Cardano Foundation F13 Project Catalyst Participation
Specifications
- Category: Project Catalyst F13 Participation
- Funding Amount: 180 million ada
Introduction
The Cardano Foundation implemented a novel, multi-layered approach to guide proposal evaluation and voting for Project Catalyst F13. A group of internal subject matter experts, comprising approximately 30 Foundation staff members, filtered over 1,800 proposals. During the selection process, these individuals considered both the Foundation’s objectives and those of the broader Cardano ecosystem, reflecting the ethos and principles of Our Cardano. This rigorous process detailed distinct roles and responsibilities to ensure a comprehensive and balanced evaluation:
- Champions: Create a preliminary selection of proposals across one or more categories based on their subject matter expertise.
- Contrarians: Provide a critical perspective, challenge assumptions, and identify potential risks in the initial selection the Champions generate.
- Executive Committee: Conducts a final review and approval of the Foundation voting shortlist generated by the Champions and Contrarians.
These roles and their progressive stages enabled a robust evaluation process, promoting transparency and accountability during the subsequent allocation of 180 million ada in voting stake towards proposal selection.
Guidelines
The following criteria guided the Foundation’s comprehensive assessment of Project Catalyst F13 proposals:
- Measurable Impact: Demonstrated on-chain or off-chain impact aligned with the Foundation’s core focus areas.
- Enterprise Adoption: Solutions targeting enterprise adoption in authenticity, sustainability, and traceability.
- Developer Ecosystem: Enhancements to Cardano developer tooling and infrastructure.
- Open-Source Commitment: A strong commitment to open-source principles.
- Proven Track Record: Teams with a demonstrated history of delivering valuable tools for the Cardano ecosystem, particularly those with prior Catalyst funding.
- Audits: Proposals incorporating technical audits undergo a case-by-case assessment.
This rigorous evaluation framework ensures that funded proposals contribute meaningfully to the Cardano ecosystem and advance our shared goals. There was a significant difference between the volume and ada value of proposals submitted in general categories compared with proposals submitted in the Cardano Partner category. This required a dedicated filtering procedure for each of these groups of proposals.
Filtering Procedure: General Categories
The large volume of 1,732 proposals in the Concept, Developers, Ecosystem, and Product categories was filtered down to a final selection of 170 in these general categories.
- Step 1: Champions (Coarse Acceptance or Rejection)
- Proposal Distribution: Proposals within each category are randomly assigned to Champions with relevant subject matter expertise. Champions disclose any potential conflicts of interest.
- Initial Screening: Champions conduct an initial screening of assigned proposals, categorizing them as:
- (A) Promising: Worthy of a full review.
- (B) Potential: May be reviewed if resources allow.
- (C) Rejected: Does not warrant further consideration.
- In-depth Evaluation: Champions conduct a comprehensive review of “A” proposals (and “B” proposals if resources allow) using a scoring rubric aligned with predefined guidelines.
- Collaborative Review: Champions can comment on all proposals, fostering collaboration and leveraging diverse expertise within the review team.
- Step 2: Contrarians (Specific Rejection)
- Proposal Aggregation and Assignment: Reviewed proposals in each category are aggregated and equally assigned to Contrarians.
- Comprehensive Review: If the Champion completed only an initial screening due to resource constraints, the Contrarian conducts a full review based on established guidelines.
- Risk Assessment and Feedback: Contrarians scrutinize proposals, assessing potential risks and alignment with guidelines. Each proposal receives a ranking:
- (1) Go: Proceed with the proposal.
- (2) Risky: Proceed with caution, addressing identified concerns.
- (3) No-Go: Do not proceed with the proposal.
- Contrarians provide written feedback for proposals ranked “Risky” and “No-Go.”
- Collaborative Dialogue: Champions are encouraged to engage with Contrarians to discuss concerns and advocate for their proposals if they choose. A third individual will review any proposals still deadlocked after the discussions between Champions and Contrarians.
- Step 3: Executive Committee (Final Selection)
- Asynchronous Assessment: All proposals ranked that make it through the last step undergo an asynchronous assessment by the Executive Committee. Based on their evaluation, the Committee may validate the ranking, remove the proposal(s), or promote other proposals that did not pass Champion and Contrarian reviews to replace removed proposals.
- Final Decision: The Executive Committee convenes to make a final decision on the Cardano Foundation’s F13 proposal selection.
- Budgetary Constraints: The total Catalyst funding requested by selected proposals within each category will not exceed the allocated Catalyst budget by more than 20%.
Filtering Procedure: Partner Categories
97 proposals in the Cardano Partner categories of Enterprise and Growth were filtered down to a final selection of 15. The Foundation participates in a shortlisting panel for the Partner categories alongside representatives from the genesis entities, Intersect, and the ecosystem.
- Due Diligence: The Catalyst team conducts due diligence on partner category proposals to verify their adherence to eligibility criteria.
- Parallel Evaluation: Concurrently, the Cardano Foundation employs its established multistage review process (Champion Review, Contrarian Review, Executive Committee Assessment) as applied to general category proposals. This selection remains subject to adjustments based on the findings of the Catalyst team’s due diligence.
- Executive Committee Review: The Executive Committee reviews selected Partner category proposals, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities.
