Grants Categories
There are three main spending categories:
- Community Growth
- Ecosystem Recruitment
- Internal Development
Funding is aimed to be split roughly 33% to each category, though this will not be enforced by the GrantShares DAO. Meaning that, it is up to the members and the community to keep that distribution in mind when taking part in proposal discussions.
Community Growth
The Community Growth category is for any initiative designed to bring new developers, users, or curiosity to the Neo ecosystem. Proposals may be approved for the organisation and execution of meet-ups, workshops, hackathons, competitions, educational/academic partnerships, online tutorials, or any activity designed to teach people about Neo or provide hands-on development experience.
In addition, it can be used to encourage general community members and third-party institutes to carry out Neo evangelism.
Ecosystem Recruitment
The Ecosystem Recruitment category is for incentivizing new developers to join the Neo ecosystem. Through day-to-day involvement within the general blockchain community, it is common to come across talented individuals who have good ideas for dApps, tools, or other blockchain services. This is especially true for conferences, meet-ups, and any kind of development or education focused event, such as those mentioned in the Community Growth section.
The launch of N3 sparked new interest in Neo, and so developers are likely going to show up with concepts for new dApps using the latest Neo technologies. Generally, these types of early-stage grassroots projects are too small for the Neo Eco Support programs. By providing these types of grants through GrantShares, projects at every level will have an opportunity to receive support if the quality of the proposal is of a high standard.
With the increased competition among smart contract platforms in the blockchain space, the opportunity for support during the early project phases may well be the difference between a developer choosing one blockchain over another. Capturing as many of these developers as possible should be a goal for the Neo ecosystem.
Internal Development
The Internal Development category allows the sponsored community groups to propose grants for internal development initiatives that would benefit the wider ecosystem.
As mentioned before, although the Neo Foundation provides funding to sponsored community members (e.g., CoZ, Neo SPCC, etc.), it is fairly strict regarding which projects are supported. This limits the creativity of the groups, who happen to be the most qualified to bring new projects to the ecosystem.
As part of GrantShares program, sponsored groups will be able to propose ideas they wish to explore internally. This could include research initiatives, dApps, tooling, or infrastructure.