The New Radix Ecosystem Fund—250m XRD ($10M) to Power the Next Web3 Breakthrough

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30 May 2024

As part of the bold #Breakout2024 vision for massive ecosystem growth, the Radix Ecosystem Fund is expanding to 250M XRD (over $10M) to further support and supercharge ambitious founders to build the dApps that will power the next wave of Web3 on Radix.

Supporting builders has been a priority since the beginning of the Radix journey. Since launching the first grants program in February last year, over half a million USD has been distributed to builders in the Radix community. Initially announced in February as a 25M XRD ($1M+) fund, multiple activities and grants have already been rolled out to nurture developers from their first lines of Scrypto code to achieving massive success with their dApps.

These activities included:

  • Allocating $170k in Booster Grants
  • Distributing $90k in Milestone Rewards
  • Over $20k in developer incentives including Scrypto challenges

Introducing the Radix Foundry program: funding up to 250k USD

The Radix Foundry is here to incubate and accelerate dApps in high-potential categories that can bring outsized growth in users, TVL, and on-chain activity to the Radix Ecosystem. Those categories include:

  • Lending & Borrowing Money Markets

  • Real World Assets (RWA)

  • Yield Derivatives

  • NFT Pro Trading

  • Launchpad

  • Stablecoins & Collateralized Debt Position (CDP)

  • Liquid Staking & Restaking

Projects participating in Radix Foundry will be able to receive marketing, business, and technical support from RDX Works and up to $250k in funding.

Expanding Booster Grants to $160k

Booster grants are expanding 10fold, from $15k to $160k in available funding in order to give teams the resources they need to evolve from an idea to a thriving seed-stage startup. The Booster grants cover 4 consecutive tracks, teams can receive each grant once and receive a total funding of up to $160k*.

  1. The MVP Booster - $5,000 in XRD

    This track is for those who are building the first MVP of their dApp either on Radix Stokenet (testnet) or as a beta version on Radix mainnet.

  2. The Launch Booster - now $15,000 in XRD

    Once a team has tested their MVP and claimed the MVP Booster Grant, they can apply to the Launch Booster to launch their product on Babylon mainnet.

  3. The Refine Booster - up to $50,000 in XRD

    Teams can apply for a Refine Booster Grant in order to improve their dApp and traction and get ready to apply for a Growth Booster Grant. This track is optional meaning that teams can apply directly for a Growth Booster Grant if they are ready.

  4. The Growth Booster - up to $140,000 in XRD

    The Growth Booster Grant aims to support teams to reach their seed stage. Teams applying to the Growth Booster Grant will pitch to the RDX Works Ecosystem investment team. Teams need to present a strong plan to reach their growth goal both in terms of product development and business and marketing. They also need to include a detailed budget to support their grant request.

Additionally, teams will be able to apply for additional funding to cover some of the costs of their code audits.

The $160k available per project includes all tracks of the Booster grants and previous Radix grants (Babylon booster grants and the Radix grant program cohort 1). It doesn’t include the Foundry Program or Milestone and Fundraising rewards (see below) which teams can get in addition to the total of $160k distributed via the Booster grants.

Rewarding Accomplishments

Celebrating successes in the Radix ecosystem has been a priority since the Babylon mainnet upgrade. To further support teams with their accomplishments, the Milestone rewards announced as part of the initial Ecosystem Fund in February will be expanded and a new reward will be introduced for projects who are successfully fundraising.

Milestone rewards

A list of Milestones to reach in order to get rewards will be published every quarter on the Radix Blog. Projects will have the opportunity to work towards those milestones and get one or several of the quarterly Milestone rewards.

Fundraising rewards

Projects building on Radix who raise funds will receive a reward of up to 10% of the amount they raised paid in XRD tokens, up to a cap of $50k.

Continuous Developer Support

Developer incentives

Developer incentives will continuously be distributed to support developers in the Radix community. There are currently 3 type of rewards for developers:

  • Win $200 in XRD: Submit an Outstanding Asset-Oriented DeFi Blueprint

  • Win up to $1500 in XRD: Impress the CTO

  • Earn $500 in XRD: Celebrating Community Leaders

Learn more about  developer incentives

Ecosystem and developer tooling grants

Builders can now get funding to build tools for developers or other ecosystem projects. Learn more and submit your proposal via the Ecosystem Fund Form.

Referrals: Help grow the Radix Ecosystem get XRD

Ecosystem expansion cannot flourish without a strong community. It is humbling to witness the strength of the Radix community and its reach. In order to reward members who are actively attracting new projects, applicants to any of the Radix grants can now mention if they were referred by someone and the referrer can win $500 in XRD for any team selected for a grant that was referred.

Apply for a grant

Don't wait – apply now! If you're unsure which grant fits your project best, just fill out the application form, and the Ecosystem Investment team will personally guide you to the perfect grant or reward.