- Atom
- Posts
- Gitcoin's Beta Round
In January, Gitcoin successfully conducted an Alpha Round on their new decentralized Grants Stack, a testing ground for their innovative protocol (we plan to use this protocol at Atom to fund early stage scientific research). After making improvements to the process, Gitcoin is about to launch their Beta Round.
The round will take place from April 25th to May 9th, 2023, and will feature five Core Rounds managed by Gitcoin, each with its own Eligibility Criteria and a distinct matching pool. There will also be several Featured Rounds managed independently with some exciting coverage across science and a minimum of $75k available for DeSci projects!
Beta Round Categories
The Beta Round will cover a range of categories, including several science-focused topics such as Climate Solutions in the core round, and DeSci and Metacrisis (supported by @supermodular) in the featured rounds. The other core categories include:
Ethereum Infrastructure
Web3 Community & Education
Web3 Open Source Software
ZK Tech
To learn more, visit the Gitcoin Grants website:
Featured Rounds:
Gitcoin are running featured rounds for the first time. These are run by vertically aligned independent communities and are described by the Gitcoin team as:
Grants Program Featured Rounds are primarily operated by external parties (most akin to our legacy "ecosystem rounds") that are mission-aligned partners. We believe showcasing more rounds alongside the quarterly Gitcoin Grants Program as one cohesive event will create network effects that benefit all communities involved.
At Atom we are particularly excited by the DeSci featured round. The election for stewards has just concluded, with voting being conducted via a JokeDao contest. The 5 stewards that have been elected are:
“A neuroimmunologist by training [who has] been working as one of the executive leads at DeSciWorld, an information aggregation and social engagement hub for the DeSci space.”
“A marine biologist by training, MSc in Ecology and Evolution, and a core team member of DeSciWorld, [who has] been involved in DeSci for more than a year now.”
Sarah Rouse
“A group leader at Imperial College London and co-founder of SpaceBioDAO. [They] previously contributed to VitaDAO. [A] key motivation for joining as a steward is to uphold DeSci as a public good.”
“Over the last couple of years, [Manuel has] explored DeSci, ReFi, and DeSpace. [Their] involvement in MoonDAO enables [them] to be at the forefront of the DeSpace ecosystem.”
Boris is a core contributor to Gitcoin and is running all the behind the scenes for the DeSci featured round. Boris is currently completing a PhD at the University of Toronto in molecular genetics.
Congratulations to everyone that was nominated. The next steps are to determine the eligibility criteria and start onboarding grantees. We’re looking forward to the start of the round and hope this becomes a cornerstone of the DeSci movement.
Tips if you are participating:
If you're planning to get involved in the Beta Round, here are some helpful tips and resources:
Join the Gitcoin Grants Telegram group for updates and discussions which can be found here.
Make sure to start your application soon, it takes a bit of a time to get right and applications received by April 19th are guaranteed a review before the round. You can start this through through the grants builder. Learn more by following this quick walkthrough video.
Market your project effectively to attract as many donors as possible. Gitcoin provides excellent resources on this. Here are some key takeaways from their material:
Focus on donor engagement and supporting other grantees.
Use your most reliable communication channels.
Ask for community support to amplify your messages.
Engage with your community and the wider Gitcoin community constantly before, during, and after the launch of the round.
Don't forget to use memes!
Don't miss this opportunity to be part of the Gitcoin Beta Round and make a difference in the world of decentralized technology. Good luck with your project, and happy fundraising!