Skip to main content

Guidelines

While applications are open to all, the W3F grants program prioritizes projects with a strong technical focus that demonstrably add value to the Polkadot ecosystem. Furthermore, successful applicants will be expected to present a solid and compelling long-term roadmap, supported by evidence of the project's significance to the community. This could include:

  • Research-oriented projects: Demonstrated significance to the community and potential impact through academic publications or community engagement metrics.
  • Business-oriented projects: A comprehensive market analysis documenting target audience, market size, competitive landscape, and go-to-market strategy.
  • Open-source projects: Proven experience in building strong communities, evidenced by user adoption, active development contributions, and community engagement initiatives.

Generally, your project will have better chances to be accepted if:

  • it presents a well-researched or tested concept, for which ideally you are able to show some prior work;
  • you have tangible proof of how and to what extent the project is a benefit to the Polkadot ecosystem and its users;
  • you can demonstrate that the project will be maintained after completion of the grant, be it through an obvious commitment to the technology from your side, additional funding sources, or an existing business model;
  • your team has proven experience with the relevant languages and technologies and/or a strong technical background. You will be asked to provide the GitHub profiles of your team members as part of your application, which we will examine for past activity and code quality. Naturally, you can also link to projects on other platforms;
  • your application is rich in technical details and well-defined;
  • you can present how your project stands out among competitors or implements technology that doesn't exist in the ecosystem yet.

Additionally, it must fulfill the following requirements:

  • All code produced as part of a grant must be open-sourced, and it must also not rely on closed-source software for full functionality. We prefer Apache 2.0, but GPLv3, MIT, or Unlicense are also acceptable.
  • We do not award grants for projects that have been the object of a successful token sale.
  • Applications must not mention a specific token. Furthermore, the focus of the application should lie on the software that is being implemented/research being carried out as part of the grant and less on your project/venture/operation. For the purpose of the application and delivery, think about how others might also benefit from your work.
  • As a general rule, teams are asked to finish a grant before applying for another one.
  • Lastly, we do not fund projects that actively encourage gambling, illicit trade, money laundering, or criminal activities in general.
  • The beneficiaries of the grant must successfully go through a KYC/KYB check during the application phase in order to be eligible.

What We're Looking For​

We're excited to support projects that align with our vision for a thriving Web3 ecosystem. Here's what makes us particularly enthusiastic about an application:

💡 User-Centric Innovation

  • Projects that focus on real user needs and can serve a broad user base
  • Solutions that address practical challenges and improve user experiences

🔄 Dogfooding & Practical Value

  • Projects that can be actively used and tested by Web3 Foundation, Parity, your team, and the broader ecosystem
  • Tools and applications that solve problems we face ourselves

🪙 DOT Token Alignment

  • Projects that create tangible demand and usage for the DOT token
  • Solutions that strengthen the Polkadot ecosystem's economic foundation

💰 Sustainable Business Models

  • Teams demonstrating strong financial discipline and clear planning
  • Projects with a realistic path to financial independence within 12-24 months
  • Evidence of thoughtful resource management and business strategy

⚖️ Regulatory Awareness

  • Projects that understand and comply with regulatory requirements in their target markets
  • Teams that proactively consider compliance and legal considerations

🌟 Exciting Verticals

We're particularly interested in (but not limited to) these areas:

  • Cross-border payments & stablecoins, especially serving Latin America and Southeast Asia
  • AI applications like content authentication and verification systems
  • DePIN/IoT solutions with concrete, marketable products
  • Proof-of-personhood implementations and identity solutions
  • Web2 to Web3 bridges - bringing familiar concepts (think HackMD, Spotify-like experiences) to Polkadot

What Doesn't Fit Our Program​

To help you determine if our program is the right fit, here are types of projects we typically don't fund:

❌ Generic Approaches

  • Projects based on generic talking points from other ecosystems without Polkadot-specific innovation
  • Applications that could apply to any blockchain without meaningful differentiation

🪙 Token-Only Focus

  • Projects focused primarily on token sales rather than providing genuine utility
  • Applications where the main value proposition is speculative trading

📈 Marketing Without Substance

  • Pure marketing efforts without concrete technical deliverables
  • Projects aimed at "saving" or promoting other projects through marketing alone
  • Generic promotional activities without defined use cases

💸 Financial Sustainability Concerns

  • Teams without clear financial planning or path to sustainability
  • Projects that don't demonstrate responsible resource management
  • Applications lacking realistic business models or revenue streams

🔒 Limited Usability

  • Products that we and the community cannot meaningfully test or use
  • Solutions that exist in isolation without practical application

🌐 Misaligned Objectives

  • Projects that don't create meaningful demand or usage for DOT tokens
  • Solutions that could easily exist on any blockchain without leveraging Polkadot's unique features

⚖️ Regulatory Blindness

  • Projects that ignore or are unaware of regulatory requirements in their target markets
  • Teams that haven't considered compliance implications for their solutions

In addition to the information provided on your application, note that your project will need to comply with our Guidelines for Milestone Deliverables. In particular, we require all projects to create documentation that explains how their project works. At a minimum, written documentation is required for funding. Tutorials or videos are also helpful for new users to understand how to use your product.

Please also heed our Announcement Guidelines for grant-related communications.

Finally, we take licensing and the right of all teams in and outside the ecosystem to be recognized for their work very seriously. Using others' work with no attribution or indication that this was not your own work as part of a milestone delivery will lead to immediate termination. Please reach out to us before submitting if you have any doubts on how to comply with a specific license and we'll be happy to help.

We also try to enforce our code of conduct and, based on this, may block users.