Grants 2024 Transparency Report

#1

Grants 2024 Transparency Report

The RARI Foundation, in collaboration with RARI DAO members, launched the Grants Program to support dApp developers experimenting on innovative NFT use cases. The program aims to drive the adoption of the Rarible Protocol and RARI Chain.

To ensure transparency regarding the allocation of funds from the Rarible Protocol Treasury in 2024, here is an overview of grant allocations and the projects that met the selection criteria. These initiatives are either fully completed or currently under development.

Ref: Grants discussion in Rari Forum

Summary:

  • Timeframe: Late August to end of December 2024
  • Total Grant Applications: 86
  • Number of Grants approved: 3
  • Total Grants Issued: 10,605.05 $RARI

Grants Breakdown

Project Name OSPN
Grant Status Completed
Funding issued 6,000 $RARI
Transparency report OSPN - Transparency Report (Beyond PFPs)
Grant description The “Beyond PFPs” podcast enhanced community engagement by exploring innovative NFT use cases on the Rarible open-source protocol. OSPN initiated roundtable discussions and Twitter Spaces to showcase how NFTs can disrupt traditional industries, focusing on the new NFT initiatives and opening opportunities for new partnerships with Rarible Protocol and RARI Chain.
Project Name Mintpad
Grant Status Completed
Live on RARI Chain!
Funding issued 3,012.75 $RARI
Additional $2.5K USD worth of $RARI if they move to Rarible Protocol
Transparency report Transparency Report for Mintpad - Milestone 1
Grant description Mintpad, a no-code NFT creator platform supporting 30+ chains and over 90k collections, empowers creators to launch NFTs effortlessly. With funding, Mintpad integrated with RARI Chain, providing users with advanced tools and ongoing support. Mintpad was featured at the DeFi Studio campaign organized by RARI Foundation in Q4 2024 as an onboarding tool for creators to drop their NFT art on RARI Chain.
Project Name DAOSpace
Grant Status In progress
Live on RARI Chain!
Funding issued 1,592.3 RARI distributed
$2.5K USD worth of $RARI to be distributed after going live.
Transparency report Daospace - Transparency Report (Contributor Cards)
Grant description DAOSpace builds an on-chain reputation and identity protocol for DAO contributors and gamifies DAO participation with Contributor Cards—dynamic NFTs on RARI Chain that serve as proof of work and allows to earn royalties from Cards sales. The grant from RARI Foundation is supporting a pilot program for RARI DAO contributors to explore innovative NFT use cases, including a reputation system for SocialFi.

Key Takeaways from Q3-Q4 2025

  • Change in funding mechanism?

    • Since the most successful leads during Grants #1 were coming from the EGF’s network, EGF decided to experiment with the grants program in Q3-Q4 without launching a full-scale campaign this time.
    • EGF initiated a BD outreach via the network of DAO delegates and members of EGF and created a Telegram group with 10 members to request introductions to projects.
    • Throughout Q3-Q4, the Committee has reached out to 40+ projects both through personal introductions and cold outreach.
    • The Committee’s BD efforts led to having 10 potential projects in the negotiation stage. However, to date, these projects either chose another ecosystem or did not qualify for funding.
    • Clear guidelines are needed to automate the grant process, whether for implementing Rari Protocol or incentivizing deployments on Rari Chain. Establishing clear rules and steps for meeting requirements, progressing through milestones, and maintaining grants will simplify and bring transparency to decision-making.

  • Clear and consistent communication with the community

    • Grantees and the Grants Working Group must submit monthly progress reports to the DAO through the forum. This helps the DAO track grant progress against the original proposal and ensures transparency about the Grants Working Group’s outcomes and decisions.

Way Forward

In 2025, the Grants Committee will undergo changes, with the DAO taking on a leading role, while the Foundation will shift to a more advisory and supportive position, focusing on tasks such as contract execution and KYC processes. The exact planning for the Grants operations has yet to be determined.

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#2

The 2024 Grants Program was, to put it bluntly, highly disappointing. This was supposed to be the flagship year for RARI Chain, the year when builders would be incentivized to bring decentralized applications and impactful projects to our ecosystem. Instead, the results speak for themselves—a total of 50k $RARI was granted and allocated to the program, and yet, after an entire year, only three projects were approved and 20% of budget utilized.

Let’s analyze these projects:

  1. OSPN (“Beyond PFPs”) received 60% of the total budget. This project aimed to engage the community, but the results are underwhelming. The last video was published over five months ago, and the series comprises only 12 videos with an average of 15 views per video. This is far from the kind of traction and impact we hoped for. The same grantee has been approved for another grant, raising serious concerns about the effectiveness of our selection process and the ROI of these initiatives.
  2. Mintpad, a no-code NFT creation platform, has potential on paper. Yet, we lack tangible data on user adoption or growth since its integration with RARI Chain. No creators are using this tool. Is it simply another underutilized project in the ecosystem?
  3. DAOSpace, though promising in its vision of gamified DAO participation, is still in progress. However, given the track record of the program thus far, skepticism about its potential impact is warranted. Simply because we need apps for users of the chain and we need to shift priority from highly prioritizing delegates and awarding them with rewards. We need projects for chain USERS.

On top of this, we’re simultaneously considering a proposal that allocates over $1M annually for team salaries and expert hires. It’s difficult to justify such expenditures when the existing grants team has failed to deliver meaningful results. The current grants committee must take responsibility for this outcome. If the aim was to attract projects to build on RARI Chain, the results indicate that the strategy was fundamentally flawed.

Suggestions for Moving Forward

  1. Leadership Change: The team responsible for the grants program must be replaced with individuals who can deliver tangible results and prioritize ecosystem growth.
  2. Revised Strategy: Future grants should focus on clear KPIs—such as user adoption, active integrations, and real-world impact—to ensure funds are allocated effectively.
  3. Transparency and Accountability: A more rigorous reporting structure must be enforced for both grantees and the committee, with public updates that allow the DAO to track progress and hold stakeholders accountable.
  4. Community-Centric Decision Making: The DAO should have a stronger voice in selecting projects, ensuring alignment with community goals and expectations.

We cannot afford another year of wasted resources. If we aim to position RARI Chain as a thriving ecosystem, the current grants approach must undergo a complete overhaul.