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Project Catalyst - Documentation

WELCOME TO PROJECT CATALYST

What is Project Catalyst

Project Catalyst is the world’s largest decentralized innovation engine for solving real-world challenges.

Introducing Project Catalyst, Cardano's revolutionary innovation engine and one of the world's most significant decentralized grant funds. Project Catalyst propels collaborative innovation to new heights and fuels Cardano ecosystem expansion by connecting people with groundbreaking ideas to a funding source, collaborating with and voted for by the Cardano community, and spearheaded by the Cardano treasury.

Why Collaborate to Innovate?

Over the last ten funds, the Catalyst team has put great effort into creating a governance system that allows everyone to have their voice. But why do it? What advantages?

Distributed research and development. By empowering our community, we can build things better, faster, and cheaper than top-down organizations.
Decentralized team building. Great innovation comes from great teams. Many of our most impactful projects come from teams who met while becoming a part of Project Catalyst.
Group refinement and execution. We see a significant improvement in the quality of proposals after the community weighs in with their constructive criticism.

How Does Project Catalyst Work?

Innovation - Each participant responds to community-generated challenges with their ideas during this phase. Brainstorming leads to conceptualization, community feedback, and then finalized proposals.
Governance - Participants register to vote on the proposals they wish to see funded. A tally occurs once the voting period ends before verifiable results are shared.
Execution - Selected projects receive funding upon completion of milestones. They are given guidance and mentorship to deliver on their proposals, and regular reports are made to the community to ensure everything goes according to plan.

How Can I Participate?

Proposers - Propose new ideas for a shot at winning funding
Community Reviewers - Provide opinions and help guide voters through submitted proposals. This role is incentivized
Voters - Decide on the future of Cardano by deciding which proposals receive funding
Milestone Reviewers - Review Statement of Milestones and Proof of Achievement. This role is incentivized

Getting started

Welcome to Project Catalyst Knowledge base

How to navigate in this website?

You can find easily information by either checking FAQ below or by using search box.

FAQ

How to submit a proposal?
How to become a Community Reviewer?
What is a difference between LV0, LV1 and LV2 Community Reviewer?
How does Community Review process look like for LV0 and LV1?
How does Community Review process look like for LV2?
How to use Moderation Module?
How to register as a voter?
How to vote?
Voting App
How to create a Statement of Milestones?
How to use Milestone Module?
How to submit a chage request?
How to submit Project Close-out Report and Video

If you didn't find information that you are looking for in FAQ, please use Ask or search box which is on the right upper corner. You may type your question/word that you are looking for. The search box will present you all the information relevant to your question.

Catalyst Team Deliverables

This section contains list of Catalyst projects submitted from Fund10

F10 Catalyst Fund Operations

F10 Catalyst Voices

For full access to GitHub branches please review:

F10 Catalyst Ecosystem Accelerator

For full access to GitHub branches please review:

F11 Alternative Catalyst voting schemes

F11 Catalyst Working Groups

Show & Tell Demos

Catalyst Product Demos: Transparency in Action

Project Catalyst is more than just funding—it’s an evolving ecosystem driven by innovation and community collaboration. To enhance transparency and keep the community informed, we’re launching a new video series showcasing key features, tools, and improvements within Catalyst. Through exclusive walkthroughs, live demos, and expert insights, we’ll provide a clear look at how these innovations are shaping the future of Catalyst - making participation smoother, governance stronger, and collaboration more impactful.

This initiative is all about bringing the community closer to Catalyst’s ongoing development, ensuring visibility into our progress and fostering greater engagement in the decision-making process. Stay tuned as we unveil the latest advancements - because transparency is key to building a stronger Catalyst!

February, 2025

CURRENT FUND

Fund basics

This section will guide you through the Fund timeline, parameters, rules and Terms and Conditions

Fund timeline

Page under construction

Fund parameters

Page under construction

Fund Rules

Page under construction

Project Catalyst Terms and Conditions

Background

Project Catalyst is the world’s largest decentralized innovation engine for solving real-world challenges within the Cardano blockchain platform (“Cardano”) ecosystem and for fostering Cardano’s governance and development, by incentivizing and funding community-approved ideas (“Project Catalyst”).
Project Catalyst has funding rounds every few months where the Cardano community submits proposals for technical, business, creative and community projects (“proposals” or “projects”). The holders of ada cryptocurrency evaluate and vote on which projects receive funding in the form of ada that is issued from the Cardano treasury (“funding” or “funds”).
Catalyst FC is an exempted limited guarantee foundation company incorporated in the Cayman Islands company (together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, “CFC”) to disburse Project Catalyst awards for approved projects (as described below), in conjunction with the Project Catalyst operator responsible for operating and administering Project Catalyst (the “Fund Operator”).
To either (a) participate in Project Catalyst rounds or (b) receive funding, all individual(s) and entity/entities (“you” or “your(s)”) are required to: (i) accept these Project Catalyst Terms and Conditions (these “Terms”), which, together with the Fund Rules (defined below) set forth the binding agreement between you and CFC; and (ii) complete the onboarding requirements further described in these Terms.
By accepting these Terms, participating in Project Catalyst or accepting funding from CFC, you represent and warrant that you have read, understand and agree to be bound by these Terms. You and CFC agree as follows:

Fund Rules; Your Obligations.

a. These terms should be read together with all rules, requirements and documentation applicable to the Project Catalyst funding round under which you have or may receive funding and that were provided or made available to you (the “Fund Rules”). If there is a conflict between these Terms and the Fund Rules, these Terms will control. As used in these Terms, “approved projects” are those (i) that have been approved by the Cardano community to receive funding and (ii) for which all individual(s) and entity/entities named on the proposal have completed CFC’s onboarding requirements (as further described in these Terms).

b. For all approved projects, you shall use the funds exclusively for the development and implementation of your proposal in accordance with its terms, the Fund Rules and any other parameters or requirements issued or agreed to by CFC in writing (email permitted) (collectively, “Specifications”). Unless you obtain CFC’s prior written consent, you shall not use the funds other than as set forth in these Terms and the Specifications. If you need to request a change in funding or to the Specifications, then you shall follow the applicable change request procedures found by searching for “change request” at https://docs.projectcatalyst.io/.

c. You shall comply with and participate in all of CFC’s onboarding requirements, which may include, without limitation, submitting complete and accurate information for know your customer (KYC), anti-money laundering (AML) and similar screenings conducted by or on behalf of CFC, and submitting a schedule setting out the milestones and deliverables to be accomplished during each phase of the project. If you fail to comply with or complete CFC’s onboarding requirements, or if CFC receives onboarding results that are unsatisfactory to CFC (in its discretion), then you will be disqualified from participating in the applicable Project Catalyst funding round (and potentially future funding rounds) and these Terms will immediately terminate upon CFC’s notice to you of being disqualified.

d. You shall comply with all other requirements issued by CFC and the Fund Operator from time to time including, without limitation, for approved projects: reporting regularly on the project’s progress; submitting evidence of completion of milestones or deadlines; providing documentation detailing how the project and milestones function; and submitting reports or providing demonstrations upon completion of the project.

Issuing Funds for Approved Projects. The terms in this Section 2 apply to approved projects.

a. So long as you comply with these Terms and the Fund Rules, CFC will issue the funds to an account designated by you as follows:

i. For projects that have not received funding at the time you accept these Terms: Upon completion of all onboarding requirements in a manner satisfactory to CFC, CFC shall issue you initial funding covering the first milestone. Funding for subsequent milestones will be issued prior to their commencement so long as: (A) you are in compliance with the project schedule; and (B) for the then-proceeding milestone, you have submitted documentary evidence satisfactory to CFC and the Cardano community that such milestone has been completed and achieved in accordance with the Specifications. The project schedule and the amounts and timing of issuance of the funds are as agreed upon by you and CFC during onboarding.

ii. For projects that have received funding at the time you accept these Terms: Upon completion of all onboarding requirements in a manner satisfactory to CFC, CFC shall issue you the remaining funding for your project, in accordance with the project schedule and the amounts and timing of issuance of the funds as agreed upon by you and the Fund Operator.

b. Upon CFC’s request, you shall provide documentary evidence satisfactory to CFC itemizing your expenditure of funds. In connection with receiving any funds, you are solely responsible for (i) making any required regulatory filings or reports and (ii) paying taxes or other payments imposed by a governmental authority. Excluding the agreed-upon amount of funding, you are responsible for all other financial obligations, costs and expenses incurred by you and your personnel (if applicable) in connection with the project (including, without limitation, paying transaction fees).

Intellectual Property Rights.

a. You or your licensors retain ownership of and responsibility for the content you create, feature, display or provide to CFC and the Cardano community in connection with your participation in Project Catalyst and the project (collectively, “Content”), in accordance with Applicable Laws (as defined below). You hereby grant CFC a perpetual, irrevocable, assignable, transferable, sublicensable, royalty-free, worldwide, non-exclusive license to, to the extent applicable, host, use, display, perform, publish, share, store and make copies and backups of, the Content. You hereby waive all “moral rights” to the Content and agree not to assert such claims against CFC to enable CFC to exercise the license and rights granted in this paragraph. This license does not grant CFC the right to sell the Content.

b. If the Fund Rules require your project to be open source, then you agree to grant a perpetual, irrevocable, assignable, transferable, sublicensable, royalty-free, worldwide, non-exclusive license to any individual or entity to view, use, display, perform, publish, share, distribute, store, make copies and backups of, reproduce, modify, sublicense and sell and otherwise exploit the Content in any manner or medium.

c. If the Content includes content (in any format) you do not own, then you shall ensure that portion of the Content is licensed to you under terms that permit you to grant the licenses and permissions in Sections 3(a) and 3(b), and you shall provide a copy of all such terms to CFC upon request.

d. Your use of CFC’s, the Fund Operator’s or any other third party’s website, mobile apps, products and services, and the ownership of intellectual property rights in and to the same, are governed by the relevant party’s terms of use.

Marketing and Confidentiality.

a. You shall not use the corporate name, trademarks, logos and other relevant branding of CFC, the Fund Operator or their respective affiliates or subsidiaries in public facing materials without the relevant entity’s prior written consent. You hereby grant CFC a perpetual, irrevocable, assignable, transferable, sublicensable, royalty-free, worldwide, non-exclusive license to use your name, trademarks and project name in marketing and other public facing materials and for internal business purposes.

b. You shall keep strictly confidential all non-public information in whatever form transmitted (including tangible and intangible forms) that is disclosed or otherwise made available by CFC or the Fund Operator to you (“Confidential Information”), and you shall not disclose Confidential Information without the prior written consent of CFC or the Fund Operator, as applicable. If you are legally required to disclose any Confidential Information, then you shall, prior to making such disclosure, immediately notify CFC and the Fund Operator of the requirement and afford the relevant disclosing party an adequate opportunity to oppose the disclosure, or take other action to ensure the confidential handling of the Confidential Information to be disclosed, and you further shall reasonably assist the relevant disclosing party in seeking to obtain such protection or confidential treatment.

Term, Suspension and Termination.

a. The Terms and the applicable Fund Rules will remain in effect for the duration of the project, unless terminated or suspended under this Section 5. Sections 3, 4, 5(a), 6, 7, 8, 9(b), 9(f) and 9(i) will survive the expiration or termination of these Terms. Additionally, Section 4(b) will continue for a period of two years after expiration or termination of these Terms, except any obligation of confidentiality with respect to Confidential Information that qualifies as a trade secret under the requirements of any Applicable Laws will survive as long as that Confidential Information is classified as such.

The following terms in this Section 5 apply to approved projects.

b. You shall immediately notify CFC if the project is or needs to be paused or if you reasonably anticipate you cannot deliver the project in accordance with the Specifications. Depending on the circumstances, CFC may suspend or terminate the project under this Section 5.

c. Suspension by you. If you have already completed or participated in at least one previous Project Catalyst funding round, then you may, a maximum of once during the project’s life cycle, submit a written request for suspension of the project for up to six months. CFC shall notify you in writing whether your request is approved or denied, which CFC may determine in its discretion. If your request is denied, then either (A) you shall resume performance of the project in accordance with these Terms and the Specifications or (B) you may terminate the project under Section 5(e); provided, however, if you fail to timely take any action, CFC may terminate the project with immediate effect upon written notice to you. If your request is approved, then:

i. You shall not receive funding for the duration of the suspension.

ii. Upon expiration of the suspension and within the timeframe stipulated by CFC, you shall: (A) communicate to CFC your intent to reinstate the project; and (B) provide CFC with any requested documentation, satisfactory to CFC, which may include, without limitation, an updated schedule of milestones and deliverables. Upon CFC notifying you in writing (email permitted) with its approval of such communication and documentation: (1) the project and funding will be reinstated as of the date of such notification; and (2) you and CFC shall amend the Specifications as necessary.

iii. If, within 30 calendar days after expiration of the suspension, you do not meet the requirements in Section 5(c)(ii)(A) and (B), then CFC may terminate the project with immediate effect upon written notice to you.

d. Termination by you.

i. If you want to terminate the project, then you shall: (A) immediately notify CFC in writing and; (B) provide CFC with any requested documentation, which may include, without limitation, a report of the project’s current progress and work to be completed, how funds were used through the date of termination and a detailed description of the circumstances leading to termination.

ii. Termination will be effective the later of the date CFC receives your termination notice or the date CFC makes your termination notice and related materials available to the Cardano community.

e. Suspension or Termination by CFC.

i. CFC may suspend or terminate the project in its reasonable discretion for any reason, including, without limitation, a reasonable belief that: you have been selected to receive funding for multiple projects with the same or substantially similar scopes; any portion of the project or the Content is false, plagiarized or infringes or misappropriates another party’s intellectual property rights; you or your personnel (if applicable) have committed acts of fraud, dishonesty or misrepresentation; you misused funds; you changed the scope of the project without following the requirements of Section 1(b); you failed to submit required or requested deliverables or to meet deadlines; you failed to timely complete any onboarding requirements; or you otherwise breached these Terms, the applicable Fund Rules or the Specifications.

ii. CFC shall notify you in writing if the project is suspended or at risk of termination. Upon receipt of such notice, you shall immediately stop, or arrange to be stopped, all work on the project.

iii. To reinstate a suspended project or to prevent termination of a project: (A) within the timeframe stipulated by CFC, you and CFC must meet the number of times required by CFC to mutually agree on a resolution to the circumstances giving rise to the suspension or termination; and (B) you promptly shall implement such resolution to the satisfaction of CFC; otherwise, the project will be terminated with immediate effect upon CFC’s written notice to you.

iv. If CFC notifies you in writing (email permitted) that you satisfactorily resolved the circumstances giving rise to the suspension or potential termination, then: (A) the project and funding will be reinstated as of the date of such notification (or such other date stipulated by CFC, if the remedial efforts will continue after the project recommences); and (B) you and CFC shall amend the Specifications as necessary.

f. Effects of Termination. If the project is terminated for any reason, then:

i. CFC may disclose or publish the fact that the project was terminated and related details to the Cardano community;

ii. any funds allocated to the project but not yet disbursed will be retained by CFC or returned to the Cardano treasury;

iii. CFC may require you to return any funds already issued to you for the project, and in such event, you shall return the funds within 14 calendar days of CFC’s notification to you;

iv. you shall not participate in subsequent Project Catalyst funding rounds for 12 months after the date of termination; and

v. these Terms will automatically terminate as of the effective date of termination (except as provided in Section 5(a)).

