RRC-12: RARI Ecosystem Growth Fund

Proposals Parent DAO Proposals
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#1

Abstract

This draft document aims to establish the RARI Ecosystem Growth Fund. The growth Fund will drive innovative Rarible protocol’s adoption and strategic partnership to accelerate RARI ecosystem growth. This document proposes this fund be administered and managed by the RARI Foundation with periodic detailed reporting to the community.

Motivation

Relying on the organic growth of the RARI ecosystem does not capture its full potential. The RARI DAO needs to attract innovative projects to build with the Rarible Protocol to materialize the future of new NFT use cases powered by our tech stack and being a leading Protocol in the NFT space. Similarly, entering strategic partnerships that will drive exposure to the RARI ecosystem is crucial to raising awareness of the RARI DAO, its mission, and the value it brings to the ecosystem.

Rationale

The RARI DAO and the RARI Foundation work together to grow decentralized NFT infrastructure, power mass adoption of NFTs, and enable innovative NFT use cases. However, for the Rari Foundation to be most effective at accomplishing these goals they must be funded with $RARI in order to fund a grants program, strategic loans, and strategic partnerships. By tasking the RARI Foundation to administer and manage the Ecosystem Growth Fund, the RARI DAO will continue being the governing body and the decision-maker but will delegate the responsibility and day-to-day management to the RARI Foundation team.

Key Terms

Rarible Protocol - multichain indexer and order book with SDK

RARI Ecosystem - applications utilizing the Rarible Protocol

$RARI - ERC 20 token, used in the RARI DAO governance

Specification

The Ecosystem Growth fund shall be composed of 3 parts:

  1. Grants allocation
  2. Strategic loans
  3. Strategic partnerships

Grants allocation:

We propose a total of 250k RARI to fund early-stage projects that align with the mission of the RARI DAO: growing NFT ecosystem & innovative NFT use cases powered by the Rarible Protocol. The grants shall be allocated to projects that build with the protocol or that contribute to the protocol, not for marketing or promotional purposes. The individual grants should take the form of locked RARI that is revocable for a period of 1 year to ensure the grant recipients deliver their projects in full.

Strategic loans

We propose a total of 800k RARI for strategic loans to partners who are committed to pursuing our ecosystem health and growth. The loans are to be returned in full at the end of each loan period to the Foundation and the loan period should not exceed 12 months. Activities of the loan recipients may include (but are not limited to) R&D, community-building initiatives, and marketing.

Strategic partnerships

We propose a total of 350k RARI to incentivize strategic partnerships that will amplify our reach to new audiences and communities. These partnerships may include subsidizing strategic protocol integrations, marketing integrations (outside of smaller-scale marketing covered by the operational budget), and incentivizing partners to help foster ecosystem growth with pre-agreed, customized benchmarks of value provided to the RARI community.

In total, the fund would amount to 1.4M RARI, and the proportions of the fund are to be requested.

The RARI Foundation will be obliged to publish quarterly reports on the fund’s allocations and engage the community in grant recipient selection. The fund will be under the RARI Foundation’s management for a period of a minimum of 12 months, after which the community may request the return of the unspent fund.

Steps to Implement

The RARI Foundation shall set up a new multisig wallet (same signees as the current administrative wallet) dedicated solely to the use of the Ecosystem Growth fund. This wallet is to receive the fund’s full amount.

8 Likes
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#2

Awesome plan @arikthereal
I really like the idea of encapsulating the 3 initiatives under an Ecosystem Growth Fund.

I’m interested in learning what are your ideas for running the Grants Program. While this proposal is probably focused on allocating funds, I was also doing some thinking and planning regarding this and would love to brainstorm the HOW.

There are a couple ongoing conversations in Discord that they seem to converge to the same Grants Program idea.

IMO Grants should not focus on implementation only, but also on attracting more artists and develop strategies to help grow Rarible and Rarible powered marketplaces.

Also, can you please elaborate more on whats your idea regarding the Strategic loans?
There is always risk on giving away loans , but if we - Rarible - execute these campaigns there is so much more control from our side, and it makes it much easier to measure ROI.

Great proposal! An Ecosystem Growth Fund will be very beneficial to Rari.

7 Likes
#3

StableLab is in support of this proposal for the following reasons:

Cost

While 1.4 million $RARI is a substantial portion of the treasury (about 10%), we think this is a worthwhile spend as it will drive lots of value back to the DAO. Bringing new builders and partners to Rari will hopefully increase the value of $RARI as more people will begin to use the Rari SDK and want to have a say in the direction of the Ecosystem. This will lead to an added value for token holders and DAO members that will outweigh this initial cost of 1.4M $RARI.

