The Solana Foundation Funding Program aims to connect builders, creators, and founders — including those in New Zealand — to the best source of funding for their work. This may be through the Solana Foundation or other ecosystem sources.
Solana Foundation Funding
In the Solana ecosystem’s open-source spirit, the Solana Foundation supports projects that generate public goods for the community and give other ecosystem participants the opportunity to learn from and build on your work.
The Solana Foundation primarily provides funding in the following ways:
- Milestone-based grants for public goods
- Milestone-based convertible grants for public goods with a commercial component
- Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for specific ideas the Foundation is looking to fund
How to apply
Please note that the following are a set of guidelines for the Solana Foundation funding application only. Ecosystem sources of funding may have different processes.
Application
All funding applicants for Solana Foundation standard and convertible grants are required to fill out the application here.
In the application, make sure to:
- Provide a brief project overview
- Clarify how your project provides a public good for the Solana network
- Lay out a well structured budget proposal, and include thoughtful milestones
Application Review (~1 week)
All applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.
If an application warrants an in-depth review, Solana Foundation subject-matter experts (“SME”) will reach out to schedule a call. The due diligence process can include technical due diligence, market research, and other analyses to determine the project’s fit and usefulness to the Solana ecosystem.
Decision & Contacting (~3 weeks)
Applicants will be notified via the email provided in their application whether their proposal has been accepted or not.
Approved applicants work with the Solana Foundation Legal Team to finalise the grant agreement.
Guidelines for Evaluation
While the Solana Foundation appreciates a broad diversity of ideas in grant applications, there are a few common threads that the team always looks for.
Please note that this criteria list is not exhaustive, and grant approvals are at the discretion of the Solana Foundation Capital Team.
Ecosystem Funding
Beyond the Solana Foundation, there are a broad array of funding options available to projects in the Solana ecosystem. Depending on your project’s stage of development, geography, or vertical, some of these options might suit your needs.
Hackathons
The Solana Foundation works with Colosseum to run online hackathons. These competitions enable anyone with an internet connection — anywhere in New Zealand included — to jumpstart their next project on Solana and join the fastest ecosystem in crypto.
Select hackathon winners have the opportunity to join Colosseum's accelerator program where they will receive pre-seed funding, mentorship, technical resources, and more.
For more information on the latest Solana Hackathons, sign up for a Colosseum account colosseum.org.
Ecosystem Grants Programs
There are numerous grants programs run by teams within the Solana ecosystem. Generally, these programs are focused on a specific vertical or area of expertise, catering to certain applicants. The following ecosystem teams run their own grants programs.
Superteam
Superteam offers quick microgrants ($10k USD) to early-stage Solana builders in emerging markets like India, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa.
Learn more