The 1inch Foundation launches a $3 mln grant program

The program aims to foster growth and expansion of the 1inch Network and incentivize developers to build on 1inch protocols.

Lately, 1inch tech has been developing rapidly, and so has been the case with the DeFi space in general. There are numerous opportunities for building solutions on top of 1inch protocols, and the 1inch Foundation is happy to announce a grant program that will stimulate growth of the 1inch ecosystem and the DeFi industry at large.

Over the coming 12 months, a worth of $3 mln in 1INCH tokens will be distributed to developer teams and individual developers under the 1inch Grant Program.

Grant categories

Grants will be issued in three categories:

1. Network development

This category is centered on integrations that boost the usage of 1inch products and the development of solutions benefiting the 1inch Network. Among projects eligible for this category are aggregation products, AMMs, wallets, integrations involving the 1inch API, interoperability solutions, such as Layer 2 protocols or bridges, and security solutions.

2. Community development

Grants issued in this category are expected to strengthen the 1inch Network through education, events, and social outlets. We specifically look for educational materials, such as tutorials and translations, community events, including local meetups and hackathons, and various social media campaigns and activities.

3. Research and analytics

Grants in this category will be issued to projects providing key insight to 1inch Network’s growth, competition, and product/market fit. The specific areas include advanced data analytics, such as 1inch Network metrics and participants behavior, innovative research into functionality, interface, and other components of the 1inch tech, and simulation of protocol performance/efficiency.

The grant application and issue process

The 1inch Foundation is looking for projects that have recently started their DeFi journey and have no prior ICO or fundraising history, except for VC rounds.

The grant application and issue process consist of the following stages:

1. Application submission

A complete application is submitted to the 1inch Foundation, containing as many details as possible about the proposed idea and the applicant’s background. An application is normally considered within two weeks.

2. Interview

Interviews are conducted with preselected applicants to collect more information on their background and the proposed solution’s specifics.

3. Evaluation of grant potential and formal grant offer

At this stage, a grant is offered to the applicant, its exact size and a vesting schedule and timeline for product development reports are discussed and determined. A formal grant offer includes terms and conditions of grant issue. Usually, a grant offer occurs within 10 days of the final interview.

4. Onboarding

Once the offer is accepted, the applicant completes the onboarding process, after which they receive access to necessary resources, and a schedule for reporting and development updates is set up.

5. Ongoing performance evaluation

The 1inch Foundation will periodically evaluate the project’s progress based on an individually agreed schedule.

The first grantee

The first grant of 100k 1INCH tokens has been issued to the DeNet team for the development of a decentralized storage protocol.

Since 2017, DeNet has been developing solutions for decentralized storage and hosting to offer an alternative to Amazon, Google, Apple and other major players in this segment. The 1inch Network’s co-founder Anton Bukov has been a consultant to the project since its launch.

DeNet’s concept is based on utilizing unused disk space on personal computers for storing and hosting dApps. Users who provide their storage space to other users are rewarded in DFILE tokens.

To apply for the 1inch Grant Program, use this form. Let’s build the DeFi space together!