Grants Program Weekly Update 7.11

Summary

It was an eventful week for the Grants Program. Below are the key highlights:

• Textile announced the launch of the bridge between NEAR and Filecoin this week via two blog posts (link / link)
• Kicked off formal search for 3 new hires
  • 2 Part-time technical reviewers & 1 FTE Operations Associate (Please reach to Josh Daniels w/ any referrals!!)
• We made some significant adjustments to how we review grants in our pipeline which should help us build velocity in issuing grants

Results

• 2 new grants signed this week for $100K in committed capital
• $63,000 in deployed capital to 3 grants this week
• 4 new grant applications
• Bi-weekly pipeline
  • Tech Reviews / Interviews: 25
  • Contract Negotiations: 3
• Reworked grants workflow to unlock accelerated deal velocity in pipeline

Challenges & Blockers

• Continue to deal with issues related to support for technical reviews
• Continue to improve coordination related to invoicing but remains a point of friction
  • Coordinating with NF Operations on a plan to improve

Action Items

• Meeting with other funding teams (OWC, Asian Investments, Community DAO) next week to discuss strategy, operations, and plans for improvement
• Kicking off a outreach effort with ecosystem success to cultivate stronger relationships with a group of ~15 existing grantees

Thanks Josh, our community is always bringing new leads to the grants program. I’m happy we are working things out to make the application process effective and leaving a positive experience for our grantees.