Overview of Moonbeam Grants
Moonbeam’s grant application process is designed to support projects that contribute to the growth and advancement of the Moonbeam ecosystem. Moonbeam grants are tailored to support projects at various stages of development, from early-stage startups to more established teams looking to scale their operations.
Two Grant Programs are currently open:
Ecosystem Grants
These grants offer support to empower established projects and help them achieve big milestones and expand their impact. They are distributed through a structured, metrics-driven allocation framework that was developed in collaboration with Gauntlet to enhance transparency and community alignment.
Community-aligned framework: By establishing consensus on the framework’s structure and key metrics, setting default growth expectations, and evaluating grant recipients against consistent metrics, the process promotes transparency, adaptability, and community involvement.
Metrics for impact assessment: TVL, DAU, trading volume, trading fees, capital efficiency.
Growth expectations and market conditions: By establishing default growth expectations for each metric based on the protocol’s lifecycle stage and taking market conditions into account, the Moonbeam Foundation ensures a consistent and objective evaluation process.
Before and after assessment: To evaluate the impact of grants, recipients need to gather median daily values o the key metrics over a two-month period prior to receiving the grant. Following the grant period, recipients must also provide corresponding “after” metrics.
Strategic fund allocation: Gauntlet’s recommendations highlight specific allocations for future grants: 30% to decentralized exchanges (DEXes), 25% to lending protocols, 25% to cross-chain interaction applications, 20% to innovative products.
Onchain ratification: The allocation of funds is ultimately ratified by the Moonbeam community through an onchain vote.
Community Committee Grants
These grants are managed by 2 Moonbeam Foundation members with 3 community-elected experts for a six-month term. They provide not only financial support but also technical assistance, co-marketing. mentorship, and strategic guidance to help innovative startups thrive within the Moonbeam ecosystem.
Application: Complete and submit a grant application with accuracy and detail.
Initial screening: The Community Grants Committee or designated service provider will reach out to the grant applicant to schedule a call so they can review the information provided. Based on the information provided in this phase and in the grant application, the reviewer will decide whether the project moves forward based on the community-approved Grant Guidelines.
Committee review and diligence: The Community Grants Committee and designated service providers will explore the project, concept, and grant request and assess the project according to the community approved grant guidelines.
Voting: After the diligence phase, the Community Grants Committee will vote on whether the application should be accepted or rejected. A grant application is approved if at least three Community Grants Committee Members vote “Aye” with at least one of the Foundation Community Grants Committee Members voting “Aye”. A grant application will not be accepted if there are more Nay Community Grants Committee votes than Aye votes.
Implementation and follow-up: Teams with approved grants can start working toward the milestones outlined in the grant.