Representations and Warranties. You represent, warrant and covenant to CFC that:

a. the project will confirm to the Specifications;

b. you have the full and irrevocable right, power and authority (by ownership, license or otherwise) to (i) use the Content and all related intellectual property rights and (ii) grant the licenses granted, or required to be granted, under these Terms;

c. your participation in Project Catalyst, the project, and the activities undertaken by you and your personnel (if applicable) in connection with the project, will be performed in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, statutes, ordinances and other legal requirements (collectively, “Applicable Laws”), with reasonable and required care, good, ethical and moral business practices and diligence at or above industry standards;

d. the project and the Content will not: (i) infringe, misappropriate or violate any party’s rights, including, without limitation, any intellectual property rights or any rights of privacy or rights of publicity; and (ii) contain confidential or proprietary information or data of any party without (A) you having obtained such party’s prior and express written consent (a copy of each of which consent you shall provide to CFC upon request) and (B) being disclosed to CFC in advance in writing;

e. the project and the Content will not contain any virus, malware, spyware, malicious code, mechanism Trojan horse, worm, back door, trap door, time bomb, software lock, drop dead device or other routine, program, instruction, code, device, contaminant, logic, effect or other undisclosed feature which would, or is intentionally designed, created or intended to: (i) allow unauthorized access to or use of project users’ systems or assets or to cause such systems to malfunction; or (ii) alter, disable, destroy, interrupt, interfere with, inhibit or discontinue any project users’ effective use of the project;

f. during the term of these Terms, you shall not participate in: (i) any attacks on Cardano or Cardano users, including but not limited to technical attacks, hacking, theft of Cardano users’ funds or fraud; (ii) conduct reasonably anticipated to cause harm to Cardano or Cardano users; or (iii) any other activity that CFC considers in its discretion to be malicious;

g. you have the full power and authority to enter into and to perform your obligations under these Terms;

h. your execution and performance of these Terms and the project will not violate any policies or procedures of any academic institution or any other entity (whether public or private) with which you are employed, involved or associated and that you have received all necessary written permission(s) to enter into these Terms and to undertake the project;

i. you, and if you are an entity, your affiliates, shareholders, directors, officers, employees, contractors, consultants or other personnel, are not: (i) the subject of any sanctions administered or enforced by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, Her Majesty’s Treasury or other relevant sanctions authority (collectively, “Sanctions”); or (ii) located, organized or resident in a country or territory that is the subject of country-wide or territory-wide Sanctions or any other country or territory specified by CFC to you in its discretion from time to time; and

j. your participation in Project Catalyst and your performance of these Terms and the project will not require CFC, the Fund Operator or their respective principals, employees, advisors and consultants in their individual capacities to conduct any lobbying activities and register as a lobbyist under U.S. law and regulations or to act and register as an agent under the U.S. the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Indemnification; Limitation of Liability.

a. You shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless CFC, the Fund Operator, their respective affiliates and their and their affiliates' respective directors, officers, employees, consultants, agents, successors and assigns from and against any claims, losses, damages, injuries, liabilities, judgements, settlements, awards, penalties, fines, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or relating to: (i) your participation in Project Catalyst and the project, and the activities undertaken in connection with your participation in Project Catalyst and the project by you and your personnel (if applicable); (ii) your receipt and use of any portion of the funds; (iii) suspension or termination of the project or a change in funding, for any reason; (iv) the acts and omissions of you and your personnel (if applicable); (v) breach of these Terms and of Applicable Laws by you and your personnel (if applicable); (vi) any assertion that the relationship between CFC and you or your personnel (if applicable) is that of an employment relationship; and (vii) any employment-related obligation required to be borne by CFC relating to you or your personnel (if applicable).

b. CFC’s total aggregate liability for all claims arising under or in connection with these Terms will be limited to a sum equal to any funding issued to you at the time the claim arises. In no event will CFC be liable for: (i) any special, indirect, incidental, consequential or punitive damages; or (ii) any loss of profit, goodwill, anticipated savings, revenue or business, whether based on contract, tort or other legal theory. Any limitations and exclusions of liability in these Terms for the benefit of CFC will apply to all third-party beneficiaries and all of CFC’s affiliates, and any financial cap on CFC’s liability will apply to all third-party beneficiaries and in aggregate across all of CFC’s affiliates.

Personal Data.

a. You and CFC shall comply with all Applicable Laws relating to the collection, processing, use and storage of data that can directly or indirectly identify any natural person (“Personal Data”).

b. You shall ensure that the project and the Content will not contain Personal Data without each Personal Data subject’s prior and express written consent (a copy of each of which consent you shall provide to CFC upon request).

c. In connection with CFC’s onboarding requirements, which are an essential requirement before any funds are awarded under these Terms, your Personal Data may be processed in connection with CFC’s legitimate interest in protecting against fraud, corruption, money laundering, terrorist financing, illicit use of the funds and other criminal activity. You will be given the opportunity to separately consent to processing of your Personal Data. Failure to provide such consent may result in funds not being awarded and termination of these Terms in accordance with Section 5.

Miscellaneous.

a. You shall not assign, transfer, mortgage, charge, subcontract, delegate, declare a trust over or deal in any other manner with any of its rights, benefits or obligations under these Terms or the Fund Rules without CFC’s prior written consent. CFC may assign, transfer, mortgage, charge, subcontract, delegate, declare a trust over or deal in any other manner, in whole or in part, with any of its rights, benefits or obligations under these Terms at any time in its sole discretion.

b. You and CFC expressly agree that the Fund Operator is an express and intended third-party beneficiary of these Terms and is entitled to enforce these terms as if it were an original party to these Terms.

c. Any modification, amendment or variation to these Terms must be in writing and signed by you and CFC.

d. All waivers must be in writing. A failure or delay by you or CFC to exercise any right or remedy provided under these Terms, the Fund Rules or by law will not constitute a waiver of that or any other right or remedy, nor will it prevent or restrict any further exercise of that or any other right or remedy. No single or partial exercise of any right or remedy provided under these Terms, the Fund Rules or by law will prevent or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy.

e. CFC’s rights and remedies provided under these Terms and the Fund Rules are in addition to, and not exclusive of, any rights or remedies provided by law.

f. If you consist of more than one person or entity, then your rights, obligations and liabilities will be joint and several.

g. If any provision (in whole or in part) of these Terms or the Fund Rules is or becomes invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that provision will be deemed deleted and the deleted portion will not affect the validity and enforceability of the remainder of these Terms or the Fund Rules, as applicable.

h. These Terms and the Fund Rules constitute the entire agreement between you and CFC with respect to the project and supersedes and extinguishes all previous and contemporaneous agreements, promises, assurances, warranties, representations and understandings, whether written, or oral, relating to their subject matter. These Terms and the Fund Rules will override any additional or express or implied terms and conditions.

i. Nothing in these Terms or the Fund Rules is intended to, or will be deemed to, establish any partnership or joint venture between you and CFC, constitute you or CFC to be the agent of the other or authorize you or CFC to make or enter into any commitments for or on behalf of the other. Neither these Terms or the Fund Rules nor your performance of the project will be interpreted or construed as creating the relationship of employer and employee between CFC and you and your personnel (if applicable). You and your personnel (if applicable) are not eligible to enroll for or receive benefits under any CFC employee benefit plan. You are responsible for, as applicable, withholding taxes, making contributions and obtaining insurance with respect to you and your personnel.

j. Any notice or demand required by or permitted to be given under these Terms or the Fund Rules will be in writing and be made by registered mail or by email, sent to such physical or email address as is customarily used by you and CFC during the course of the project.

k. In the event of a dispute between you and CFC or the Fund Operator arising out of, or relating to, the project or the interpretation, performance or breach of these Terms or the Fund Rules, each party (and if a party is an entity, then a person in that party’s senior leadership who has sufficient authority and knowledge to attempt to resolve the dispute) shall use best efforts to attempt to resolve such dispute on amicable terms, including but not limited to meeting, whether in person or virtually, as frequently as is necessary under the circumstances. You and CFC shall not, at any time, disclose to any third party the nature or existence of the dispute. The foregoing procedure does not apply to claims for injunctive or equitable relief.

l. These Terms and the Fund Rules will be governed by and construed under the laws of the United States and of the State of New York without regard to conflict of laws provisions. The federal and state courts sitting in New York County, New York will have exclusive jurisdiction and venue to adjudicate any dispute arising out of these Terms. YOU AND CFC HEREBY IRREVOCABLY WAIVE ALL RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY ACTION, PROCEEDING OR COUNTERCLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS.

m. Section headings will not affect the interpretation of these Terms and the Fund Rules. These Terms and the Fund Rules (i) are binding on, you and CFC and your and its respective personal representatives, successors and permitted assigns and (ii) inure to the benefit of you, CFC and all third-party beneficiaries and your and their personal representatives, successors and permitted assigns, and references to any party will include such representatives, successors and permitted assigns.

Catalyst FC Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 16, 2024

Your privacy is important to Catalyst FC (together with our subsidiaries and affiliates, “CFC”, “we”, “us”, or “our”). This Privacy Policy applies to all personal information collected through this website and all of CFC’s related websites, mobile apps, products, programs including Project Catalyst, services, sales, marketing or events, including our plug-ins and browser extensions (collectively, the "Products").

We are committed to protecting your personal information. When you access or use our Products, you trust us with your personal information. In this Privacy Policy, we describe how we collect, use, store and share your personal information and what rights you have in relation to it. If there are any terms in this Privacy Policy that you do not agree with, please discontinue access and use of our Products.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully as it will help you make informed decisions about sharing your personal information with us.

1. Collection of Data

CFC collects several types of information for various purposes to provide and improve the Products for your use.

Types of Data Collected

Personal Data

While using the Products, CFC may ask you to provide certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you ("Personal Data"), which may include, but is not limited to:

Email address
First name and last name
Phone number
Address, state, province, ZIP/postal code, city
Any other information you submit as part of your participation in Project Catalyst
Cookies and usage data

Your Personal Data may be used to contact you with newsletters, marketing or promotional materials and other information that may be of interest to you. You may opt out of receiving any, or all, of these communications by following the unsubscribe link or instructions provided in any email sent to you by CFC.

Usage Information

Usage Information refers to information collected from Products such as what action has been applied to Products such as clicking logs, your registration details or how you may be using Products.

IP Address

When you use Products, we may automatically log your IP address (the unique address which identifies your computer on the internet) which is automatically recognized by our server.

2. Use of Data

Specifically, CFC uses your information for the purpose for which you provided it to us such as:

To enable us to provide the Products to you,
To notify you about changes to Products
To allow you to participate in interactive features of Products when you choose to do so
To provide customer support
To gather analysis or valuable information so that we can improve the Products
To monitor the usage of Products
To detect, prevent and address technical issues
To provide you with news, special offers and general information about other goods, services and events which CFC offers that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about unless you have opted not to receive such information

Where and as permitted under applicable law, CFC may process your contact information for direct marketing purposes (e.g., event invitations, newsletters) and to carry out customer satisfaction surveys, in each case also by email. You may object to the processing of your contact data for these purposes at any time by writing to dataprotection@iohk.io or by using the opt-out mechanism provided in the respective communication you received.

For a citizen or resident of a member country of the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA), the legal basis for collecting and using Personal Data described in this Privacy Policy depends on the Personal Data being collected and the specific context in which it is collected as described below:

CFC may process your Personal Data because:

CFC needs to perform a contract with you
You have given us permission to do so
The processing derives from CFC's legitimate interests
CFC has to comply with applicable law

The legal basis for CFC processing data about you is that it is necessary for the purposes of:

CFC exercising its rights and performing its obligations in connection with any contract we make with you (Article 6(1)(b), General Data Protection Regulation),
Compliance with CFC’s legal obligations (Article 6(1)(c), General Data Protection Regulation), and/or
Legitimate interests pursued by CFC (Article 6(1)(f), General Data Protection Regulation).

Generally, the legitimate interest pursued by CFC in relation to our use of your personal data is the efficient performance or management of our business relationship with you.

In some cases, we may ask if you consent to the relevant use of your personal data. In such cases, the legal basis for CFC processing that data about you may (in addition or instead) be that you have consented (Article 6(1)(a), General Data Protection Regulation).

4. Retention of Data

CFC will retain your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. CFC will retain and use your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if CFC is required to retain your Personal Data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes and enforce legal agreements and policies.

CFC will also retain Usage Information for internal analysis purposes. Usage Information is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of Products, or CFC is legally obligated to retain such data for longer time periods.

