The Success of Polygon Grants - More Rounds to Come

Introduction

The first round of Polygon Village Community Grants has come to a close and I think it's safe to say it was a great success! In this article, we will cover what Polygon Village is, how the first grant program worked and the number behind it. Let's dive in!

What is Polygon Village?

Think of Polygon Village as a personalized cheer squad for startups aspiring to launch, grow, or scale in the business world. It acts as a one-on-one support system tailored to specific startup needs, providing a myriad of resources and guidance.

Support Offered

1. Mentorship: Access the Village Mentor Network for personalized one-on-one sessions.
2. Vouchers: Receive credits from service providers like Google Cloud, AWS, Infura, Alchemy, and more.
3. Office Hours: Get dedicated meeting time with the Polygon Village team for questions and feedback.
4. Grants: Apply for grant funding through various Village Grant campaigns.
5. Accelerator Access: Receive introductions to ecosystem accelerators to boost your startup journey.
6. Masterclasses: Attend classes taught by experts covering key areas for startup success.
7. Startup Networking: Access Village Builder House Events and credits for co-working spaces.
8. VC Office Hours: Secure meetings with notable venture capitalists for funding advice.
9. Founder Initiatives: Exclusive one-on-one meetings with Polygon Labs leadership.
10. Scaling: Dedicated contact for Developer Relations/Developer Success to navigate the Polygon stack.

Who Can Join?

The Village Startup Support program welcomes applicants from all startup stages, catering to those just starting out, with a robust community, or in need of scaling support. In essence, Village Support becomes a startup's ally, offering a range of resources and guidance to navigate challenges and thrive in the competitive business landscape.

Round One

Village Community Grants powered by Quadratic Funding

This community grant initiative is open to all projects, irrespective of their development stage or domain. Whether DeFi, gaming, infrastructure, social, or any other, this program is inclusive.

Polygon Labs initiated Polygon Village with two Community Grant rounds in collaboration with Gitcoin and Giveth.

BUIDL on Polygon #1: Village Community Grant Round powered by Giveth:
Funding: 250,000 MATIC

Application period: November 9 - November 30

Infra on Polygon: Village Community Grant Round powered by Gitcoin:
Funding: 130,000 MATIC
Application period: November 9 - November 30

Quadratic Funding

Polygon mission is for the community to play a crucial role in grant distribution through quadratic funding (QF), a mechanism combining individual contributions with larger matching funds from a central pool. QF ensures a democratic allocation of resources by rewarding projects based on the number of backers rather than the total amount raised. This approach encourages community participation, spreads donations across multiple projects, and reduces the influence of wealthy donors.

QF dashboards, such as those on Giveth and Gitcoin, visualize the impact of each community member's donation, enhancing transparency. While QF offers benefits like democratizing funding and supporting innovative projects, challenges include the need for a reliable source of matching funds and addressing sybil attacks, where one person operates multiple fake accounts. To counter this, the Gitcoin Passport provides a sybil-resistant way to maintain real personhood.

In Polygon Village, the QF-based grants program operates through phases. The first round of applications for Community Grants has closed, leading to the Community Contest phase, powered by Jokerace. During this phase, applicants rally their communities for votes, with top projects advancing to the Grant Phase. In the Grants Phase, projects eligible for QF-based grants can crowdsource funds from their community, fostering transparency and alignment with community sentiments.

Results of Round 1

Last week, the first round of community grants came to an end. The turnout of donations from the community was very impressive.

Over 30,000 donations were made through both grant programs totaling more than $230,000 USD. This substantial contribution will be distributed to projects, fueling their growth within the ecosystem.

The breakdown of the results for the Village Community Grants#1 includes two categories:

Infra on Polygon#1

Matching pool: 130,000 MATIC

Participants: 23

Total donors: 4,566

Total donations: 23,518

Total amount: $41,907.11

Detailed report: Link to Report

Buidl on Polygon#1

Matching pool: 250,000 MATIC

Participants: 202

Total donors: 5,560

Total donations: 7,211

Total amount: $190,000+

These impressive results reflect the vibrant engagement and commitment of the Polygon community, and the distributed funds will be allocated to participants following thorough checks to ensure accuracy and transparency.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the success of the first round of Polygon Village Community Grants has set an encouraging tone for the future. With Polygon Labs dedicating over 100 million MATIC to this new grant program, the ecosystem has witnessed impressive results, including over 30,000 donations totaling more than $230,000 USD.

The commitment and engagement from the Polygon community showcase the potential impact of collaborative efforts. As the first round concludes, anticipation builds for the upcoming rounds, promising more opportunities for startups to benefit from the comprehensive support and resources Polygon Village offers. Polygon Labs has stated that there are many more rounds to come very soon, so stay tuned for more.