of applications, which can address problems that have been traditionally difficult to solve using legacy software stacks. We want to support new applications that drive wide adoption and benefit standardization, censorship resistance, or user control on the Tezos protocol.

Proposal target list

• Privacy

Censorship resistance is key for all developments on Tezos. Our goal is to support research and development of infrastructure to build on Tezos’ strengths and enhance privacy-preserving solutions.

Proposal target list

• Security

Tezos has the assurance required for high-value use cases and a focus on formal methods. Given this strength, we aim to support projects building security solutions for Tezos.

Proposal target list

Get started here

Cronos Ecosystem Programs

Cronos Labs offers grants (typically $10,000 - $50,000) for infrastructure, tools, product integration, and educational projects driving mainstream Web3 adoption. Grantees also receive technical and marketing assistance and opportunities for incubation and acceleration.

Get started here

BNB Chain Builder Grant

BNB Chain's grant program emphasizes open-source frameworks, developer tools, infrastructure components, and compatibility modules serving the public good. Grant sizes are determined by project scope and roadmap.

Who Should Apply?

We support free and open-source projects that want to impact the BNB Chain ecosystem and its community.

• Open Source Frameworks
• Free Developer Tooling
• BNB Chain Compatibility Modules
• Other Developer Tooling and Infrastructure

Get started here

Stellar Community Fund (SCF)

The newly launched SCF is a community-powered program supporting developers building on the Stellar network and its Soroban smart contracts platform. Key focus areas include DeFi innovation, solutions with real-world impact, and ecosystem infrastructure.

Award Process

Once you have a plan for your Stellar and/or Soroban project, create a submission for an SCF Activation Award (up to $50K worth of XLM*) to prove your intent. After you’ve finished your deliverables of the Activation Award, you can submit your project to receive a larger Community Award (up to $100K worth of XLM*). Submission deadlines are every four weeks.

Get started here

Conclusion

Securing a grant from these leading initiatives can provide your Web3 project with the critical early-stage funding, mentorship, exposure, and connections needed to thrive in this rapidly evolving space.

Review each program's eligibility criteria, application processes, and focus areas to get started. Craft a compelling proposal highlighting your project's potential impact, technical expertise, and long-term vision. Additionally, engage with the respective communities, attend events, and network to increase your chances of success.

The opportunities are vast, and the time to act is now. Explore these top grant programs today and unlock the resources to bring your groundbreaking Web3 idea to fruition.

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This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Scofield Idehen