Fund Rules
Catalyst Fund Rules
1. Purpose of this document
These Catalyst Fund Rules (“Rules”) reflect the mission of Project Catalyst to benefit the Cardano ecosystem. Catalyst FC is an exempted limited guarantee foundation company incorporated in the Cayman Islands (“CFC”) to disburse Project Catalyst funds for approved projects, in coordination with the Project Catalyst operator appointed by CFC that is responsible for operating and administering Project Catalyst (the “Fund Operator”).
These Rules apply to (a) each individual or entity participating in a project proposal, whether as an applicant or project participant (collectively “Project Participants”) and (b) other participants in Project Catalyst, including Community Reviewers, Community Moderators, and Milestone Reviewers (together with the Project Participants, “Catalyst Participants”).
By submitting a proposal, Catalyst Participants agree that these Rules form part of and are to be read together with the Project Catalyst Terms and Conditions (the “Terms”). The Terms set out the binding contractual terms governing funding, payment, suspension, termination, and liability. In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between these Rules and the Terms, the Terms shall prevail.
All Catalyst Participants must comply at all times with these Rules and any additional terms and general guidance made available by the Fund Operator. Any breach of the Terms, including these Rules, will be treated seriously and may result in suspension or termination of funding and/or loss of eligibility to participate in future Catalyst funding rounds.
2. Eligibility criteria - who can apply for funding?
Anyone with an idea that positively impacts the Cardano ecosystem can and may submit a proposal on the Project Catalyst platform, subject to the conditions set out in these Fund Rules.
All Project Participants must be aged 18 or over and will need to complete onboarding requirements, including an identity verification process.
(i) Proposal Submission Limits
Applicants may only submit a maximum of [1] Catalyst proposal across all categories in any one funding round.
If an individual or entity applicant submits more than [1] proposal submissions, only the first published entry will be eligible for participation. Project Participants contributing to proposals in any capacity (e.g., as a subcontractor) shall also be limited to submitting no more than [1] proposal per funding round.
All Project Participants must accurately disclose their roles and scope of services across any submitted proposals, even if they are not the applicant, such as an implementer, vendor, service provider, etc. Proposals or Project Participants that fail to disclose information accurately may be disqualified at any point of the Catalyst process.
(ii) Eligibility Conditions
A proposal will be deemed ineligible if, at the time of being marked as a final submission, the Project Participants meet any of the following conditions:
Incomplete legacy projects: The Project Participants have at least one active project in the delivery phase (including any period spent in extended onboarding) for over [12] months and remains incomplete. To find out how long the project has been in this phase, look for its designated "start date." You can find this date in the header of that project's "milestone module summary." Unless a valid reason has been communicated to and accepted by the Fund Operator.
Significant delays: The Project Participants have [one or more] active Catalyst-funded projects that are more than [90] days behind schedule under the approved Statement of Milestones unless a valid reason has been communicated to and accepted by the Fund Operator.
Over-commitment: The Project Participants have more than [3] active Catalyst-funded projects at the time of submission.
Incomplete or untruthful self-assessment check-list: The proposal or any accompanying documentation (including any self-assessment checklist submitted with the application) is incomplete, inaccurate or misleading.
Failure to disclose: The Project Participants have not accurately or publicly disclosed all involvements in any active Catalyst projects in their application form for any individuals connected to the project.
Circumvention: The Project Participants have submitted a proposal under a different entity or individual in an attempt to circumvent these guidelines.
If it is determined that Project Participants do not meet any of the eligibility criteria at the time of submission, their proposal may be subject to immediate grant cancellation, regardless of its current stage. This includes proposals that have already been approved for funding by the community.1
(iii) Rules for All Active Grants. These rules apply to all projects with an active grant, regardless of whether they are applying for new funding:
Automatic cancellation risk: An active grant risks immediate cancellation if the project is more than [90] days behind schedule based on its Statement of Milestones, and the proposal team (or individual) has not proactively sought and received an approval from the Fund Operator.
Important note on Change Requests: The approval of a Change Request is not automatic. It is granted solely at the discretion of the Fund Operator based on the justification provided.
3. Funding: What types of projects are funded by Project Catalyst?
Project Catalyst is aimed at helping a wide range of individuals, groups, or legal entities to grow by funding the best ideas that have the potential to positively impact the Cardano ecosystem.
Proposals must:
Be complete and accurate at the time of proposal submission;
Be for the betterment of the Cardano ecosystem;
Be ready to start the project once the Fund results are published;
Be willing to publicly share evidence of achievement and outcomes with the community; and
If declaring the project is open source in the proposal submission form, the project should be open source-available throughout the entire lifecycle of the project with a declared open-source repository with an appropriate license.