5. Transfer of Data

Your information, including Personal Data, may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ from those from your jurisdiction.

Your use of Products followed by your submission of your personal information constitutes your unreserved agreement to this Privacy Policy in general and the transfer of data under this policy in particular.

CFC will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data and other personal information.

6. Disclosure of Data

Legal Requirements

CFC may disclose your Personal Data in good faith belief that such disclosure is necessary to:

To comply with a legal obligation
To protect and defend the rights or property of CFC
To prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with Products
To protect the personal safety of users of Products or the public
To protect against legal liability

Disclosure of Personal Information Within The EU

Insofar as we employ the services of service providers to implement or fulfill any tasks on our behalf, the contractual relations will be regulated in writing according to the provisions of the European General Data Protection Regulation (EU-GDPR) and the Federal Data Protection Act (new BDSG).

Disclosure of Personal Information Outside of The EU

Insofar as you have selected and consented to this in the form, your data will be disclosed to our offices within the network of affiliated companies outside of the European economic area for the processing of your enquiry. These offices are legally obligated to abide by the EU-GDPR. Furthermore, between the legally autonomous companies in the network of affiliated companies written agreements exist for the processing of data on commission, based on standardized contract stipulations.

7. Security Of Data

We use reasonable technical and organizational methods to safeguard your information, for example, by password protecting (via usernames and passwords unique to you) certain parts of the Products and by using SSL encryption and firewalls to protect against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction. However, please note that this is not a guarantee that such information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed by breach of such firewalls and secure server software.

Whilst we will use all reasonable efforts to safeguard your information, you acknowledge that data transmissions over the internet cannot be guaranteed to be 100% secure and for this reason we cannot guarantee the security or integrity of any personal information that is transferred from you or to you via the internet and as such, any information you transfer to CFC is done at your own risk.

Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share a password with anyone.

If we learn of a security systems breach we may attempt to notify you electronically so that you can take appropriate protective steps. By using Products or providing personal information to us, you agree that we can communicate with you electronically regarding security, privacy and administrative issues relating to your use of Products. We may post a notice on Products if a security breach occurs. We may also send an email to you at the email address you have provided to us in these circumstances. Depending on where you live, you may have a legal right to receive notice of a security breach in writing.

If you are a citizen or resident of a member country of the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA), you have certain data protection rights. CFC aims to take reasonable steps to allow you to correct, amend, delete or limit the use of your Personal Data.

If you wish to be informed what Personal Data CFC holds about you and if you want it to be removed from our systems, please contact us dataprotection@iohk.io.

In certain circumstances, you have the following data protection rights:

The right to access. You have the right to request information concerning the personal information we hold that relates to you.
The right of rectification. You have the right to have your information rectified if that information is inaccurate or incomplete.
The right to object. You have the right to object to your personal information being used for a particular purpose and you can exercise these rights, for example, via an unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email.
The right of restriction. You have the right to request that CFC restricts the processing of your personal information.
The right to data portability. You have the right to be provided with a copy of the information CFC has on you in a structured, machine readable and commonly used format.
The right to withdraw consent. You also have the right to withdraw your consent at any time where CFC relied on your consent to process your personal information.

Please note that CFC may ask you to verify your identity before responding to such requests.

You have the right to complain to a Data Protection Authority about our collection and use of your Personal Data. For more information, please contact your local data protection authority in the EU or EEA.

9. California Residents

If you are a California resident, you have certain rights with respect to your personal information pursuant to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”). This section applies to you.

We are required to inform you of: (i) what categories of information we collect about you, including during the preceding 12 months, (ii) the purposes for which we use your personal data, including during the preceding 12 months, and (iii) the purposes for which we share your personal data, including during the preceding 12 months.

You have the right to: (i) request a copy of the personal information that we have about you; (ii) request that we delete your personal information; and (iii) opt-out of the sale of your personal information. You can limit the use of tracking technologies, such as cookies, by following instructions in the “Your choices” section. These rights are subject to limitations as described in the CCPA.

We will not discriminate against any consumer for exercising their CCPA rights.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us at dataprotection@iohk.io .

10. Service Providers, Plugins and Tools

CFC may employ third party companies and data processors to provide services related to the Products ("Service Providers"). We may share your personal data with these Service Providers only to perform those tasks that we have engaged them to provide on our behalf such as due diligence checks.

CFC may use social media plugins to enable a better user experience with the use of Products.

Youtube

CFC uses the YouTube video platform operated by YouTube LLC, 901 Cherry Ave. San Bruno, CA 94066 USA. YouTube is a platform that enables playback of audio and video files. If you visit one of our pages featuring a YouTube plugin, a connection to the YouTube servers is established. Here the YouTube server is informed about which of our pages you have visited. If you’re logged in to your YouTube account, YouTube allows you to associate your browsing behavior directly with your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your YouTube account. YouTube is used to help make our website appealing. For information about the scope and purpose of data collection, the further processing and use of the data by YouTube and your rights and the settings you can configure to protect your privacy, please refer to the YouTube Privacy Guidelines.

Analytics

CFC may use Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of Products.

If you would like to receive any newsletters that we may make available, we require a valid email address as well as information that allows us to verify that you are the owner of the specified email address and that you agree to receive the newsletter. No additional data is collected or is only collected on a voluntary basis. We only use this data to send the requested information and do not pass it on to third parties.

We will, therefore, process any data you enter onto the contact form only with your consent per (Article 6(1)(a), General Data Protection Regulation). You can revoke consent to the storage and use of your data and email address for sending the newsletter at any time, e.g., through the "unsubscribe" link in the newsletter. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

The data provided when registering for the newsletter will be used to distribute the newsletter until you cancel your subscription when said data will be deleted. Data we have stored for other purposes (e.g., email addresses for members areas) remain unaffected.

Newsletter tracking (also referred to as Web beacons or tracking pixels) is used if users have given their explicit prior consent. When the newsletter is dispatched, the external server can then record certain data related to the recipient, such as the time and date the newsletter is retrieved, the IP address or details regarding the email program (client) used. The name of the image file is personalized for every email recipient by a unique ID being appended to it. The sender of the email notes which ID belongs to which email address and is thus able to determine which newsletter recipient has just opened the email when the image is called.

You may revoke your consent at any time by unsubscribing to the newsletter. This can be done by sending an email request to unsubscribe to dataprotection@iohk.io. You may also remove yourself from the mailing list using the unsubscribe link in the newsletter.

11. Links To Other Products

Products may contain links to other products that are not operated by CFC. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party's site. You’re advised to review the privacy policy of each non-CFC site you decide to visit.

CFC has no control over and assumes no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third-party product or service.

12. Changes to the Privacy Policy

CFC may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Such changes will be posted on this page. The effective date of such changes will be notified via email and/or a prominent notice on the Product, with an update the "effective date" at the top of this Privacy Policy.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

13. Data Privacy Contact

You can reach our data protection officer at dataprotection@iohk.io.

14. Contact by E-mail or Contact Form

When you contact us by e-mail or through a contact form, we store the data you provide (your email address, possibly your name and telephone number) so we can answer your questions. Insofar as we use our contact form to request entries that are not required for contacting you, we have marked these as optional. This information serves to substantiate your inquiry and improve the handling of your request. Your message may be linked to various actions taken by you on the CFC website. Information collected will be solely used to provide you with support relating to your inquiry and better understand your feedback. A statement of this information is expressly provided on a voluntary basis and with your consent. As far as this concerns information about communication channels (such as e-mail address or telephone number), you also agree that we may, where appropriate, contact you via this communication channel to answer your request. You may of course revoke this consent for the future at any time.

We delete the data that arises in this context after saving is no longer required, or limit processing if there are statutory retention requirements.

Catalyst FC Personal Data Consent

By selecting “Yes, I agree” to the onboarding form to which this Catalyst FC Personal Data Consent is attached, you acknowledge and agree that:

In connection with your participation in Project Catalyst and, as a requirement to accept funding from CFC (as those terms are defined in the Project Catalyst Terms and Conditions), your personal data will be collected, stored and processed by third party processors authorized by CFC in its discretion (“Third Party Processors”) in connection with CFC’s legitimate interest in protecting against fraud, corruption, money laundering, terrorist financing, illicit use of funds and other criminal activity (collectively, the “Permitted Purposes”).
For the purposes of this Personal Data Consent, “personal data” means personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you and which may include, without limitation, your name, email address, physical address, phone number and biometric identifiers and information.
You hereby consent to Third Party Processors’ collection, use, processing and storage of your personal data for the Permitted Purposes and any other purposes that you specifically consent to.
If you withdraw your consent for any Third Party Processor to collect, use, process and store your personal data, then your participation in Project Catalyst (including, without limitation, your right to receive any funding) may be terminated in CFC’s discretion in accordance with the Project Catalyst Terms and Conditions.

DMCA FAQ Catalyst

What can I do if my copyrighted content is being displayed on Project Catalyst (www.projectcatlyst.io)?

The information below is provided for general information purposes only and is not legal advice. If you have any questions about this information or your specific intellectual property (IP) rights or situation, please consult with a professional legal counsel.

As stated in our Terms of Use, content that infringes copyrights of others will be delisted or removed from the Project Catalyst site.

If you have a good faith belief that your copyrights are infringed on the Project Catalyst site, please complete and submit a Takedown Request Form to request that an item or items be taken down due to alleged infringement.

Please note that you must be the copyright owner or the copyright owner’s legal representative (such as an agent or attorney) to file this Takedown Request Form on behalf of the copyright owner. We are unable to process your submitted Takedown Request Form if you are not the copyright owner or the copyright owner’s legal representative.

With respect to copyright infringement, we have a notice and takedown process for such infringement in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), which is the United States law governing claims concerning copyright-protected materials being distributed online. This process allows copyright owners or their permitted legal representatives to report content that they believe in good faith infringes their copyright. The Takedown Request Form is also part of this process. If your claim is outside the United States, we may also evaluate it under applicable local copyright laws.

We will evaluate the submitted Takedown Request Form for authenticity and whether it fulfills the requirements of the DMCA and/or other requirements. We may email you requesting additional information, and request that you respond to our email so we can continue reviewing your submitted Form. If the submitted Takedown Request Form is authentic and complete and the reported content is on the Project Catalyst site, we will delist the allegedly infringing content. Please note we do not make determinations as to the legal merit of infringement claims.

If we delist an item or items due to alleged copyright infringement, we will notify you using the email address that you provided in the submitted Takedown Request Form. If we have an email address on file for the creator of the delisted content, and the creator opted to receive emails from us, we will forward to the creator a copy of the submitted Form with any personally identifying information (PII) redacted, along with instructions for filing a counter-notice to our DMCA Agent at DMCA@iohk.io (Attn: Legal - DMCA). Additionally, we will email the owner of the delisted content that the item(s) has been delisted, provided that we have the owner’s email on file and the owner has opted to receive emails from us.

Can the owner of the delisted content file a counter-notice, and if so, what happens next?

The DMCA allows the copyright owner or the copyright owner’s legal representative of the alleged infringing content to submit a counter-notice affirming their good faith belief that the alleged infringing content was delisted or removed due to a misidentification or mistake. Please note that we are unable to process the counter-notice if the submitter is not the copyright owner or the copyright owner’s legal representative of the alleged infringing content, or if the counter-notice is incomplete.

If we receive a counter-notice, we will review it for authenticity and completeness, and may send an email requesting for additional information. If the counter-notice is authentic and complete, we will forward the submitted counter-notice to the person/entity who filed the Takedown Request Form. If such person/entity does not notify us with proof within ten (10) business days of receiving the counter-notice that such person/entity has filed a legal action seeking a court order to prevent the affected owner of the alleged infringing content from having the allegedly infringing content being reinstated or restored on the Project Catalyst site, the content will be reinstated. Such proof can be, for example, a copy of the filed compliant with a state or federal court.

Please note that under the DMCA false statements in the DMCA Notice, Takedown Request Form or counter-notice may lead to civil or criminal penalties. Thus, keep this in mind when determining whether to file a DMCA Notice, Takedown Request Form or counter-notice. Also, if you have any questions regarding the above, please consult with a professional legal counsel.

Furthermore, by submitting a DMCA Notice or Takedown Request Form, you understand and agree that you shall be liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees, any of the IOG Entities incurs as a result of any misrepresentation made in connection with the removal or disabling of access to the alleged infringing material.

How can I file a Takedown Request Form, DMCA notice or counter-notice via email or mail?

To request a copyright takedown request you can either submit a Takedown Request Form or email IOG at DMCA@iohk.io. You may also submit a request in mail to IOGs copyright Agent:

Input Output Global, Inc.

2015 Ionosphere Street, Suite 201

Longmont, Colorado 80504 USA

Attn: Legal Department, c/o Tobias Weas

Please note that sending your DMCA Notice or Takedown Request form via email or mail may take longer to process and must include all the required information.

4. What information do I need to include in my takedown request?

The information required includes:

A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
Requester must be the lawful IP rights owner or a legally authorized representative. If a representative, an electronic signature authorizing the representation;
Requester Name, Address, Phone number, and email address;
Identification of the copyright work that is infringed upon. A link to the copyright owner's work representing ownership;
Identification of the material claimed to be infringing which is requested for take down. Include a link where the infringing material is located;
Statement that the work is infringing on your intellectual property;
Sign off that the information in the request is accurate, and under penalty and perjury, that you are authorized to act on the rights of the alleged infringed;

Proposal submission

This section will guide you through the proposal submission process General note: Write your proposal in simple, jargon-free language. Reviewers and proposers follow the same guidance on submissions,

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Scoring guidance for the Proposer

This page provides an overview of what Community Reviewers will consider when submitting their opinions

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Proposal submission Guide

This page guides proposers in submitting their proposal in ideascale

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Additional Guidance

This page provides additional guidance for proposers in submitting their proposals

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Cardano Partners

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Cardano Partners shortlist

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Community Review

This section will guide you through the Community Review process

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How to become a Community Reviewer?

