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, reviewing, and scoring.
There are many resources available to help you navigate the proposal submission process.
For additional assistance, please consider reviewing the following documents and support:
Key dates:
General Categories:
Submission deadline May 13th, 11AM UTC; Finalization deadline: May 16th, 11AM UTC
For visual timeline
Partner Category:
For key announcements please.
Submission deadline: June 6th, 11AM UTC; no finalization period
For visual timeline click here
This page provides an overview of what Community Reviewers will consider when submitting their opinions
Community Reviewers will score each proposal between 1-5 for each of the three criteria listed below. They are asked to opine on whether the proposal has clearly outlined its ability to provide a solution within the context of the three criteria:
IMPACT
CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
It is important to consider the following when formulating your proposal:
Does your proposal clearly show a positive IMPACT for the Cardano ecosystem and its community? IMPACT means that the work you do on this project has a real, tangible, and positive effect or influence on the ecosystem. Does the project idea seem as if it has the potential to make a difference? Is the proposed impact realistic and achievable? Does the project team give high levels of confidence and assurances they will keep the community properly updated through correct and regular reporting?
Is your project proposal FEASIBLE within the plan and budget submitted? As part of your proposal submission, you are asked to submit the key milestones you believe are required in order to successfully complete the project and deliver the solution you propose. If your proposal is successful, you will be required to submit a Statement of Milestones at the onboarding stage. More information on the milestone process is available . Does your team have the skills, experience, CAPABILITY, and capacity to complete the project successfully? Will your project achieve an outstanding result? Is the plan easily understood? Are the outcomes easily verified? Are your timelines and KPIs reasonable and can they be achieved in the timeframe you propose?.
Your proposal should present a clear path to your project’s successful completion and clearly explain the impact and outputs of what you are developing (‘by developing X we will be able to do A,B,C which can be measured by 1, 2, 3, which will mean Y, Z type of positive impact for the community and Cardano’).
Use links, attachments, and any other relevant supporting evidence to show your capability and capacity to deliver the project successfully.
Each of the three scored sections of your proposal (Impact, Feasibility, Value for Money) will be marked 1-5 stars, with 1 star = very poor answer to 5 stars = great answer.
Impact
You are reviewing the positive IMPACT this project will have on the Cardano ecosystem.
Has this project clearly demonstrated in all aspects of the proposal that it will have a positive impact on the Cardano ecosystem?
Capability& Feasibility
You are reviewing the CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY of this project team and the project they are proposing.
Is this project feasible based on the proposal submitted? Does the plan and associated budget and milestones look achievable? Does the team have the skills, experience, capability and capacity to complete the project successfully?
Value for Money
You are reviewing the VALUE FOR MONEY this represents for the treasury and the community
Is the funding amount requested for this project reasonable and does it provide good Value for Money to the Treasury?
Cardano Partners will fuel the fly-wheels of innovation and growth to ignite premium partnerships that benefit Cardano with exceptionally well-recognised leaders of industry.
This category will accept proposals from or involving Tier-1 partners to address one or more of the following objectives: Piloting Cardano blockchain technology, advertising, media, and marketing collaborations, accelerating high potential early stage and start up businesses.
This page provides additional guidance for proposers in submitting their proposals
Open-source refers to something people can modify and share because its design is publicly accessible. Open-source software has source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance.
Open-source software, hardware, and data solutions encourage greater transparency and security and help reduce costs by developing, collaborating, and fixing in the open.
It helps create developer-friendly tooling and approaches that streamline an integrated development environment, helping to develop code more efficiently and providing ease of use for developers.
In all cases, as an essential deliverable, projects must include high-quality documentation as learning resources of the proposal.
Project Catalyst would like to extend sincere gratitude for everyone’s participation in Fund12.
The proposals submitted to this pilot were exceptional. While so many proposals are outstanding, the competitive nature of this pilot initiative necessitates the creation of a shortlist. Only 4-6 projects will likely get funded this time around, from 70 proposals validating the need for such a category in future funds.