Quarterly Reports

We believe the quarterly reports will be essential to the success of this proposal. It is vital that the community remain updated with the progress of this fund. This helps to keep the foundation accountable for this large sum of funding. It also adds extra excitement as the community learns which new and innovative builders join the ecosystem.

Grants Program

The proposal mentions the Foundation would “engage the community in grant recipient selection.” We think this is a great idea as it will help the community have a greater say in the process and help to create more enthusiasm surrounding the fund.

We would be happy to sit on a potential grants council along with the foundation as we have tremendous experience sitting on grants council. Our past experience can help Rari set up a grants program that is accountable, efficient, and well-equipped to choose great early-stage projects that align with the mission of the RARI DAO.

6 Likes
#4

Strategic partnerships with all artists from all walks of life can be incorporated well. I see that Arbitrium also started a art Renaissance section, with partnerships with prominent galleries happening. A contributing ecosystem that benefits all, instead of just a select few would be much more along the lines of creating a booming economy.

4 Likes
#5

Thanks @arikthereal for the proposal. I like the following things about this proposal:

Ecosystem Growth: The fund can potentially accelerate the growth of the RARI ecosystem by attracting innovative projects and forming strategic partnerships.

Long-Term Vision: Delegating the day-to-day management to the RARI Foundation allows the RARI DAO to maintain its governing role while having a dedicated organization focused on executing the fund’s long-term vision.

Transparency: Regular quarterly reports and community involvement in grant selection enhance transparency and accountability.

It would be great if you can offer clarification for the following questions:

  1. How will grant recipients be selected, and what specific criteria will be used?
  2. Is there a plan to measure and report on the fund’s impact on the RARI ecosystem, and if so, what metrics or indicators will be used?
  3. Can you provide details on the specific ways in which the community will be actively engaged in the grant recipient selection and decision-making process?
7 Likes
#6

Fully in support, and will be voting for.

I appreciate the proposal’s aim to accelerate the growth of RARI’s ecosystem, beyond its organic growth. It has the potential to be a massive catalyst for technological innovation using the RARI protocol.

Involving the community in grant recipient selection, as well as publishing quarterly reports will go a long way in establishing a fair and transparent RARI ecosystem growth fund.

Proper risk management will be crucial if RARI Foundation is to provide the strategic loans.

2 Likes
#7

Hi, I’m Meg from Grants Stack at Gitcoin. This is a really neat proposal – I love how you’re trying different growth strategies alongside grants. The loan concept is a particularly cool one – we benefitted tremendously from it when I was at MetricsDAO but I haven’t seen used widely!

@jengajojo posed a few great questions here, and I’ll add one more on: wondering what the rationale is for locking RARI distribution for 1 year? We often see unlocked grant funding provide immediate benefits for scale or growth that ultimately makes a grant successful and may not be possible with locked funds. Maybe there’s an opportunity to split the grant into milestones or partial upfront/1 year timeframe payments.

6 Likes
#8

Thanks for this well thought out proposal.

Echoing @Jaf and @lionmsee, I’m also eager to learn more on how strategic loans would be considered and made. The 800k RARI allocated to loans would be the largest part of this proposal.

Extending credit to borrowers is challenging and entails risk, but could be rewarding for the RARI ecosystem.

4 Likes
#9

Totally in support of this proposal but will love to see some of these stated concerns addressed.

6 Likes
#10

This is an updated version of RRC-12 after implementing community feedback.

RRC-12: RARI Ecosystem Growth Fund [Revised]

Authors: Arik Shinkarevsky

Reviewers: @Matt_StableLab , @JanaBe

Abstract

This draft document aims to establish the RARI Ecosystem Growth Fund. This Fund will drive innovative Rarible protocol’s adoption and strategic partnership to accelerate RARI ecosystem growth. This document proposes the Ecosystem Growth Fund to be administered and managed by the RARI Foundation with periodic detailed reporting to the community.

Motivation

Relying on the organic growth of the RARI ecosystem does not capture its full potential. The RARI DAO needs to attract innovative projects to build with the Rarible Protocol to shape the future of new NFT use cases powered by our tech stack and strengthen our position in the NFT space. Similarly, entering strategic partnerships that will drive exposure to the RARI ecosystem is crucial to raising awareness of the RARI DAO, its mission, and the value it brings to the ecosystem.