This page provides guidance to become Community Reviewer and identify ID in the Ideascale

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Community Reviewer Levels

This page provides information regarding Community Reviewer levels and who is qualified for certain level

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Community Review - Submission process (LV0 and LV1)

This page provides information regarding submission process for LV0 and LV1

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Community Review Process

This page provides information regarding Community Reviewer process and information on how to find allocations in the Ideascale

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Scoring rubric and guiding questions

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Community Moderation Process

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Conflict of Interest

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Reviewer Rewards

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Score Weight

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FAQ

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Voter registration

These guides allow you to register your wallet for voting

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Supported wallets

These are some of the wallets you can use to participate in the Catalyst Fund voting.

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Registration Guide - In your wallet

This guide shows the wallet registration process using Daedalus as an example. Please refer to your specific wallet for related guides.

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Voting

This section will guide you through the Voting process

Wallet Connection - In the Catalyst Voting App

This guide explains the steps to connect your wallet to the Catalyst Voting App

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How to vote?

A detailed walkthrough on how to submit votes in Project Catalyst after connecting a registered wallet to the mobile app

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How to audit the vote?

A guide for community verification of the end-to-end voting process

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Audit the Snapshot

How to audit the "Snapshot".

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Required Tools

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Reproducing the Snapshot

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Voting Ledger Snapshots

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Audit The Tally

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Voting FAQ

Is voting 'ABSTAIN' same as 'not voting' at all?

Only voting 'YES' determines outcome for proposals. Voting 'ABSTAIN' is a signal only and serves for privacy preserving properties from cryptographic properties to counter balance your 'YES' votes. Your goal as a voter is to cast 'ABSTAIN' in each category as well to mix up your voting profile to help improve voting privacy. Otherwise, practically speaking both actions are the same. However, 'ABSTAIN' registers action on chain. 'Not voting' doesn't. Once you've cast any vote to blockchain - you cannot change it anymore.

What are you doing to mitigate bad actors putting forward scam proposals?

The remarkable aspect of a decentralized innovation fund, like Catalyst lies in its inherent self-governance, accountability, and resilience. Catalyst is a bunch of mini ecosystems working together to bring innovation to Cardano from the ground up. Since everyone is interested in seeing the highest impact proposals get funding, the community does a great job of doing community reviews and sorting out which proposals aren’t the best fit for Catalyst funding. Another fail-safe measure in place is the moderation of submitted proposals. Incomplete or spam proposals are filtered out before undergoing a thorough round of community reviews.

Will IOG vote for their own proposals with their ada?

No, IOG will not influence the vote with any wallet under our control. IOG has a long-standing policy about not participating in Catalyst voting.

How transparent will the voting be? Will it be on-chain?

Catalyst voting has always occurred on-chain, utilizing the Jormungandr sidechain, initially utilized to test the Ouroboros Shelley Incentivized Testnet's infrastructure. This allows Catalyst voting to benefit from the same high level of security as the Cardano mainchain in many cases. Catalyst voting is designed to be privacy-preserving. While there is a degree of transparency surrounding the voting process, it is impossible to determine the specific direction of an individual voter's choice. As with all blockchains, the ledger itself can be audited. From Fund10, we took additional steps to ensure transparency and verifiability. We made the tally independently verifiable, and all voting data is publicly available to the community. This effort will continue for Fund13. To learn more about how you can validate the vote results, click here.

Project onboarding

This section will guide you through the onboarding process

Glossary of Terms

Final Milestone: represents the last step for Funded Projects before their project is considered complete and includes submitting a Project Closeout Report and a Project Closeout Video.

Funded Project: a project approved for funding by the community of ada holders as part of Fund13.

Grant Amount: the total funding the community approves for a Funded Project.

Proof of Achievement (PoA): evidence to be submitted by Funded Projects to show that the acceptance criteria for a Milestone as set out in the Statement of Milestones have been fulfilled and the Milestone has been completed.

Milestone: a milestone identified by the Funded Projects in the Statement of Milestones with a corresponding Milestone Achievement Date and a Milestone Funding Amount.

Final Milestone: a milestone which has to include Project Closeout Report and Project Closeout Video.

Milestone Achievement Date: a date specified in the Statement of Milestones on which a Funded Project will complete a related Milestone.

Milestone Funding Amount: the % of the Grant Amount to be paid to a Funded Project in connection with a Milestone.

Milestones Module: the interface in which a Funded Project administers the project, to produce and submit the SoM and PoA.

Project Closeout Report (PCR): a written report to be submitted by a Funded Project once all the Milestones in the Statement of Milestones have been completed. The report should include a summary of deliverables, whether any success metrics were (or were not) addressed, and the next stage plans for the product or service developed. This report is to be submitted along with the Project Closeout Video.

Project Closeout Video (PCV): a demonstration video to be prepared by a Funded Project once all the milestones in the Statement of Milestones have been completed. This video needs to be completed according to the latest PCV guidelines requirements. This is required to complete a project along with the PCR.

Statement of Milestones (SoM): list of milestones in the project created by Funded Project in the Milestone Module with the schedule, deliverables, milestone achievement dates, milestone funding amounts, and the expected PoA.

Outputs of the milestone: Description of what FP will produce in a particular milestone. For example, documentation, prototype, research paper, UIUX designs, customer/user-centered research, work package technical outputs, demonstrations/pilots, white paper, business/tokenomics model, events, measurable engagement, software implementation, or any outputs that FP will provide.

Acceptance criteria of the milestone: The acceptance criteria are linked to intended outcomes and targets. They are standards by which to judge whether an objective/goal/target has been achieved/successful.

Evidence of milestone completion: The evidence clearly and visibly shows that the milestone has been completed.

Formal Due Diligence process: This generally includes identify verifications for individuals and businesses.

Milestone-based proposals

These Guidelines are intended to inform proposers how milestone-based funding works for proposals submitted as part of the Fund13 cohort.

How to submit Project milestones

Milestone-based funding enables projects funded by Project Catalyst (Funded Projects) to lay out their critical path to deliver the promises set out in their proposals, highlighting each key milestone, output, acceptance criteria, costs, and what evidence of achievements will be demonstrated at each stage of the project. In this context, a milestone is an important event or action in any project or business journey that marks a crucial stage of progress. It is a crucial reporting tool to inform the Catalyst team and the community of the project's progress and to ensure the accountability of Funded Projects within a fair and unbiased decentralized funding framework. Funded Proposer submit Statement of Milestones using the Milestone Module.

What should be included in the Statement of Milestones?

Once a Fund13 Proposal is approved for funding by the community, the Funded Project must complete an onboarding process, including formalizing the project and deliverables into a Statement of Milestones.
The Statement of Milestones (SoM) is document submitted by Funded Projects during the onboarding process which, as a minimum, must include:

A list of all the Milestones of the project
The proposed Milestone Achievement Date for each Milestone
The Milestone Funding Amount for each Milestone
The outputs to be delivered by Funded Projects for each Milestone
The acceptance criteria to be used by the Catalyst Team and Milestone Reviewers to determine whether a Milestone has been successfully delivered, and
The evidence to be submitted by Funded Projects to show that the acceptance criteria have been fulfilled and the milestone has been completed.

Each Statement of Milestones must include a minimum number of Milestones depending on the size of the Grant Amount as set out below, plus an additional Final Milestone

*If FP wants to increase the number of milestones in the Milestone Module, should submit a ticket here

For Grant Amounts of up to 75k ada, at least 2 milestones, plus the final one, must be included
For Grant Amounts between 75k ada and 150k ada, at least 3 milestones, plus the final one, must be included
For Grant Amounts over 150k ada up to 300k ada, at least 4 milestones. plus the final one, must be included
For Grant Amounts exceeding 300k ada, at least 5 milestones, plus the final one, must be include

Each Milestone, excluding the Final one, included in a Statement of Milestones must be at least one (1) month and maximum three (3) months in duration and must include the information set out in paragraph 2 above. Each Milestone Funding Amount must equate to between 5% and 30% of the Grant Amount expressed in ada. Milestone 1 must equate to no more than 75,000 ada or 30% of the Grant Amount. For Milestone 1, if the 75,000 ada is lower than 5% of the Grant Amount, then the maximum amount you can enter is 75,000 ada. For complete clarity, in such a case, a minimum of 5% does not apply for Milestone 1.
In addition to the Milestones set out above, each Statement of Milestone must also include a Final Milestone that must be allocated a Milestone Funding Amount of no less than 15% of the Grant Amount and last one (1) month.
The Final Milestone represents the last step for Funded Projects before their project is considered complete. The Final Acceptance Milestone will be considered achieved upon (i) approval by Milestone Reviewers and the Catalyst Team of all other Milestones in the Statement of Milestones, (ii) approval by Milestone Reviewers and the Catalyst Team of the Project Close Out Report, and (iii) approval by Milestone Reviewers and the Catalyst Team of the Project Close Out Video.
Once a Statement of Milestones has been completed, the Funded Project must submit the same for review and approval using the Catalyst Milestone Module Interface.

Approval of the Statement of Milestones

Once a Statement of Milestones is submitted, Milestone Reviewers will receive email notification that a Statement of Milestones is ready for review.
At least 2 Milestone Reviewers will be assigned to verify that the Statement of Milestones is in line with the project proposal and complies with the requirements set out in these Guidelines concerning outputs, acceptance criteria, and evidence of milestones completion.
A Milestone Reviewer may ask for clarifications from Funded Projects if the deliverables or requirements set out in the Statement of Milestones are unclear or incomplete. Funded Projects will be able to refine the Statement of Milestones and address any clarifications accordingly.
If one Milestone Reviewer does not approve the Statement of Milestones, the Funded Project has to resubmit it considering the comments provided and go through the review process again. Once both Milestone Reviewers reach a consensus, the Catalyst team will provide their final review and approval.
Funded Projects are only considered LIVE once the Statement of Milestones has received all approvals from Milestone Reviewers and the Catalyst team. Funding disbursements cannot commence until a Statement of Milestones is approved, and the project is LIVE.
Once a Statement of Milestones has been approved, it can only be changed by following the Change Request Process. Milestones can be delivered out of sequence if Funded Projects submit a Change Request to amend the delivery schedule and expected deliverables at each milestone review checkpoint.
The Catalyst Team and Milestone Reviewers approve the Statement of Milestones as part of the onboarding process.
Once the onboarding process is complete, Funded projects will receive the first monthly Milestone Funding Amount allocated to Milestone 1.

Approval and payment of Milestones

Upon completion of the Onboarding process the project is considered LIVE and the project can begin. After the receipt 80% of the 1st Milestone Funding Amount, Funded Projects may submit Proof of Achievement as evidence that one or more Milestones in their Statement of Milestones have been completed.
Proof of Achievement must be submitted using the Milestone Module Interface. It must provide (a) evidence of the outputs to be delivered for that Milestone, and (b) evidence that the acceptance criteria in the Statement of Milestones for that Milestone have been fulfilled. Funded Projects are responsible for coherently and comprehensively demonstrating that a Milestone has been completed.
Upon submission of a Proof of Achievement, Milestone Reviewers will receive notification that a new Proof of Achievement has been submitted for review.
Milestone Reviewers will verify that evidence supplied for Proof of Achievement meets the expected achievements stated in the Statement of Milestones, considering expected outputs, acceptance criteria, and evidence of completion. If achievements have not been met, the Reviewers will record what is missing from the Proof of Achievement submission.
Once all reviewers form consensus, the Catalyst Team makes a final check and provides final approval. Approval by the Catalyst Team unlocks the Milestone Funding Amount attributed to the next Milestone on the Statement of Milestones.
80% of Milestone Funding Amounts will be paid in equal monthly installments depending on the proposed Milestone Achievement Date for each Milestone. In other words, if a Milestone is scheduled to be completed over a period of 3 months, the Milestone Funding Amount for that milestone will be paid in 3 equal monthly installments. The remaining 20% will be paid upon Milestone completion.
As a general rule, 80% of Milestone Funding Amounts are paid in advance to support Funded Projects in the delivery of a Milestone and 20% upon completion. By way of exception, the Milestone Funding Amount associated with the Final Milestone is paid in arrears upon achievement of the Final Milestone as per point 6 above.
The first Proof of Achievement submitted by Funded Projects must prove that Milestone 1 has been completed.
Funded Projects may submit more than one Proof of Achievement in the same month if required.

Funded Proposers guides

Onboarding F13 Funded Projects - A guide with actions, checklists, key dates and deadlines

Welcome to Catalyst Funded Projects! Now that voting has ended, your Funded Project (FP) will join hundreds of other Catalyst projects innovating and developing new solutions with the help of Catalyst funding from Cardano Community.

Your project has three important phases as part of Catalyst:

Phase 1: Onboarding: Statement of Milestones, Due Diligence, Test Transactions
Phase 2: Project Delivery
Phase 3: Project Completion

This document covers Phase 1: Onboarding. Once you have completed onboarding more information will be provided to you about phases 2 & 3 in the weeks and months following.

Let’s get started

Key dates

Onboarding Sessions - Presentation & Recordings

Onboarding session A

Onboarding presentation - link here

Onboarding meeting session A - link here

Video timestamps:

00:00 Intro and Agenda

11:23 Key Dates

16:43 Onboarding Form

17:45 Statement of Milestones

24:32 Due Diligence

25:57 Test Transaction

26:28 Milestone-based funding process

29:48 Catalyst Open Hours

30:35 Your Obligation

32:50 Q&A

Onboarding session B

Onboarding presentation - link here

Onboarding meeting session B - link here

Video timestamps:

00:00 Intro and Agenda

07:17 Key Dates

10:08 Onboarding Form

11:11 Statement of MileStones

18:48 Due Diligence

21:18 Test Transaction

22:21 MileStone Based Funding Process

25:50 Catalyst Open Hours

27:15 Your Obligation

33:04 Q&A

What do you need to do next?

You will need to complete the onboarding form by noon UTC on 31 December 2024.