The panel review and shortlisting was carried out by a multistakeholder panel of representatives comprising : established community leaders, Intersect, and the pioneering entities of the Cardano Foundation, Emurgo, and the IOG Catalyst Team.
The panel faced a challenging task, given the high quality and innovation reflected in each proposal and each group brought unique insights to the process:
Pioneering entities provided invaluable market insights
Areas of interest:
standardize, develop, support, or provide utilities for full-stack solutions and IDEs,
create new libraries, SDKs, publicly available APIs, toolchains, and frameworks
What we do not fund:
The following are examples of proposals that will not be funded in the Cardano Open: Developers (technical) category:
Proposals that are not primarily seeking to develop new technology or contribute to or support existing open-source technology. For example, a learning resource guide to developing on Plutus, Marlowe, or other smart contracts platforms like Aiken should be part of the Cardano Open: Ecosystem (non-technical) category
Proposals that are not seeking to develop technology that is open-source and are in fact producing proprietary software or hardware
A milestone is a specific point within a project’s life cycle to measure the progress toward successful completion. They are signal posts for a project's major deliverables and a measurable reference point that marks a significant event or a branching decision point within a project.
What are the key actions you need to take to deliver your project?
How will you demonstrate and evidence that you have completed these actions?
Clearly defined milestones as part of your proposal submission will demonstrate to the reviewer that you clearly understand the significant points within your project's life cycle and that your progress toward your project's successful completion and delivery can be measurably demonstrated.
As part of your submission, specifically, to demonstrate your capability and feasibility, you are asked to list the key milestones you will need to achieve to complete your project successfully.
At this stage, you are only asked to list the milestones broadly. Doing so will demonstrate to the reviewer that you know what key steps are needed to complete your project.
If your project is voted for to receive funding, you will be asked to submit a more detailed Statement of Milestones as part of your onboarding process.
This will include providing further details on the acceptance criteria for each milestone, the date of delivery and cost for each milestone, and the evidence you will submit for review after each milestone.
When defining your milestones, consider that you are effectively presenting a simplified project delivery plan.
Milestones are indicative and should be finalized during the onboarding process if your project is approved post voting.
1
NO - this project has failed to demonstrate the impact it will have on the Cardano ecosystem - the impact has not been properly defined or elaborated.
The Impact will be LOW - this proposal element is VERY POOR
2-3
Partially - the project has only partially demonstrated that it will have some impact on the Cardano ecosystem but there are too many gaps and omissions in the proposal. It is likely that the proposed impact is not achievable. The proposal does not clearly explain how the proposed solution will make a real difference.
The Impact will be MEDIUM - this proposal element is OK
4-5
YES - this project clearly demonstrates and explains the positive impact it will have on the Cardano ecosystem, including a clear description of how the project will prove its impact with tangible, measurable evidence. The impact of this proposal is realistic and achievable. The project team has demonstrated that it will properly engage with and communicate with the community on progress.
The Impact will be HIGH - this proposal element is GREAT
1
NO - this project is not feasible. There is a high risk that the project will fail to complete.
Feasibility is LOW - this proposal element is VERY POOR
2-3
Partially - the project proposal has only partially demonstrated feasibility. Some information is lacking around the feasibility of the project team and/or the project objectives. There is some risk that the project may not be completed successfully.
Feasibility will be MEDIUM - this proposal element is OK
4-5
YES - this project is clearly feasible based on the proposal. The project team has clearly demonstrated how it has the capability, experience, capacity, and skills needed to successfully complete the project as described, including an understanding of risks and possible mitigations.
Feasibility is HIGH - this proposal element is GREAT
1
NO - this project is not good Value for Money. Value for Money rating is LOW - this proposal element VERY POOR
2-3
Partially - the project has only partially demonstrated the Value for Money it delivers. There is some information missing or unclear regarding how the ada will be spent and there may be some issues with tracking progress because the milestones are too generic.
Value for Money rating is MEDIUM - this proposal element is OK
4-5
YES - this project clearly demonstrates good value for money and all financial aspects are clearly explained and defined. The project team is also able to demonstrate that it has the skills and capacity needed to properly manage funds.