Provide a clear budget. This budget must be for future activities only and allocated exclusively to the project's execution.
The key requirements for all requests for funding proposals is that the project is for the broad benefit of the Cardano ecosystem and there are well-defined deliverables and outcomes for each project that can be measurably verified by the community.
Examples of projects that will not be funded by Catalyst include (list is non exhaustive):
Projects that do not benefit Cardano in a way that aligns with Catalyst’s mission and scope;
Projects that are not legal within the jurisdiction where the work is taking place or that would breach applicable sanctions, anti-money laundering (AML), or other regulatory requirements;
Projects intending to use Catalyst funding for speculative or investment activities, such as purchasing financial or digital assets, trading, lending or providing token liquidity and similar activities;
Funds cannot be used to establish local treasuries or similar collective funding pools (for example community-managed re-granting structures);
Projects intending to use the funds to offer a grant as funding for 3rd parties (as opposed to procuring goods or services under a project contract);
Projects intending to use funds for brick and mortar business activities that do not deliver a measurable benefit to the Cardano ecosystem. For example, a restaurant project using funds to pay for chefs instead of using funds for Cardano brand marketing. In this case, the proposal should demonstrate additional resources are available to cover these types of expenses; and
Projects intending to use funds to incentivise users through ada or other giveaways, airdrops or prize schemes, unless specifically approved to be delivered as part of an authorised hackathon or bounty program; and
Projects seeking retroactive funding in part or full, unless specifically permitted by the category brief guidelines.
4. Onboarding of approved proposals
If a proposal for funding is approved, then the applicable Project Participants will be notified by email of the steps to be completed as part of the onboarding procedure. The onboarding procedure is intended to confirm a Project Participant’s compliance with these rules and any additional terms or specific conditions of the grant, in addition to these rules, that the Project Participant must follow.
Once the project selection has taken place, during Project onboarding, Project Participants will also be required to submit a Statement of Milestones (SoM) that sets out the milestones and deliverables to be accomplished by the Project Participants during each stage of the project which will be reviewed and approved by Milestone Program before funding is initiated.
Project Participants must complete the onboarding process before the project can start. Failure to complete the onboarding procedure within 14 days of award notification may result in the grant being withdrawn.
5. Payments and Reporting
Upon completion of the onboarding process and verification of the Statement of Milestones, approved projects will receive an initial payment covering the first milestone. All funded projects will be required to adhere to the Statement of Milestones (SoM) set out in their proposal. Before funding for the next milestone is released, projects must provide evidence that the milestone for which they have already been paid has been achieved. This is known as Proof of Achievement (PoA). It is the responsibility of the lead Project Participant and funded-proposer’s team to submit Proof of Achievement to the community and the Catalyst team for verification and approval before funding for the next milestone is provided.
Each project will be required to submit a relevant report which documents that progress is being made on the project. The Catalyst team must be notified immediately if there are reasons why the project has paused or will not deliver what was voted for and approved by the community.
Failure to comply with reporting requirements to demonstrate adequate progress may result in funding being suspended or terminated.
Before the final payment is released, approved Project Participants must also provide a “Proof of Project” report and “Proof of Demonstration” video. Further details about the content and format of this documentation will be provided to each Project Participant during onboarding.
The Fund Operator and CFC aim to review SoMs, PoAs and general milestone submissions as efficiently as possible. However, review timelines may vary depending on the volume, complexity, and nature of community feedback.
Because the milestone review process relies on community input and validation, neither the Fund Operator nor CFC shall be liable for any delays, loss, or costs arising from extended review periods or related delays in payment release. Payments are conditional upon successful verification and approval of submitted milestones.
Project details, progress reports, and Proof of Achievements will be published on the Catalyst Website at www.projectcatalyst.io and will be publicly available.
6. Unspent and Excess Funds
There may be unspent or excess funds available from total budgeted funds for any given funding round. This may be the result of various reasons, including but not limited to parameter outcomes (e.g., difference between forecasted and actual budget allocation), cancellations/terminations, refunds, or failure to follow relevant procedures (e.g., during onboarding). Such events present an opportunity for efficient reallocation of available funding amounts where applicable to maximize the positive impact of the Catalyst program. In all other cases, the funds will be retained by CFC.
1. The Catalyst program aims to help active and previously funded proposers remain eligible and will review Change Requests as efficiently as possible. However, to ensure fairness, only Change Requests fully approved before a new application is submitted count toward eligibility. Processing times cannot be guaranteed, as they depend on the nature and complexity of the work. Change Requests are intended only for justified adjustments to deliverables or timelines and cannot be used to bypass eligibility criteria.
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