The form will capture relevant details to help with your onboarding into the Catalyst post-vote steps so you can receive your funding. You're now part of the Catalyst Network - the name given for all the cohorts of projects, where all the funded proposals interact with each other.
This onboarding form should be submitted using an email address that belongs to either the lead proposer or a co-proposer that is listed in your original proposal submitted on cardano.ideascale.com.

After the submission of the onboarding form you will receive an email with a link to reset the password and create a new one in the Milestone Module within 24 hours.
By 23 December 2024 noon UTC you should inform Catalyst Team if you would like to have additional milestones in the Milestone Module by submitting a ticket here
You should submit your Statement of Milestones between 19 December 2024* and 8 January 2025 noon UTC.

Each funded project must submit a Statement of Milestones before the project goes live and before first payment is received.
Your Statement of Milestones will need to be submitted for review by no later than noon UTC on 8 January 2025.

*The FP user account in the Milestone Module allowing FPs to submit their SoM is created once the FP has completed and submitted their onboarding form.

Attend one of the Catalyst Celebration Onboarding Meetings on 19 December 2024 (not mandatory, but recommended). You will get the opportunity to ask questions and clarify any outstanding doubts.

F13 Onboarding Session A - 19 December, 9AM UTC
F13 Onboarding Session B - 19 December, 4 PM UTC

Once you submit your onboarding form, a formal due diligence request will follow to your email box to complete necessary steps.
Complete formal due diligence requirements by 8 January 2025 and confirm Test Transaction by 17 January 2025.

How to create a Statement of Milestones - guide for Funded Proposers

How to create a Statement of Milestones

Statement of Milestones (SoM) is a list of milestones in the project created by Funded Proposer in the Milestone Module with deliverables, milestone achievement dates, milestone funding amounts, and the expected Proof of Achievements. Milestone is a specific point within your project that marks achievement of the progress.

As a Funded Proposer (FP) you are obliged to submit SoM in the Milestone Module during the onboarding process. Completion of the milestone moves your project towards the next one. Number of milestones in SoM depends on the budget you request for the project.

Below you may find information on how to write each section of a Statement of Milestones, so that it would be successfully approved.

Milestone outputs

Milestone outputs is a description of what you will produce, e.g. new UIUX designs, customer/user-centered research, work package technical outputs, documentation, prototypes, demonstrators/pilots, white-paper, business/tokenomics model, events, research papers, measurable engagement, reference/production software implementation or any other outputs you will provide.

Below you may find useful tips on how to describe outputs:

Provide a straightforward list of the things you will make / the tasks you will do in this milestone.
Use a numbered list. In acceptance criteria and evidence of milestone completion sections number things in a corresponding way.
Provide only outputs for which you can provide evidence of completion.
Make sure your outputs match your original proposal as stated in the Ideascale.
Make sure that you are able to provide evidence for the output within a given time frame, don’t underestimate/overestimate the timeline.

Acceptance criteria

Acceptance criteria is linked to the outcomes you described in the outputs section. It should describe a way by which it could be judged that output has been achieved, e.g. for a milestone relating to creation of video lectures, acceptance criteria might be to release 10 instructional videos per month.

Below you may find useful tips on how to describe acceptance criteria:

Use target numbers to understand when the task is achieved, e.g. how many people you will onboard, how many views your social media post will get.
Include at least one acceptance criteria for each output to show how certain output is measured to be achieved. If it is not possible to provide that, then probably it shouldn’t be included as an output at all.
Do not provide qualitative measures e.g. “Our written material will be well-organized”. Such statements are impossible to assess, as everyone can perceive qualitative measures in different ways, and as a result, lead to possible disapproval.
Use the same number as used in the output section, so that it would be easy to understand that this acceptance criteria refers to this specific output.

Evidence of milestone completion

Evidence of milestone completion is a way, by which you prove, that the milestone has been completed. Evidence is linked to your output and acceptance criteria, e.g. output is video lectures, acceptance criteria is to release 10 instructional videos per month and evidence for it will be instructional videos posted on Youtube channel.

Below you may find useful tips on how to describe acceptance criteria:

Make sure your evidence proves what you stated in outputs and acceptance criteria sections.
Use the same number for evidence of the specific output as you used in the outputs and acceptance criteria section, so that it would be easy to understand that all of them are connected.
Remember to include a piece of evidence for each output. If you can’t evidence something, you should remove it.
Be realistic. Don’t commit yourself to more evidence than you need to demonstrate that you’ve achieved your milestone.
Secure permission to share sensitive data (e.g phone numbers, emails etc). Milestone Module is publicly accessible and data against GDPR policy can’t be published.
If a piece of your evidence is confidential, it can be submitted via a video call with Milestone Reviewers and this fact should be described in the evidence section.

General rules

Keep it succinct and focus on the most important details.
Be specific and do not leave any room for interpretation.

Example of acceptable SoM:

Statement of Milestones submission

Submitting your Statement of Milestones

All projects in Fund13 will be following reporting requirements based on clear milestones submitted in the Milestone Module, reviewed by two Milestone Reviewers throughout project delivery. Funding will be linked to demonstrating that you have achieved your specified milestones. More information in the next section.

Your original Catalyst proposal provided some details on the project roadmap, budget, and timeline of deliverables. This should help you translate into milestones, however please do not simply cut and paste from your Catalyst Proposal.

You will also have the opportunity to correlate your project proposal to specified milestones with potentially new and relevant data to add for example you will be required to specify:

What each milestone is
What outputs will be delivered and the success criteria for each milestone outputs
The projected budget to reach each milestone
The projected month to reach each milestone
What final capabilities will be demonstrated at the end of the project
This final output should demonstrate that the product or service works and can bring tangible value

By shifting to milestone-based deliverables your projects are able to reflect tangible and demonstrable progress to the community.

To gain a better understanding of how to submit your milestones in the best way, On this page, you can better understand the process from the perspective of a Milestone Reviewer.

Please note:

Only once both the Milestone Reviewers have agreed your Statement of Milestones and the Catalyst Team has signed off on it, your project will go Live and your first payment will be released.
Payments to reach the next milestone will be made once you have demonstrated your achievement of completion of the current milestone so it is very important that the milestones you submit are clear as these milestones are the measure by which your funds will be released.
If your Statement of Milestones is not agreed to by both Milestone Reviewers you will have the opportunity to submit a revised Statement of Milestones for agreement. This process will however delay the release of your first payment so please do take time when working on this.

The Milestone Module can be found here. FP will receive an email with a link to reset password and create a new one in the Milestone Module within 24 hours from completing the onboarding form.

This module is for you to list in detail the key project milestones which will be used to measure the progress of your project.

How Milestone payments work

Each individual Milestone is paid 80% of its budget before completion (equally divided by Milestone length) and 20% upon completion (on submission and approval of the PoA for that specific milestone). The Final Milestone is 1-month long and is paid upon completion.

Below can be found high level overviews of monthly batches calculation based on the length of each milestone.

Each milestone lasts 1 month

Each milestone lasts 2 months

Each milestone lasts 3 months

Creating your milestones - need to know

A milestone is the planned completion of a significant event in the successful delivery of your project. It is a signal to demonstrate progress.
Funds are only released on satisfactory completion and delivery of each milestone.
Each milestone must be clearly described. For each milestone you must also explain how you intend to evidence the completion of the milestone.
Your Statement of Milestones will be made available to view to the Community.
When you have completed a milestone and wish funds to be released you will be asked to provide clear visible evidence of the completion of the milestone. The Milestone Reviewers are reviewing milestones, and you should expect the Cardano community will also be interested in reviewing these proofs.

Your project should have at least 2 milestones and an additional final Milestone: below there is a breakdown of the milestones requirements based on the project grant funds:

For Grant Amounts of up to 75k ada, at least 2 milestones must be included plus a final Milestone
For Grant Amounts between 75k ada and 150k ada, at least 3 milestones must be included plus a final Milestone
For Grant Amounts over 150k ada up to 300k ada, at least 4 milestones must be included plus a final Milestone
For Grant Amounts exceeding 300k ada, at least 5 milestones must be included plus a final Milestone

How to use the Milestone module as a Funded Proposer?

Formal Due Diligence Process

All proposals are classified either as business or individual grants. For each grant there must be a declared official party that will hold responsibility for the execution of it. All Grantees must complete due diligence verification which includes submitting complete and accurate information for know your customer (KYC), know your business (KYB), anti-money laundering (AML) and similar screenings conducted. Instructions will be provided to Grantees via email once they complete their submission of onboarding forms to complete the due diligence process.

For each grant there must be a declared official Grantee that holds responsibility for the execution of it
Grantees are classified as:
- Individuals
- Incorporated organization
- Unincorporated organizations
Access to the verification portal
For returning Grantees
- If you are a returning Grantee from Fund12 (or a verified community member in Fund13 for individuals only) and your details have not changed, your existing verification will carry over to Fund13. It is crucial to use the same email address as your reference from the previous KYC/KYB process you’ve passed; otherwise, you will need to repeat all verification steps or risk delaying onboarding.

Test Transaction (Tx)

Test Tx confirmation is part of your onboarding process. You can confirm Test Tx once Formal Due Diligence process is completed. The goal of it is to make sure that FP receives funds in the correct wallet. The test Tx is made in the following way:

Catalyst sends 1 ADA to the wallet provided in the onboarding form (IMPORTANT: The wallet address you provide in the onboarding form is the wallet address that will be used for the test transaction, If for any reason the wallet address needs to be changed from the one submitted in the onboarding form this will delay your onboarding and initial fund release).
Catalyst sends an email with Google form where FP confirms obtaining of 1 ADA

What else further down the line?

It is very important that you submit your PoAs at the end of each milestone on time as scheduled in your SoM as this impacts when funds are released to you.

The amount of funding your project receives will be based on the amount you have been accepted to receive and the proposed end date for each milestone.

The final batch of funding is only released once the project has submitted a proof of Project Closeout Report and proof of Project Closeout Video. The report and video will need to be reviewed and approved by both your assigned Milestone Reviewers and the Catalyst team.

Privacy and Confidentiality

If you wish to remain completely confidential through your Catalyst process then please submit a ticket with your full details including your IdeaScale link and the reason for requesting privacy. At this stage of Catalyst development, it is NOT guaranteed that your identity will remain anonymous.

Conflict of Interest

Conflicts of Interest (CoI) can take form in various ways. In general, a CoI is defined as:

A conflict of interest occurs when a person's or entity's vested interests raise a question of whether their actions, judgment, and/or decision-making can be unbiased.
In business, a conflict of interest arises when a person chooses personal gain over duties to their employer, or to an organization in which they are a stakeholder, or exploits their position for personal gain in some way.
Conflicts of interest often have legal ramifications.

Declaring any CoI’s are important for transparency and auditability purposes. CoI’s can exist at the start of your project and also appear during delivery so it’s important to bear that in mind as your project progresses. If you have any legitimate concerns regarding a potential conflict please submit a ticket here with full details of your concerns so the Catalyst team can review. Honesty and transparency are valued here.

Funded Project Checklist

Have you…

Submitted your onboarding form?
Completed and submitted your Statement of Milestones in the Milestone Module?
Completed the due diligence process?
Confirmed Test Transaction (Tx)?
Raised any conflict of interest concerns to IO by submiting a ticket here with full details? (optional)
Secured approval for your Statement of Milestones?

Requesting a change to funded project

Overview: Sometimes plans may change, and that’s okay. However, Catalyst needs to account for these changes transparently. For this purpose, there's a Change Request (CR) process. Only well-argued CRs with adequate supporting information will be approved.

Applicable scenarios

A change to any deliverable, any form of pivot to the project, KPI, or output that was included in
- Statement of Milestones
A change to the timelines (duration and project completion date) set out in the original proposal and at onboarding specifically
A change to the funding schedule and payment structure that was agreed with Catalyst at the onboarding stage
A change to the payment address where project receives their tranche allocations

How to submit a Change Request?

In writing on the project's letterhead (using the information that is tied to your onboarding information)
Submit a ticket with CR request here
The document should include the following information:
- Project ID and Title in the letter and in the subject line of your email
- What exactly is the change you want to make?
- What is the need for this change?
- Are there any changes to the approved deliverables stated in either the original proposal or SoM (Y/N)?
  - If yes, please describe the changes and why the original deliverables cannot be achieved

What is the impact of this change on the ability to complete the project as set out in the original proposal?
If the change is financial in any way, please lay out in clear detail the BEFORE and AFTER of your change request in a table as part of your CR.

Example for guidance below:

Once a project's change request is received, it will be reviewed and assessed by the Catalyst team
Project will then receive an email notification from the Catalyst team informing the project whether their change has been accepted or if further information is required.
If change request was approved, Catalyst will unlock FP SoM resubmission in the Milestone module and will insert link to change request on the proposal dashboard (it will become public)
FP resubmits SoM via the Milestone Module once received email from Catalyst team that SoM submission is reopened
Milestone Reviewers receive notification to review resubmitted SoM
Milestone Reviewers compare SoM against change request
- If SoM and CR is different, Milestone Reviewers won’t approve it and FP will have to submit SoM again
- If SoM and CR is the same, Catalyst Team sign off user locks SoM

IMPORTANT:

Change request can be submitted only for milestones where PoAs are not signed off yet

Milestone Reviewers guides

Onboarding F13 Milestone Reviewers - A guide with actions, key dates and deadlines

Milestone Reviewer - Terms & Conditions

Introduction

Within the Catalyst ecosystem, milestone reviewers play a crucial role in ensuring projects that were selected for funding by the Cardano community (“Grantees”) remain accountable throughout the project delivery lifecycle. These terms and conditions (“Terms”) govern the role and responsibilities of a milestone reviewer (the "Reviewer" or “you”) and they apply together with all other rules, requirements and documentation applicable to Reviewers that were provided or made available to you including the Catalyst Terms and Conditions (altogether the “Catalyst Rules”). If there is a conflict between these Terms and the Catalyst Rules, these Terms will control.

By accepting these Terms, participating in Project Catalyst or accepting compensation, you represent and warrant that you have read, understood and agreed to be bound by these Terms.