Value for Money rating is HIGH - this proposal element is GREAT
Catalyst team shared insights from 1:1 interviews with most applicants, offering a deeper understanding of each proposal's potential and the veracity of the collaboration between parties-involved.
From A-Z, the Fund12 Cardano Partners and Real World Integrations short list that the Cardano community will vote on is:
This selection was made with the utmost care and consideration, focusing on a portfolio approach that has shortlisted a diverse range of use cases, from different parts of the world, and empowering Cardano builders dedicated to enterprise blockchain adoption.
We are seeking feedback on how Catalyst can improve and advance innovation together next round. Once again, thank you to all applicants for your participation and for sharing your innovative visions with Project Catalyst.
Voting begins on 27 June and results will be announced in the week of July 15th.
This page guides proposers in submitting their proposal in ideascale
Looking for help with submissions? Please review this Catalyst gitbook page for all the additional relevant resources related to Fund12, including deadlines and overall timelines.
Proposals may be initially submitted in draft form and finalized at any time before the final submission deadline. Proposals that are not complete by the final submission deadline will be archived and will not be submitted to the community for voting. Kindly submit drafts once you are ready to proceed with enough context for the community to be able to provide tangible feedback. Proposal submissions with insufficient detail or information added across all fields are at risk of being archived at any time without notice.
Proposal submission is done via cardano.ideascale.com
Community Review guidelines link here.
IMPORTANT NOTE
List any persons who are submitting the proposal jointly with the main applicant. Make sure you have confirmed approval/awareness with these individuals / accounts before adding them. If there is more than one proposer, identify the lead person who is authorised to act on behalf of other co-proposers.
IMPORTANT - A maximum of 6 (six) proposals can be led or co-proposed by the same applicant or enterprise. Please, reference for added detail.
Required
Requested funds in ada
There is a minimum and a maximum amount of funding that can be requested in a single Catalyst proposal. These are outlined below per each category:
Minimum Funding Amount:
Cardano Uses Cases: ₳15,000
Cardano Open: ₳15,000
Cardano Partners + Real World Integrations: ₳500,000
Required
Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)
Minimum 2 months - Maximum 12 months.
The scope of your funding request and this project is expected to produce the deliverables you specify in the proposal within 2-12 months.
If you believe your project will take longer than 12 months, consider reducing the project’s scope so that it becomes achievable within 12 months.
If your project completes earlier than scheduled so long as you have submitted your PoAs and Project Close-out report and video then your project can be closed out.
Required
Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language
YES/NO - Tick YES to remind readers that your proposal has been translated, and that they should be tolerant of any language imperfections.
You can either link a document with your proposal in its original language OR provide your response in your native language after the English language in each question if you wish.
Tick NO if your proposal has not been auto-translated into English from another language
Required
What is the exact problem you want to solve? (200-character limit including spaces)
Ensure you say what is a well-defined problem. What is the core issue that you hope to fix? Remember: the reader might not recognize the problem unless you state it clearly.
This answer will be displayed on the Catalyst voting app, so voters will see it even if they don't open your proposal to read it in detail.
Required
Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)
Focus on what you are going to do, or make, or change, to solve the problem. So not 'There should be a way to....' but 'We will make a...'
Clearly state how the solution addresses the specific problem you have identified - connect the 'why' and the 'how'.
This answer will be displayed on the Catalyst voting app, so voters will see it even if they do not open your proposal and read it in detail.
Required
Website/ GitHub repository, or any other relevant link
Here, you could include links to your website or that of a partner organization, and/or a link to any whitepaper or other publication you have written about your proposal.
Note however that this is extra information that voters and Community Reviewers might choose not to read. You should not fail to include any of the questions in this form because you feel the answers can be found elsewhere.
If any links are specified make sure these are added in good order (first link must be present before specifying second). Also ensure all links include ‘https.’ Without these steps, the form will not be submittable and show errors.
Optional
Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?