Rationale

The RARI DAO and the RARI Foundation work together to grow decentralized NFT infrastructure, power mass adoption of NFTs, and enable innovative NFT use cases. However, for the RARI Foundation to be most effective at accomplishing these goals, it requires funding with $RARI in order to support a grants program, strategic loans, and strategic partnerships. By tasking the RARI Foundation to administer and manage the Ecosystem Growth Fund, the RARI DAO will continue being the governing body and the decision-maker but will delegate the responsibility and day-to-day management to the RARI Foundation team.

Key Terms

Rarible Protocol - multichain indexer and order book with SDK

RARI Ecosystem - applications utilizing the Rarible Protocol

$RARI - ERC 20 token, used in the RARI DAO governance

Specification

The Ecosystem Growth Fund shall be composed of 3 parts:

  1. Grants allocation
  2. Strategic loans
  3. Strategic partnerships

Grants allocation:

We propose a total of 250k RARI to fund early-stage projects that align with the mission of the RARI DAO: growing NFT ecosystem & innovative NFT use cases powered by the Rarible Protocol. The grants shall be allocated to existing projects that build with the protocol or that contribute to the protocol, not for marketing or promotional purposes. The individual grants should take the form of locked RARI that is revocable for a period of 6 months in the following tranches: 50% upon grant approval and 50% upon project delivery. This mechanic aims to ensure the grant recipients deliver their projects in full.

Strategic loans

We propose a total of 800k RARI for strategic loans to partners who are committed to pursuing our ecosystem health and growth. The loans are to be returned in full at the end of each loan period to the Foundation (either in RARI or a stablecoin), and the loan period should not exceed 18 months. Activities of the loan recipients may include (but are not limited to) R&D, community-building initiatives, and marketing. Any loan recipient must pass the KYC process and sign a formal agreement with the RARI Foundation.

Strategic partnerships

We propose a total of 350k RARI to encourage strategic partnerships that will contribute to our reach to new audiences and communities. These partnerships may include subsidizing strategic protocol integrations, marketing integrations (outside of smaller-scale marketing covered by the operational budget), and collaborating with partners to help foster ecosystem growth with pre-agreed, customized benchmarks of value provided to the RARI community.

In total, the Ecosystem Growth Fund would amount to 1.4M RARI, and the proportions of this fund are to be respected as stated above.

Notes:

  1. The RARI Foundation will be responsible for publishing quarterly reports on the Ecosystem Growth Fund’s allocations and for involving the community in grant recipient selection by setting up a grants committee 3/4 multisig, where 2 members are appointed by the RARI Foundation and 2 by the community. This Fund will be under the RARI Foundation’s purview for a period of a minimum of 12 months, after which the community may request the return of unspent funds.

  2. For projects to qualify for a grant, they must demonstrate:

  3. Mission alignment (growing the NFT space introducing innovative use cases)

  4. Proven track record of commitment to building (e.g sustained reputable public presence, successfully shipped past projects or features)

  5. Qualified team capable of delivering

  6. Willingness to KYC

  7. The grant committee may choose to allocate a portion of the grant to community-proposed initiatives such as the ‘Artist Rennaisance’ or ‘Rapid loans/Listing reimbursement,’ if these become closer defined via community discussion and the community does not propose them as stand-alone initiatives

Steps to Implement

The RARI Foundation shall set up a new multisig wallet (same signees as the current administrative wallet) dedicated solely to the use of the Ecosystem Growth fund. This wallet is to receive the full amount of 1.4M $RARI.

7 Likes
#11

Hi everyone,

Apologies for the delays while I was travelling. Everyone thank you for reviewing proposal and bringing in valuable feedback.

Special thank you for the edited version to @JanaBe and @Matt_StableLab.

To recap, questions raised were all addressed in the revised version (how the Foundation and community partner on grant recipient selection, what the criteria will be, can the fund accomodate other community proposed initiatives, isn’t 1 year lock for funding too long). One outstanding question is measurement of the ecosystem growth, which the Foundation and the Protocol team work through in detail.

Excited to see voting for this proposal.

4 Likes
#12

Per RRC-12’s execution on Tally, RARI Foundation is now ready to select Grants Committee members!

The committee consists of 4 members, with 3 out of 4 votes needed for a grant to be approved.

Two members will be appointed by the RARI Foundation, and two by the community via the poll (opening Nov 2) in this thread: Follow up to RRC-12: RARI Foundation Grants Committee Selection.

For more details on how to apply, please refer to the Grants Committee Selection forum post linked above or reach out to the Foundation.

Selection timeline:

  • Applications open: Oct 26
  • Voting period: Nov 2-15 (EOD)
  • Selection Announcement: Nov 16
3 Likes
#13

+1. Would make sense for us to form stronger bonds with the artists on Rarible

2 Likes
#14

Proposal was executed in October last year, where can we find these quarterly reports? Thanks