1. Role and Responsibilities

The role of a Reviewer is to review and assess objectively and fairly (i) the statement of milestones (“Statement of Milestones”) and (ii) the proof of achievement (“Proof of Achievement”) submitted by Grantees from time to time. Reviewers assigned to review a Statement of Milestones for a particular Grantee will also have the opportunity to review each Proof of Achievement submitted by such Grantee for milestones delivered.

2. Onboarding and Access

A Reviewer will be assigned work following completion of an onboarding process which includes identity verification and being granted access to the Milestone Module. Reviewers are obliged to reset their password to the Milestone Module within 24 hours from receipt of the link requesting such reset.

3. Timeliness of Reviews

Reviewers are expected to complete their review of a Statement of Milestones within 48 hours from when a Statement of Milestones is submitted/resubmitted to the Milestone Module by a Grantee. Proof of Achievement reviews are expected to be completed within 72 hours from submission/resubmission of the Proof of Achievement by a Grantee in the Milestone Module.

4. Inability to Complete Assigned Work

Reviewers should inform the Catalyst Team within 48 hours, if they are unable to carry out their assigned work in a timely fashion. Notification should be done by submitting ticket here.

5. Documentation and Feedback

All reviews must be documented on the Milestone Module, including whether a Statement of Milestones/Proof of Achievement milestone is being approved or rejected. Reviewers shall provide constructive, detailed and actionable feedback to Grantees as part of their review and shall ensure that all reviews are accurate and truthful and comply with the guidelines and criteria set out in these Terms and the Catalyst Rules. If a Statement of Milestones/Proof of Achievement milestone is rejected, the Reviewer must provide detailed reasons for such rejection.

6. Confidentiality

Reviewers must not disclose any information about the projects, Grantees, or their submissions to any third party and shall at all times, maintain the confidentiality of all project related information and documentation that is shared with them. All documents and information shared with Reviewers must be used solely for the purpose of carrying out assessments unless the Reviewer can show that such information was already in the public domain at the time it was used for other purposes.

7. Conflict of Interest

Reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest prior to reviewing a Statement of Milestones/Proof of Achievement. Reviewers must recuse themselves from reviewing any Statement of Milestones/Proof of Achievement where a conflict of interest may exist. In particular, Reviewers must refrain from conducting reviews for their own proposals, for proposals where they are engaged as an advisor, mentor, or otherwise where they are substantially involved in the execution phase of the proposal and/or proposals or where the Reviewer is closely affiliated to the Grantee.

8. Intellectual Property

Reviewers acknowledge that all intellectual property contained within the Statement of Milestones/Proof of Achievement submissions remains the property of the Grantees. Any use by Reviewers of ideas, information or intellectual property arising from the submissions must be in accordance with the Grantee’s applicable terms of use.

9. Professional Conduct

Reviewers must communicate professionally and respectfully with Grantees, other reviewers and Catalyst participants generally and must at all times act with integrity and honesty in all review-related activities. Any issues or concerns regarding the review process should be directed to the Fund Administrator via ticket here.

10. Termination

The Fund Administrator reserves the right to terminate the Reviewer’s role at any time for breach of any of these Terms, the Catalyst Rules or for any other reason deemed appropriate by the Fund Administrator. The Fund Administrator shall explain the reasons for termination in a written notice to the Reviewer and shall grant the Reviewer the opportunity to share their perspective or respond to the reasons given. Upon termination, any pending reviews shall be reassigned to other reviewers to ensure continuity. Relevant stakeholders, such as Grantees and their team members shall be notified of the change in the review team. Examples of situations that may result in termination include but are not limited to:

where a review is not submitted within the timescales set out in these terms, causing delays in the review process
where a review lacks specific, detailed feedback, making it difficult for a Grantee to understand what needs improvement
where a review contains personal attacks or inflammatory language directed at a Grantee rather than constructive criticism of the work
where the Reviewer demonstrates a lack of understanding of the subject matter of a project, leading to incorrect or irrelevant feedback
where the review includes content copied from other sources without proper attribution
where the Reviewer fails to comply with these Terms or the Catalyst Rules.

Reviewers may also resign from their role at any time, provided they give sufficient notice to the Fund Administrator to find a replacement.

11. Payment and Compensation

Reviewers will be compensated for their services as per the rates notified for each funding round by the Fund Administrator. The compensation due to each Reviewer shall be calculated on a monthly basis and shall be paid in ada to the wallet designated by the Reviewer as part of the onboarding process. Reviewers are responsible for complying with their local tax laws and regulations related to their compensation.

12. Limitation of Liability

Neither Catalyst FC nor the Fund Operator makes any representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information provided to the Reviewer. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the liability of Catalyst FC and the Fund Administrator to the Reviewer for any claims arising out of or in connection with these Terms or the Catalyst Rules shall be limited to the amount of compensation paid to the Reviewer during the fund in which the liability arose.

13. Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed under the laws of the United States and of the State of New York without regard to conflict of laws provisions. The federal and state courts sitting in New York County, New York will have exclusive jurisdiction and venue to adjudicate any dispute arising out of these Terms. YOU HEREBY IRREVOCABLY WAIVE ALL RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY ACTION, PROCEEDING OR COUNTERCLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS.

14. Amendments

The Fund Administrator reserves the right to amend these Terms at any time. Reviewers will be notified of any changes and continued participation as a Reviewer will constitute acceptance of the new terms.

Milestone Reviewer Process Examples

Milestone Reviewer - Interview 1

What kind of acceptance criteria/outputs should FP deliver during SoM formulation to have it approved by the Milestone Reviewers? 0:26
What should Milestone Reviewer pay attention to during SoM review? 1:57
What was the most difficult part during the review of SoM? 2:50
What was the most difficult part during the review of PoA? 3:20
In your opinion, what ideal SoM should look like? 4:17
In your opinion, what would an ideal PoA should look like? 5:00
Do you have something additional that is worth mentioning? 5:43

Milestone Reviewer - Interview 2

What kind of acceptance criteria/outputs should FP deliver during SoM formulation to have it approved by the Milestone Reviewers? 0:31
What should Milestone Reviewer pay attention to during SoM review? 1:51
What was the most difficult part during the review of SoM? 2:59
What was the most difficult part during the review of PoA? 5:03
In your opinion, what ideal SoM should look like? 6:05
In your opinion, what would an ideal PoA should look like? 7:19
Do you have something additional that is worth mentioning? 8:30

Milestone Reviewer - Interview 3

What kind of acceptance criteria/outputs should FP deliver during SoM formulation to have it approved by the Milestone Reviewers? 0:37
What was the most difficult part during the review of SoM? 2:47
What was the most difficult part during the review of PoA? 7:02
In your opinion, what ideal SoM should look like? 13:48
In your opinion, what would an ideal PoA should look like? 16:58
Do you have something additional that is worth mentioning? 22:50

Milestone Reviewer - Interview 4

What kind of acceptance criteria/outputs should FP deliver during SoM formulation to have it approved by the Milestone Reviewers? 0:42
What should Milestone Reviewer pay attention to during SoM review?
What was the most difficult part during the review of SoM? 7:53
What was the most difficult part during the review of PoA?
In your opinion, what ideal SoM should look like? 12:58
In your opinion, what would an ideal PoA should look like? 12:58
Do you have something additional that is worth mentioning? 21:57

Milestone Reviewer - Interview 5

What kind of acceptance criteria/outputs should FP deliver during SoM formulation to have it approved by the Milestone Reviewers? 0:37
What should Milestone Reviewer pay attention to during SoM review? 2:39
What was the most difficult part during the review of SoM? 3:37
What was the most difficult part during the review of PoA? 7:11
In your opinion, what ideal SoM should look like? 9:55
In your opinion, what would an ideal PoA should look like? 11:55
Do you have something additional that is worth mentioning? 15:19

Key dates

This page contains key dates for Milestone Reviewers during the onboarding

By December 19th 2024 EOD UTC - Milestone Reviewers should create accounts in the Milestone Module

20-31 December 2024 progressively - Catalyst Team will assign Milestone Reviewers to specific projects in the Milestone Module (allocation process depends on completion of onboarding form by Funded Projects)

By December 31st 2024 EOD UTC - Milestone Reviewers should check if assigned projects are visible, and inform the Catalyst Team about being unable to review specific projects via ticket here. If the Catalyst Team is not informed by this date, then it would mean for Catalyst Team that each assigned project will be reviewed

From December 20th 2024 to January 12th 2025 EOD UTC - Milestone Reviewers should check email notifications daily to see if there are any milestones submissions/resubmissions to review

By January 12th 2025 EOD UTC - All submitted/resubmitted milestones in SoM must be reviewed

Milestone Reviewers onboarding meetings

Onboarding session A

Presentation slides - link here

Video recording - link here

Video timestamps:

0:00 Intro and Agenda:

1:56 Key Dates

05:52 What is Statement of Milestones (SoM)?

6:26 What is Proof of Achievement (PoA)?

7:01 Milestone Module

10:02 Your Role as a Milestone Reviewer (MR)

15:48 Best Practices

18:16 Milestone Reviewer Rewards

19:23 Q&A

Q&A questions with timestamps:

20:01 Will we receive the identity verification process by email?

20:45 What does the status pending mean under the Fund 13 aggregated file under the moderators tab?

21:32 How many proposals allocated to Milestone Reviewers?

22:05 Why is Milestone Reviewer rewards not visible for each reviewer in payment messages?

25:00 Are you planning to extend deadline beyond the 12th of January?

26:27 It is only 3 Milestone Reviewers per Partner category proposal?

28:10 Has anyone been terminated from reviewer role? Especially from a technical perspective and I am not technical?

32:13 Do I need to make changes to profile if I have been a reviewer before?

34:12 If the projects have fallen behind, is it appropriate to ask them and be proactive instead of waiting for PoA to come in? Also do we let the Catalyst team know?

36:23 If two milestones are submitted close to each other and the first one one has two approvals but the Catalyst Team has not reviewed the PoA yet of the first, can we go ahead and review the next milestone submitted in the interim?

38:25 If you already completed identity verification for proposal evaluation, are there any additional actions required from the reviewers side?

38:45 Is there a way to prevent the Milestone Reviewer to review their own proposal?

40:40 December 20th will start getting assigned projects. Do we need to keep checking when we need to start reviewing?

42:13 What is the cause of the Project Catalyst Team rejecting a PoA even if two of the reviewers approved?

Onboarding session B

Presentation slides - link here

Video recording - link here

Video timestamps:

0:00 Intro and Agenda

1:56 Key Dates

04:25 What is Statement of Milestones (SoM)?

05:09 What is Proof of Achievement (PoA)?

05:43 Milestone Module

08:56 Your Role as a Milestone Reviewer

14:35 Best Practices

16:42 Milestone Reviewer Rewards

17:56 Q&A

Q&A questions with timestamps:

18:09 What are the major changes since fund 10 for Milestone Review process?

22:37 How many projects per reviewer this fund?

23:09 What happens if we decide to take a vacation with no access to the internet for a few days?

24:28 For non-coding related PoAs and relied on documentation as output, if the evidence of the submitted PoA shows a high level of Al and/or GEN- Al and there is crystal clear no such statement is listed in the proposal, indicating the PoA submission will be Al/GEN-AI. Do we rightfully reject it?

29:26 Is there functionality to stop the proposer from submitting the next PoA if the Catalyst team has not approved the previous PoA? So removing the reviewer from the email notification saying they need to do something but it is the Catalyst team that actually needs to still approve

30:31 If the other review has rejected the SoM or PoA for obvious reasons, is it okay to ignore the email in this case or shall we reject it as well?

32:33 A function for second reviewer to not see previous comment to be fair when reviewing

A Milestone Reviewer’s role

Milestone Reviewers review milestones in SoM, and they can approve or seek clarifications before agreeing that the project has adequately documented the outputs and evidence of progress that their project will produce.

Milestone Reviewers then evaluate if the evidence of completion or achievement is available. That evidence is of a high enough quality to give the community confidence that the milestone has been achieved and the project can progress towards the next milestone.

The goal of the Milestone Reviewer is to ensure that each Funded Project has achieved its deliverables and provided suitable evidence to demonstrate their progress or completed project. The Milestone Reviewer is responsible for approving the milestones or asking for clarification or further evidence that the deliverables have been met.

It is not the role of the Milestone Reviewer to assess if the Funded Project is initially suitable for Catalyst funding, as the community has already consented for the project to receive funding.

Milestone Reviewers will be requested to follow the due diligence process as part of this role as indicated in their onboarding documentation and Terms & Conditions.

What is the Statement of Milestones (SoM)?

All funded projects are required to identify and document the key milestones of their project during the onboarding process before funds begin to be disbursed. This document is known as the Statement of Milestones and will be located in the Milestone Module. This tool automates all processes for submitting, reviewing, approving, and managing the key milestones of a project throughout the project lifecycle.

Milestone-based funding enables funded projects to lay out their critical path to delivering their promises, highlighting each key milestone, output, acceptance criteria, costs, and evidence of achievements. In this context, a milestone is an important event or action in a project or business journey that marks a crucial stage of progress. It is an essential reporting tool to inform the Catalyst team and the community about the project's progress.

How to use the Milestone module as a Milestone Reviewer?

All information can be found here

How to review SoM as a Milestone Reviewer?

The Milestone Reviewer has to decide if the following parts of the milestones should be approved:

Outputs - outputs that FP will produce, for example: technical outputs, documentation, prototypes, etc.
Acceptance criteria - intended outcomes and standards by which to judge whether the objective has been achieved.
Evidence of milestone completion clearly shows that a milestone has been completed.

The Milestone Reviewer assesses each part of the milestone separately and can add information if it is approved or not. A Milestone is only approved if each part is accepted.