- Partner Category Shortlisting: The Catalyst team assembles a selection committee comprising representatives from the Catalyst Operator, Cardano Foundation, Emurgo,
Intersect, and community members to shortlist proposals within the partner categories. The Cardano Foundation actively advocates for the inclusion of proposals from its shortlist. - Final Selection: The shortlist is refined based on the selection committee’s decisions. The Executive Committee is informed of removed proposals and convenes a meeting to finalize the Cardano Foundation’s F13 proposal selection across all categories.
This collaborative approach ensures a rigorous and balanced evaluation of all proposals, promoting transparency and accountability in funding allocation.
Data on Proposals Selected
| Category | # of proposals reviewed | Catalyst funds available | Proposals selected for CF Vote | Amount requested by selected proposals | % of proposals in category | % of category budget voted |
| Concept | 483 | ₳5,000,000.00 | 45 | ₳5,419,570 | 9% | 108% |
| Developers | 370 | ₳8,000,000.00 | 46 | ₳6,759,556 | 12% | 84% |
| Ecosystem | 602 | ₳5,000,000.00 | 55 | ₳4,348,641 | 9% | 87% |
| Product | 277 | ₳8,500,000.00 | 24 | ₳8,797,609 | 9% | 104% |
| Enterprise | 65 | ₳15,000,000.00 | 11 | ₳14,876,100 | 17% | 99% |
| Growth | 32 | ₳5,000,000.00 | 4 | ₳4,734,400 | 13% | 95% |
| Total | 1829 | ₳46,500,000.00 | 185 | ₳44,935,876 | 10% | 97% |
Cardano Foundation’s Project Catalyst Selection
| Cardano Open: Developers | [BBO] Virtual Assistant GovernCardanoBot = AI + Telegram – A tool to help you better understand Cardano Governance | |
| [HTLABS] 5 Project templates combining blockchain and internet of things | Link | |
| [LANTR] Scalus: Multiplatform Tx Builder – same code for front&backend | Link | |
| Andamio SDK & UTxO-RPC client | Link | |
| Breeze – Trading Bot Framework | Link | |
| Cardano Ambassador Tools | Link | |
| Cardano EasyDev VS Tool | Link | |
| Cloud Native Blockchain Archive Node by Blink Labs | ||
| CoSponsor by Sundae Labs: A Community Crowdfunding Tool for Proposal Submission | Link | |
| cPoker DRED development | Link | |
| Dandelion-lite: Decentralized nodes for dummies for GameChanger, Gimbalabs, Roundtable and devs | ||
| Decentralized Domain Name System (DNS) Marketplace powered by Cardano and Handshake blockchains | ||
| Designing an API for ZK-Snark proof verification in Aiken – Eryx | Link | |
| Elixir implementation of Ouroboros networking | Link | |
| EUTxO-L2 interoperability: Connect Hydra and other L2s | Link | |
| Extend Open-Source Yoroi wallet to support seamless mobile Cardano dApp integration | Link | |
| Full-feature open-source NFT Web Forge | Link | |
| Handshake decentralized DNS blockchain integration with cDNSd by Blink Labs | Link | |
| HLabs: unembed plu-ts – the next aiken | Link | |
| Indigo Protocol: Typescript Off-chain SDK | Link | |
| Integrating Hydra Scaling into Cardano Kuber Library | Link | |
| Koios Rust Client Library | Link | |
| Ledger Live Cardano Integration Maintenance | Link | |
| Lucid Evolution 2.0 – Blueprint & Enhanced Plutus Schema | Link | |
| Lucid Evolution 2.0 – Maintenance & Development Strategy | Link | |
| Maintain Mesh and Build Developer Community | Link | |
| Mesh: Cquisitor – Transaction Investigation Tool | Link | |
| Mesh: Hydra Tools for administrating & interacting with Hydra Heads | Link | |
| MLabs: Static analysis with Covenant | Link | |
| MLabs: Tooling upgrade for Conway compatibility. | Link | |
| Next-Gen DAOs: On-Chain Delegation, Hierarchies & Reputation | Link | |
| Open-Source Datum Explorer: Decode, Understand, Build | Link | |
| Open-Source Rapid DEX: Batcher-less, instant, with transaction chaining | Link | |
| Optim OADA OPEN: Local, Open Source OADA Frontend for Developers | Link | |
| Oura by TxPipe: going multi-chain | Link | |
| PoolTool Sustaining | Link | |
| Powers of Tau: Cardano Zero-Knowledge Setup Ceremony event | Encoins <> Modulo-p | Link | |
| PyCardano Evolution: Embracing the Chang Hardfork | Link | |
| SAIB: Buriza.Browser – A Dedicated Built-in Browser for the Buriza Wallet | Link | |
| SAIB: Buriza.Desktop – A Secure, Dedicated Desktop App for Buriza Wallet | Link | |
| SAIB: Buriza.Mobile – A Secure, On-the-Go Mobile Cardano Wallet | Link |
FAQs
- Q: How are proposals selected for funding?
- A: Proposals are selected based on a rigorous evaluation framework ensuring contributions to the Cardano ecosystem and alignment with shared goals.
- Q: Who participates in the selection process?
- A: The Foundation, Catalyst team, Contrarians, Executive Committee, Catalyst Operator, representatives from entities like Intersect, Emurgo, and community members are involved in the selection process.
- Q: How is transparency maintained in the allocation of funds?
- A: Transparency is ensured through a collaborative approach involving various stakeholders and a multistage review process for proposal evaluation.
Documents / Resources
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Cardano Foundation F13 Project Catalyst Participation [pdf] Instructions F13 Project Catalyst Participation, F13, Project Catalyst Participation, Catalyst Participation |