YES/NO
Required
If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”
Here you should list any dependencies and prerequisites for your project’s success. These are usually external factors (such as third-party suppliers, external resources, third-party software, etc.) that may cause a delay, since a project has less control over them. In case of third party software, indicate whether you have the necessary license and permission to use such software.
Required if you replied YES to the above question about dependencies
Will your project’s output/s be fully open source? refers to something people can modify and share because its design is publicly accessible.
Open source software is software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance
Conversely, only the original authors of proprietary software can legally copy, inspect, and alter that software.
YES/NO
Required
Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs
If you answered YES to the above questions:
If declaring the project is open source in the application form, the project should be open source-available throughout the entire lifecycle of the project with a declared open-source repository.
Please indicate here the type of licence you intend to use for open source and provide any further information you feel is relevant to the open source status of your project outputs.
If only certain elements of your code will be open source please clarify which elements will be open source here.
If you answered NO to the above question, please give further details as to why your projects outputs will not be open source.
Required
This field is optional. You can use the to help you include any relevant , in your proposal.
Optional
Required
Milestones guidance
For Grant Amounts of up to 75k ada, at least 2 milestones, plus the final one including Project Close-out Report and Video, must be included (3 milestones in total)
For Grant Amounts over 75k ada up to 150k ada, at least 3 milestones, plus the final one including Project Close-out Report and Video, must be included (4 milestones in total)
For Grant Amounts over 150k ada up to 300k ada, at least 4 milestones.plus the final one including Project Close-out Report and Video, must be included (5 milestones in total)
Milestones
Milestone 1
Please follow this guideline here to understand how to build your individual milestones. Each milestone must have declared:
A: Milestone outputs
B: Acceptance criteria
C: Evidence of milestone completion
Required for all projects
Milestone 2
Please follow this guideline here to understand how to build your individual milestones. Each milestone must have declared:
A: Milestone outputs
B: Acceptance criteria
C: Evidence of milestone completion
Required for all projects
Milestone 3
Please follow this guideline here to understand how to build your individual milestones. Each milestone must have declared:
A: Milestone outputs
B: Acceptance criteria
C: Evidence of milestone completion
Optional depending on amount requested
Milestone 4
Please follow this guideline here to understand how to build your individual milestones. Each milestone must have declared:
A: Milestone outputs
B: Acceptance criteria
C: Evidence of milestone completion
Optional depending on amount requested
Milestone 5
Please follow this guideline here to understand how to build your individual milestones. Each milestone must have declared:
A: Milestone outputs
B: Acceptance criteria
C: Evidence of milestone completion
Optional depending on amount requested
Final Milestone
Please follow this guideline here to understand how to build your individual milestones. Each milestone must have declared:
A: Milestone outputs
B: Acceptance criteria
C: Evidence of milestone completion
Required for all projects
MANDATORY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I acknowledge and agree that any data I share in connection with my participation in Project Catalyst Fund12 will be collected, stored, used and processed in accordance with the Fund Operator’s.
Required
Proposal title
Please note we suggest you use no more than 60 characters for your proposal title so that it can be easily viewed in the voting app
The title should clearly express what the proposal is about. Voters can see the title in the voting app, even without opening the proposal, so a clear, unambiguous, and concise title is very important.
Required
Name and Surname of Main Applicant
Please provide the name and surname of the main applicant. The main applicant is considered as the individual responsible for the project and the person authorized to act on behalf of other applicants (where applicable).
Required
Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)
Please select from one of the following
Individual
Entity (Incorporated)
Entity (Not Incorporated)
Required
Themes
choose the most relevant tags that can help identify and categorise your project
Options:
API
DAO
DApp
Data tools
DeFi
Education
Events
Exchanges
Explorers
Gaming
Governance
Identity solutions
NFTs
RealFi
SDK
Wallet
Cardano Ambassadors
Marketing
Hackathon
Incubation
Regional expansion
Standards and regulation
Translation
Dev ecosystem collaboration
Dev team
Developer tools
SPOs
Node
Other
Required
Please describe your proposed solution
How do you write this section will depend on what type of proposal you are writing. You might want to include details on:
How do you perceive the problem you are solving
What are your reasons for approaching it in the way that you have
Who will your project engage
How will you demonstrate or prove your impact
Explain what is unique about your solution, who will benefit, and why this is important to Cardano.