Correct SoM formulation has an essential impact on the whole process. Milestone Reviewers should pay attention and assess carefully what a Funded Project includes in each milestone. If milestones are formulated correctly, then a further stage of reviewing evidence provided in PoA is much easier to follow. Below can be found general information on what should be included in the milestone:

Milestones should match the original proposal.
Outputs/acceptance criteria/evidence of milestone completion should be clear and understandable.
Outputs/acceptance criteria/evidence of milestone completion match together.
Milestones should signify the progress of the project
Milestone should be easily reviewed by anyone in the community (e.g., short recording).
Milestone should contain enough evidence of what will be achieved.

A good example of SoM formulation:

Below, you can find good examples of SoM formulation.

Project 1100206

Project 1100074

What is Proof of Achievement (PoA)

Projects are required to deliver against their planned milestones throughout the lifespan of their project as set forth in the Statement of Milestones. When individual milestones are met, funded projects must submit Proof of Achievement (PoA). PoA is documentation to be submitted by the Funded Projects showing that the acceptance criteria for a milestone as set out in the Statement of Milestones have been fulfilled and the milestone has been completed.

Funding is contingent on the Proof of Achievement being submitted and accepted.

Below can be found general information on what should be included in PoA:

PoA should prove that the work planned and described in the milestone has been accomplished
PoA should be presented in a way that is understandable for the Milestone Reviewer and the Community
PoA should match what is stated in the milestone
PoA summary should be provided in an unchangeable form that can be archived (e.g., PDF)

What is good evidence?

Below is the list of various evidence and the information on how they should look, which may be helpful for Milestone Reviewers:

General evidence

Evidence indicates what was done/accomplished in the milestone
There is a clear description of the evidence
All links are working, and Milestone Reviewer may open it

Specific evidence

If image/video is evidence:
- Is it high-quality and readable
- The image/video has a clear description of why it was shared

If code is evidence:

It is in the Git repository (GitHub, GitLab, etc.),
Checking if activity in Git matches what is stated in the report
- number of commits
- number of line codes addition/deletion
- number of active users
- number of releases

If presentation/slide is evidence:

There is a description of what was achieved

If a website is evidence:

There is clear evidence of new features/updates on the website and their description

In case of other evidence not mentioned above, the proof is checked that the provided is clear, points out what was achieved, and has a description.

What is not good evidence?

General rules

The information provided does not clearly show that the milestone has been accomplished.
The links submitted do not work, so the project's evidence cannot be effectively verified.
- For E.g., Git repo is publicly accessible, which will allow for review
The evidence submitted is not in line with the Ideascale proposal
The evidence contains project description only, without any progress
Evidence is in a different language than English

Specific evidence

If image/video is evidence:

Quality is poor - unable to watch/see
Lack of description

If code is evidence:

It isn’t in the Git repository
Activity in Github doesn’t match what is stated in the milestone

If presentation/slide is evidence:

There is only a project description, no track of any progression

If a website is the evidence:

There is no clear evidence of new features/updates on the website and their description

Milestone Reviewer rewards

Reward Structure: Instead of tying rewards to a single Statement of Milestones (SoM), rewards will now be allocated per unit of work for each individual milestone within the SoM.
- This adjustment aims to distribute rewards more fairly based on the size of each SoM.
- Smaller SoMs will receive lower rewards, while larger SoMs will receive higher rewards.
Specific Reward Amounts:
- Per unit reward for a milestone review of an SoM: ₳50
  - Eg SoM has three milestones in it - 3 x ₳50 ADA = ₳150 per entire SoM
  - Eg Som has six milestone in it - 6 x ₳50 ADA = ₳300 ADA per entire SoM
- Per unit reward for a Proof of Achievement: ₳100

FAQ

How many Milestone Reviewers are assigned to each project?

There are 2 Milestone Reviewers assigned to general categories and 3 Milestone Reviewers assigned to Cardano Partners category.

Should I reset my password and create a new one in the Milestone Module if I have been Milestone Reviewer in previous fund(s)?

If you have been Reviewer in previous fund(s), you should only log in to your account in the Milestone Module.

May I not verify SoM/PoA if the other Reviewer refused it already?

Each Reviewer verifies SoM/PoA seperately and should provide own opinion why SoM/PoA was approved/refused, even if the other Reviewer refused it already.

Is it possible to turn off email notifications with pending reviews assigned to me in the Milestone Module?

It is impossible to turn it off.

What to do if I have assigned technical project to review and I don't have knowledge to review it properly.

Please submit a ticket here.

General information

This section will guide you through the general information in the Catalyst project

Catalyst Network

What is the Catalyst Network?

The Catalyst Network formerly known as Coordinator is a collective of projects from all rounds of funding.

Catalyst provides an innovative environment where the community can explore the highest potential of human collaboration, and the Catalyst Network is one of those spaces that allow funded projects to network, collaborate, explore topics, and even gain new insights and perspectives from leaders within and outside the Cardano community.

Why is the Catalyst Network Important?

The most essential part of Catalyst is the human element, meaning all projects funded within the ecosystem have the unique opportunity to leverage the Open Office Hours with the Project Catalyst Team.

Why Make Use of Open Office Hours

At the heart of Catalyst is the human connection. Sharing experiences, challenges, and lessons learned. Catalyst Open Office Hours is a bi-weekly opportunity for funded projects to engage directly with the Catalyst team. This new format addresses timing challenges and enhances accessibility for teams across all time zones.

Through a simple Calendly link, project teams can now book sessions at times that work best for them, enabling more focused, intentional conversations tailored to their unique needs.

Open Office Hours give projects a space to:

Ask questions and get clarity from the Catalyst team
Dive deeper into project-specific topics
Receive targeted support on growth, technical blockers, or strategic alignment
Build stronger ties across the ecosystem through shared learning

How It Works

Who can join? Any project funded through Project Catalyst, across any fund
When? Bi-weekly, second and last Fridays of each month
How? Simply book a slot via the provided Calendly link here

Each session is designed to be productive, personal, and purpose-driven. Giving projects the space and support they need to grow and thrive.

How to create a Statement of Milestones - guide for Funded Proposers

As a Funded Proposer (FP) you are obliged to submit SoM during the onboarding process. Completion of the milestone moves your project towards the next one. Number of milestones in SoM depends on the budget you request for the project.

Below you may find information on how to write each section of a Statement of Milestones, so that it would be successfully approved.

Milestone outputs

Below you may find useful tips on how to describe outputs:

Provide a straightforward list of the things you will make / the tasks you will do in this milestone.
Use a numbered list. In acceptance criteria and evidence of milestone completion sections number things in a corresponding way.
Provide only outputs for which you can provide evidence of completion.
Make sure your outputs match your original proposal as stated in the Ideascale.
Make sure that you are able to provide evidence for the output within a given time frame, don’t underestimate/overestimate the timeline.

Acceptance criteria

Below you may find useful tips on how to describe acceptance criteria:

Use target numbers to understand when the task is achieved, e.g. how many people you will onboard, how many views your social media post will get.
Include at least one acceptance criteria for each output to show how certain output is measured to be achieved. If it is not possible to provide that, then probably it shouldn’t be included as an output at all.
Do not provide qualitative measures e.g. “Our written material will be well-organized”. Such statements are impossible to assess, as everyone can perceive qualitative measures in different ways, and as a result, lead to possible disapproval.
Use the same number as used in the output section, so that it would be easy to understand that this acceptance criteria refers to this specific output.

Evidence of milestone completion

Below you may find useful tips on how to describe acceptance criteria:

Make sure your evidence proves what you stated in outputs and acceptance criteria sections.
Use the same number for evidence of the specific output as you used in the outputs and acceptance criteria section, so that it would be easy to understand that all of them are connected.
Remember to include a piece of evidence for each output. If you can’t evidence something, you should remove it.
Be realistic. Don’t commit yourself to more evidence than you need to demonstrate that you’ve achieved your milestone.
Secure permission to share sensitive data (e.g phone numbers, emails etc). Milestone Module is publicly accessible and data against GDPR policy can’t be published.
If a piece of your evidence is confidential, it can be submitted via a video call with Milestone Reviewers and this fact should be described in the evidence section.

General rules

Keep it succinct and focus on the most important details.
Be specific and do not leave any room for interpretation.

Example of acceptable SoM:

Project Close-out Report and Project Close-out Video (PCR and PCV)

From F10 The Project Close-out Report and Project Close-out Video will be part of the Final Acceptance Milestone and will have to be submitted in the Milestone Module. It represents the last step for Funded Projects before their project is considered complete.

Please include:

2-3 pages written summary ‘Project Close-out Report’ listing KPIs and how they were (or were not) addressed and what the next stage plans are with the product or service that was developed. Please use the following headings for your report:
- Name of project and Project URL on IdeaScale/Fund
- Your Project Number
- Name of project manager
- Date project started
- Date project completed
- List of challenge KPIs and how the project addressed them
- List of project KPIs and how the project addressed them
- Key achievements (in particular around collaboration and engagement)
- Key learnings
- Next steps for the product or service developed
- Final thoughts/comments
- Links to other relevant project sources or documents.
- Link to Close-out video - must be either YouTube or Vimeo link only

2. A short video - no more than 2 - 5 mins in length - video link needs to be public - outlining the project achievements and deliverables. More guidance is below. Ideally, this video should demonstrate the project outputs, such as the software or dApp product/service developed and how it works. If the project is non-technical, then the video should clearly evidence the deliverables and work that you have completed.

Please note that the close out video must show clear evidence of what has been developed/achieved with Catalyst funding.

Your video needs to be of high quality - 720p or 1080p only - and should cover 4 elements -

Which challenge did you enter and why, what was the approach you submitted in your proposal application, which was eventually funded? Please explain any particular technical solutions you proposed and the funding you received.
Once your project went live, how did you progress? What learnings and challenges did you find along the way? Were you able to keep the project within the scope of your application? What milestones/KPIs did you set at the outset, and did you achieve them? Importantly, what were the fund challenges, and did you achieve them? What did you not achieve? What other significant achievements were there?
Please include a demonstration of the project outputs, such as the software or dapp product or service, and how it works. If the project is non-technical, please provide evidence of the deliverables and work that you have completed.
What next for the product/service you have developed? If appropriate, please tell us about any commercialization/exploitation plans you have now that your funded project is complete, particularly whether you are seeking further funding and what the funding would be used for.

IMPORTANT: Please note we can only accept YouTube or Vimeo links for your video. Please do not send videos that sit on your shared drive, as they will not be accepted. The video link should be Public, or it will not be accepted.

Requesting a change to funded project on Milestone Module

UPDATE: 1 February 2025

Applicable scenarios

A change to any deliverable, any form of pivot to the project, KPI, or output that was included in the Statement of Milestones (SoM)
A change to the timelines (duration and project completion date) set out in the original proposal and at onboarding specifically
A change to the funding schedule and payment structure that was agreed with Catalyst at the onboarding stage
A change to the payment address where project receives their tranche allocations

How to submit a Change Request?

In writing on the project's letterhead (using the information that is tied to your onboarding information)
Submit change request attached as a PDF via Catalyst helpdesk.
The document should be on a company letterhead and should include the following information:
- Date of the change request
- Project ID and Title in the letter and in the subject line of your email
- What exactly is the change you want to make?
- What is the need for this change?
- Are there any changes to the approved deliverables stated in either the original proposal or SoM (Y/N)?
  - If yes, please describe the changes and why the original deliverables cannot be achieved

What is the impact of this change on the ability to complete the project as set out in the original proposal?
If the change is financial in any way, please lay out in clear detail the BEFORE and AFTER of your change request in a table as part of your CR.
Clearly write the current milestone and then highlight the changes you want to make. The new milestone with the requested changes needs to be provided.
The change request needs to be submitted by the main proposer or co-proposer.
The change request needs to be signed by the main proposer or co-proposer.

Next steps

Once a project's change request is received, it will be reviewed and assessed by the Catalyst team
The Funded Proposer will then receive an email notification from the Catalyst team informing the project whether their change has been accepted or if further information is required.
If change request was approved, Catalyst will unlock FP SoM resubmission in the Milestone module and will insert link to change request on the proposal dashboard (it will become public)
FP resubmits SoM via the Milestone Module once received email from Catalyst team that SoM submission is reopened
Milestone Reviewers receive notification to review resubmitted SoM
Milestone Reviewers compare SoM against change request
1. If SoM and CR is different, Milestone Reviewers won’t approve it and FP will have to submit SoM again
2. If SoM and CR is the same, Catalyst Team sign off user locks SoM

IMPORTANT:

Change request can be submitted only for milestones where Proof of Achievements are not signed off yet.

Catalyst no longer accepts change requests for projects from Fund2 to Fund9 included.

Policy on Suspension and Termination of Catalyst Grants

This policy provides guidance to projects teams funded by Project Catalyst (“Grantees”) on requesting a suspension or termination of their project and the conditions under which the Fund Operator may suspend or terminate project funding. This policy takes effect on May 1, 2024 and applies to all active projects funded by Project Catalyst.

Suspension and Termination policy memo

Published: Mar 26, 2024

Maturing Catalyst

Project Catalyst has grown tremendously over the past three years. It has produced a fantastic amount of unique and diverse projects. As with time, the maturity and process readiness of the program has evolved as well to upkeep with the ever growing needs of funded cohorts. There's a delicate balance to be maintained between appropriate levels of oversight but equally freedom to deliver based on the premise of funded projects.

With now nearly 800 projects complete and about 1.3K funded in total - another opportunity presents to level up our collective efforts. During many retrospectives and associated feedback loops it has been identified the ever present need to improve overall transparency and accountability of the past, present and future outcomes. This has been a consistent theme throughout every feedback loop available.

It is also the Catalyst team's commitment to continue gathering actionable feedback through the lenses of Catalyst Working Groups that will be taking place in 16 in person locations around the world and at least 10 online events to help further optimize via recommendations for community led parameter and guardrail optimizations. We hope to see you in some of them.

Feedback loops

As with innovative projects, some may succeed fully, others partially or not at all. And that’s okay as long as lessons learned can be accounted for by projects coming next. This has been the primary reason for the availability of the official project close-out process, including community assets such as video and report. Learning from the past is an efficient way to prepare for what’s ahead while allowing the wider community to better understand outcomes and impact of projects they voted for initially.

