Get up to $50K to build new web3 use cases on Ethereum, powered by the FuelVM.
It’s been an incredible year for builders in the Fuel ecosystem. Milestones were hit, connections were made and code was shipped. As 2023 sets sail and we look to 2024, which will arguably be Fuel’s biggest year yet, we’re ramping up to bring another cohort on board for Q1.
In case you missed our last two announcements here are some quick facts about the program:
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The Fuel Grant Program is a quarterly cohort model of up to 10 projects (Think Y-combinator)
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Each project gets up to $50,000 in funding to build something exciting in the ecosystem with the option to re-apply for the next quarter.
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Grantees receive best-in-class technical, marketing, growth, and legal support to help teams develop their ideas holistically. We don’t leave you in the dark.
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Grantees will get introductions to Fuel’s top backers in the lead-up to a virtual demo day, namely Stratos, Blockchain Capital, CoinFund, ZMT Capital, Fenbushi Capital, and Dialectic.
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The application window is 2 weeks and closes on the 10th of December 2023. Strategic integration grants will remain available after closing via Fuel’s Twitter DM for enquiries.
Now that you understand the format, here’s a quick reminder about why you want to build your project on Fuel. At DevConnect 23’, Vitalik Buterin raised the idea of reintroducing plasma and UTXOs to address Ethereum’s account-based model woes. Long story short - block space has been solved with L2s, and data availability has been solved with Avail and Celestia, but we still find limitations within Ethereum’s virtual machine where execution remains the bottleneck. For Ethereum to truly scale and leave the other L1s in the dust, an alternate VM needs to step up while still inheriting the security and decentralization of Ethereum.
Block space has been solved with L2s, and data availability has been solved with Avail and Celestia but we still find issues at the VM level where execution remains the bottleneck.
The FuelVM is just what you need for your project to be ahead of the industry. FuelVM is blazingly fast, boasting parallel transaction execution and a novel UTXO-based transaction model. With that, not only comes speed and efficiency but also stateless account abstraction thanks to Predicates (conditions under which a UTXO can be spent) and multiple native asset support.
Want to learn more about Predicates? Watch this Hackathon Presentation from David Mihal.
Want to learn more about Fuel in general? Go check out our full stack course on LearnWeb3.
How to submit the ideal application - Detail, detail, detail.
The first thing we look at when reviewing applications is the team behind the project - can you back up your submission with experience - in other words, does your team have the ability to execute what you’re proposing? If the above is true, we then look at the project’s value proposition - what problem are you solving, is your project genuinely leveraging the FuelVM, is your project useful? Then, we look at the scope of the project and your development plan to execute this. If your submission doesn’t have a detailed plan to execute the idea, we can’t justify putting you through our program.
“What problem are you solving, is your project genuinely leveraging the FuelVM, is your project useful?”
✅ The ideal applicant will submit the following:
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Proof of Experience: Does your team have the necessary experience to execute the proposed project effectively?
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Value Proposition Assessment:
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Problem Solving: What specific problem does your project address? How are you using Fuel’s stack to achieve this?
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Uniqueness and Usefulness: Is your solution unique and valuable?
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Project Scope and Development Plan:
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Execution Strategy: What is the scope of your project, and do you have a detailed plan for its development and execution?
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Detailed Execution Plan: Lack of a detailed execution plan will hinder consideration for the program.
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How to get your application rejected ❌
We will instantly reject your application if you submit the following:
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A vague idea
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Try to sell a dream with no actionable plan
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The team has zero experience in technical product development
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Your project timeline to produce an MVP exceeds 4 months
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You use bold, outlandish buzzwords
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You just submit a pitch deck
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You just submit a litepaper/whitepaper
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You copy-paste a grant application from another chain, thinking Fuel is just another EVM L2.
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You don’t explain how you’re leveraging Fuel’s stack or show an understanding of the core concepts that Fuel is providing.
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You just paraphrase the above “Ideal applicant” requirements without going in-depth on how you plan to execute your project
Project Ideas
So what is Fuel looking for? You can take a look at what our current ecosystem looks like here. Fuel’s stack is primed to transcend DeFi dApps and we’ll be mostly looking for projects applying for this category. We are also very open to EVM-based projects living on other chains looking to explore Fuel to fast-track their project’s potential.
With the above in mind, we are still taking a close look at the following category submissions:
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DeFi
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DEXs (not a Uniswap copy pasta)
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Oracles
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Liquid staking
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Stablecoins
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Options
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Lending
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Derivatives
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Insurance
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Asset management and fixed interest
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Prediction/Auction Markets
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Onchain governance/DAO infrastructure
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Infrastructure and Tooling
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Web3 Social & Community growth tooling
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Gaming and GameFi with a high priority on UX and gameplay
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Storage-Proofs
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Viral Social dApps
Integrations that are needed in the ecosystem:
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Telegram to Fuel (Wallet, app-viewer etc)
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Bridges
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Wallets
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Indexers
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Native Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) and Stablecoins
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Cross-chain communication (notifications/messaging) for dApps, wallets, and services
Fuel’s Grants Program is an incredible opportunity for you to receive support, mentorship, and exposure whilst using bleeding-edge blockchain technology to realise your idea. If you have a project that aligns with our vision and focus areas, we encourage you to apply via the Typeform link below.
As stated at the beginning, the application window for Q1 is 2 weeks and closes on the 10th of December 2023. Strategic integration grants will remain available after closing via Fuel’s Twitter DM for further enquiries.