Required
Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community
Please include here a description of how you intend to measure impact (whether quantitative or qualitative) and how and with whom you will share your outputs.
In what way will the success of your project bring value to the Cardano Community?
How will you measure this impact?
How will you share the outputs and opportunities that result from your project?
Required
What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?
What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?
A clear set of milestones and acceptance criteria will demonstrate your capability to deliver the project as proposed. More guidance on submitting milestones as part of your project proposal can be found here.
Who is in the project team and what are their roles?
List your team, their Linkedin profiles (or similar) and state what aspect of the proposal’s work each team member will undertake.
If you are planning to recruit additional team members, please state what specific skills you will be looking for in the people you recruit, so readers can see that you understand what skills will be needed to complete the project.
You are expected to have already engaged the relevant members of the organizations referenced so you understand if they are willing and/or have capacity to support the project. If you have not taken any steps to engage with your team yet, it is likely that the resources will not be available if you are approved for funding, which can jeopardize the project before it has even begun. The Catalyst team cannot help with this, meaning you are expected to have understood the requirements and engaged the necessary people before submitting a proposal.
Have you engaged anyone on any of the technical group channels (eg Discord or Telegram), or do you have a direct line of communications with the people and resources required?
Important: Catalyst funding is not anonymous, and some level of ‘proof of life’ verifications will take place before initial funding is released. Also remember that your proposal will be publicly available, so make sure to obtain any consent required before including confidential or third party information.
All Project Participants must disclose their role and scope of services across any submitted proposals, even if they are not in the lead or co-proposer role, such as an implementer, vendor, service provider, etc. Failure to disclose this information may lead to disqualification from the current grant round.
Required
Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources
Make sure every element mentioned in your plan reflects its cost. It may be helpful to refer to your plan and timeline, list all the resources you will need at each stage, and what they cost.
Here, provide a clear description of any third party product or service you will be using. This could be hardware, software licence, professional services (legal, accounting, code auditing, etc) but does not need to include the use of contracted programmers and developers.
The exact budget elements you include will depend on what type of work you are doing, and you might need to give less detail for a small, low-budget proposal. If the cost of the project will exceed the funding request, please provide information about alternative sources of funding.
Consider including budget elements for publicity / marketing / promotion / community engagement; project management; documentation; and reporting back to the community. Most proposals need these, but many proposers forget to include them.
It is the project team’s responsibility to properly manage the funds provided. Make sure to reference Fund Rules to understand eligibility around costs.
Required
How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?
Use the response to provide the context about the costs you listed previously, particularly if they are high.
It may be helpful to include some brief information on how you have decided on the costs of the project.
For instance, can you justify with supporting evidence that costs are proportional to the average wage in your country, or typical freelance rates in your industry? Is there anything else that helps to support how the project represents value for money?
Required
MANDATORY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
By submitting a proposal to Project Catalyst Fund12, I confirm that I have read and agree to be bound by the Fund Rules.
Required
MANDATORY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
By submitting a proposal to Project Catalyst Fund12, I confirm that I have read and agree to be bound by the Project Catalyst Terms and Conditions.
Required
Co-proposers and additional applicants
SDG rating
Please describe your existing capabilities that demonstrate how and why you believe you’re best suited to deliver this project?
Please include the steps or processes that demonstrate that you can be trusted to manage funds properly.
Cardano Uses Cases:
Concept: ₳100,000
MVP: ₳300,000
Product: ₳500,000
Cardano Open:
Developers (technical): ₳200,000
Ecosystem (non-technical): ₳100,000
Cardano Partners + Real World Integrations: ₳2,000,000
For Grant Amounts exceeding 300k ada, at least 5 milestones, plus the final one including Project Close-out Report and Video, must be included (6 milestones in total)