However, Catalyst has historically lacked policy and approach on how to account for projects that may require adjustment of their scope, pausing/temporarily suspending their operations, or eventually sunsetting them all together. Biggest gap was the perceived uncertainty of some outstanding grants. While the change request process has now been implemented and gradually iterated alongside the statement of milestones, in some instances such an approach is not a viable option. There - a formal policy is being introduced that offers avenues to both - Grantees (funded projects) but equally also Fund Operator to help account for projects that may require sunsetting or bringing to a premature closure.

Recently, the monthly reporting process has been sunset following implementation of funded cohort feedback loops on its low efficiency and high admin requirement. In absence of monthly check-ins - delivery of timely milestones is going to be critical. And by proxy, adequate communication about project updates whenever possible.

In the majority of cases, this new policy will account for projects that have not reported in recent time periods or otherwise have not adequately updated on their progress to date. As with any program of this scale, there are going to be a number of projects with uncertain status - this will help bring up to date clarity for the community on how those are going to be classified. It is worth noting that in some instances - terminations and suspension of projects could result in temporary or permanent cooldown periods during which any future submission for additional grants may not be acceptable.

What’s ahead?

The plan is to gradually introduce this policy and socialize first. Current timeline suggests official implementation as of May 1st, 2024. Goal is to give enough advance notice to all participants and allow grantees and the community at large to review in detail.

Once policy is live, key timing markers on grace periods will be stipulated as the last announced stated/intended date of completions, scheduled milestones’ submission, or the latest official communication available on the record. Projects which should have been completed by now or progressed meaningfully, will have an opportunity to update their proof of achievements or complete their status by meeting the relevant closure guidelines before May 1st by submitting Project Closeout Report and Video.

This buffer period gives also opportunity for the Catalyst team to reach all projects that are at risk individually via email one more time. From May 1st, 2024, all projects will be followed up according to the new policy. Here you may find a high overview of the process flow. It is the Catalyst team’s commitment to work with each of the Grantees to help bring every project wherever possible to closure.

Suspension or termination at the request of a Grantee

UPDATE: 1 February 2025

In some cases, unforeseen factors may temporarily prevent a Grantee from implementing their project.

If a Grantee has completed at least one previous project within Project Catalyst and wishes to request a suspension of their current project, they may apply to the Fund Operator for a suspension of up to 6 months. Each project may only submit one (1) suspension request per funding round. The Grantee must submit Zendesk ticket using the guidance written in the Requesting a change to funded project on Milestone Module page.

A request for suspension should NOT be used to justify delays caused by a Grantee’s negligence or events that could reasonably have been anticipated.

The Fund Operator will review the request and notify the Grantee in writing of its decision. If approved, the Grantee may pause project delivery for the suspension period. Monthly milestone payments will also be suspended during this time.

Upon resumption, Grantees delivering a project based on a Statement of Milestones must submit a revised Statement of Milestones in the Milestone Module for the Fund Operator’s approval within 14 calendar days. Grantees which have non-SoM projects are requested to submit Zendesk ticket within 14 calendar days from the last day of suspension period, to confirm project resumption. Failure to meet these requirements may result in project termination. Projects in Fund2 to Fund9 cannot suspend a project, but only terminate it.

Not all timeline changes require project suspension. Some modifications may be accommodated through an amendment of the project scope or delivery plan. Before requesting a suspension, Grantees are encouraged to consult informally with the Fund Operator.

A Grantee seeking to terminate a project must submit a Project Cancellation Statement to the Fund Operator including the following details:

Project name and URL on Website;
Repository where project outputs are stored;
Progress report detailing completed and ongoing work;
Comparison of expected vs actual project outcomes;
Summary of how grant funds were spent up to the termination date;
A short 2-5 mins publicly accessible video explaining the circumstances which lead to the Grantee requesting a termination. Video must be in a high quality (720p or 1080p). Only YouTube or Vimeo videos will be accepted. Private drive links will not be accepted;
A plan for making project closure visible to the Catalyst Community for review.

The Project Cancellation Statement will be published on the Catalyst website and labelled as “Did Not Finish” as part of each project’s public profile..

Grantees whose funding is terminated may be required to return some or all of the funds received in the course of the project.

Suspension by the Fund Operator

The Fund Operator may suspect a project’s funding if necessary. Grantees will be informed in writing should the Fund Operator deem it necessary to suspend funding for a project. In such instances, the Grantee will be advised to stop any further work on the project and will have 30 calendar days to discuss with the Fund Operator the circumstances giving rise to the suspension and a potential remediation.

If the issue causing suspension is not rectified to the reasonable satisfaction of the Fund Operator within a reasonable period of time, then the grant may be terminated by the Fund Operator in whole or in part, and the Grantee may be required to repay some or all of the funds already paid to them.

Examples of events that may result in the Fund Operator suspending grant payments include but are not limited to:

Where the Fund Operator believes statements in any part of a project’s application or project documentation may be false;
Where the Fund Operator believes that a Grantee may have misused grant funds, including, in a fraudulent or financially misleading way, for purposes not declared within the application for funding or contrary to what was agreed with the Fund Operator;
Where the proposed outcomes of the project change significantly and such changes have not been approved in advance via the Change Request process;
Where the Fund Operator believes that a Grantee may be in breach of the funding rules applicable to the project, including inability to deliver the project within approved scope and timeframe.

Termination by the Fund Operator

There are various instances which could lead to a funded project being dismissed from the Catalyst grants program by the Fund Operator, such as where Grantee fails to submit a Proof of Achievement for a Milestone within six (6) months from the proposed delivery date for that Milestone as set out in the Statement of Milestones, or where the Fund Operator has valid concerns about the project or project team which are subsequently verified.

Where a project is flagged by the Fund Operator for an issue that may lead to the termination of project funding, a notification will be sent via email informing the Grantee of the issue. Grantees shall have fifteen (15) calendar days to respond to this communication with a proposed resolution to the issues raised. The project will be terminated by the Fund Operator if no communication is received from the Grantee or where the Fund Operator, acting reasonably, does not consider the proposed resolution to be acceptable.

Should the Grantee propose an acceptable resolution, the Fund Operator shall schedule a call with the Grantee to discuss a remedial plan. If the call is satisfactory, the Grantee shall document the remedial plan for approval of the Fund Operator. Failure by the Grantee to follow the remedial plan may result in immediate termination of the project in the sole discretion of the Fund Operator.

If the meeting is unsatisfactory (or is not attended by the Grantee representatives) - in other words the outcome of the meeting does not satisfy/falls short of the expectations and standards the Community would reasonably expect from projects that are funded, the project will be terminated.

The Grantee will be informed that their project is terminated and any remaining funds allocated to the project but not yet disbursed will be returned to the seed account of the Catalyst Treasury. The Fund Operator may, in its sole discretion, seek repayment of all or part of the grant funds previously paid to the Grantee, in which case, the Grantee will have 14 calendar days to return the funds. A Grantee whose project has been terminated by the Fund Operator shall be prevented from participating in future funds for a period of twelve (12) months from the date of termination. In extraordinary circumstances, Grantee may be barred from future participation for longer periods or even altogether.

A list of all terminated projects will be published on the Catalyst website and labelled as “Did Not Finish” as part of each project’s public profile.

Examples of events that may result in the Fund Operator terminating projects include but are not limited to:

Failure to complete the onboarding process within 60 days from publication of voting results;
Where a Grantee fails to submit a Proof of Achievement for a Milestone within six (6) months from the proposed delivery date for that Milestone as set out in the Statement of Milestones and/or fails to submit Monthly Reports within six (6) following months from June 2023 to December 2023;
Failure to complete a project within six (6) months from the proposed completion date stated by the Grantee in its proposal without any notice and/or change request submitted to the Fund Operator;
Failure to provide satisfactory completion evidence within six (6) months of the first submission of Project Closeout Report and Video;
Being found to have applied for and secured multiple awards for the same or largely interchangeable project scopes;
Failure to comply with the funding rules applicable to the project;
A change to the legal status or ownership of the Grantee or any member thereof which was not declared or was misrepresented to the Fund Operator;
Where a Grantee misuses grant funds, including, in a fraudulent or financially misleading way or for purposes not declared within the application for funding or description of the project or agreed to subsequently with the Fund Operator;
Failure to provide information requested by the Fund Operator in a timely and coherent manner, including a failure to communicate with the Fund Operator for more than 30 calendar days from the date of a written request from the Fund Operator;
Behaviour or activity by the Grantees involving an act of fraud, dishonesty, malfeasance, misrepresentation or any serious financial irregularity in respect of the project or the project operations or which, in the reasonable opinion of the Fund Operator, is non-compliant with applicable legislation or is detrimental to the reputation of Project Catalyst, or otherwise detrimental to the Cardano ecosystem.

Catalyst Ecosystem Rewards

External documentation

F13 Community Review Aggregate File: link here

F12 Community Review Aggregate File - link here

CATALYST TOOLS

Project Catalyst Terms and Conditions

Background

Project Catalyst is the world’s largest decentralized innovation engine for solving real-world challenges within the Cardano blockchain platform (“Cardano”) ecosystem and for fostering Cardano’s governance and development, by incentivizing and funding community-approved ideas (“Project Catalyst”).
Project Catalyst has funding rounds every few months where the Cardano community submits proposals for technical, business, creative and community projects (“proposals” or “projects”). The holders of ada cryptocurrency evaluate and vote on which projects receive funding in the form of ada that is issued from the Cardano treasury (“funding” or “funds”).
Catalyst FC is an exempted limited guarantee foundation company incorporated in the Cayman Islands company (together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, “CFC”) to disburse Project Catalyst awards for approved projects (as described below), in conjunction with the Project Catalyst operator responsible for operating and administering Project Catalyst (the “Fund Operator”).
To either (a) participate in Project Catalyst rounds or (b) receive funding, all individual(s) and entity/entities (“you” or “your(s)”) are required to: (i) accept these Project Catalyst Terms and Conditions (these “Terms”), which, together with the Fund Rules (defined below) set forth the binding agreement between you and CFC; and (ii) complete the onboarding requirements further described in these Terms.
By accepting these Terms, participating in Project Catalyst or accepting funding from CFC, you represent and warrant that you have read, understand and agree to be bound by these Terms. You and CFC agree as follows:

Fund Rules; Your Obligations.

Issuing Funds for Approved Projects. The terms in this Section 2 apply to approved projects.

a. So long as you comply with these Terms and the Fund Rules, CFC will issue the funds to an account designated by you as follows:

Intellectual Property Rights.

Marketing and Confidentiality.

Term, Suspension and Termination.

The following terms in this Section 5 apply to approved projects.

i. You shall not receive funding for the duration of the suspension.

d. Termination by you.

e. Suspension or Termination by CFC.

f. Effects of Termination. If the project is terminated for any reason, then:

i. CFC may disclose or publish the fact that the project was terminated and related details to the Cardano community;

ii. any funds allocated to the project but not yet disbursed will be retained by CFC or returned to the Cardano treasury;

iii. CFC may require you to return any funds already issued to you for the project, and in such event, you shall return the funds within 14 calendar days of CFC’s notification to you;

iv. you shall not participate in subsequent Project Catalyst funding rounds for 12 months after the date of termination; and

v. these Terms will automatically terminate as of the effective date of termination (except as provided in Section 5(a)).

Representations and Warranties. You represent, warrant and covenant to CFC that:

a. the project will confirm to the Specifications;

g. you have the full power and authority to enter into and to perform your obligations under these Terms;

Indemnification; Limitation of Liability.

Personal Data.

a. You and CFC shall comply with all Applicable Laws relating to the collection, processing, use and storage of data that can directly or indirectly identify any natural person (“Personal Data”).

Miscellaneous.

c. Any modification, amendment or variation to these Terms must be in writing and signed by you and CFC.

e. CFC’s rights and remedies provided under these Terms and the Fund Rules are in addition to, and not exclusive of, any rights or remedies provided by law.

f. If you consist of more than one person or entity, then your rights, obligations and liabilities will be joint and several.

Project Catalyst - Documentation

WELCOME TO PROJECT CATALYST

What is Project Catalyst

Why Collaborate to Innovate?

How Does Project Catalyst Work?

How Can I Participate?

Getting started

How to navigate in this website?

FAQ

Search box

Catalyst Team Deliverables

Show & Tell Demos

CURRENT FUND

Fund basics

Fund timeline

Fund parameters

Fund Rules

Project Catalyst Terms and Conditions

Catalyst FC Privacy Policy

1. Collection of Data

Types of Data Collected

Usage Information

IP Address

2. Use of Data

3. Legal Basis under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

4. Retention of Data

5. Transfer of Data

6. Disclosure of Data

Disclosure of Personal Information Within The EU

Disclosure of Personal Information Outside of The EU

7. Security Of Data

8. Rights Under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

9. California Residents

10. Service Providers, Plugins and Tools

Social Media

Youtube

Analytics

Newsletter

Newsletter Tracking

11. Links To Other Products

12. Changes to the Privacy Policy

13. Data Privacy Contact

14. Contact by E-mail or Contact Form

Catalyst FC Personal Data Consent

DMCA FAQ Catalyst

Proposal submission

Scoring guidance for the Proposer

Proposal submission Guide

Additional Guidance

Cardano Partners

Cardano Partners shortlist

Community Review

How to become a Community Reviewer?

Community Reviewer Levels

Community Review - Submission process (LV0 and LV1)

Community Review Process

Scoring rubric and guiding questions

Community Moderation Process

Conflict of Interest

Reviewer Rewards

Score Weight

FAQ

Voter registration

Supported wallets

Registration Guide - In your wallet

Voting

Wallet Connection - In the Catalyst Voting App

How to vote?

How to audit the vote?

Audit the Snapshot

Required Tools

Reproducing the Snapshot

Voting Ledger Snapshots

Audit The Tally

Voting FAQ

Project onboarding

Glossary of Terms

Milestone-based proposals

How to submit Project milestones

What should be included in the Statement of Milestones?