Summary
Aave Grants DAO (AGD) is introducing three ‘Request for Grants’ (RFG) as an experiment to better direct builders to apply for grants in high impact areas. Depending on the success, ‘Request for Grants’ can be expanded to other areas based on community feedback and new developments.
Why ‘Request for Grants’?
RFGs extends upon AGD’s ‘Inspiration for Builders’ page to see how to best attract applications in high impact areas and ensure AGD is funding meaningful projects. By giving high level categories and goals of grants, applicants can better understand areas AGD is looking to fund while still fully driving the overall vision and creativity of the project.
The previous application process has not changed and AGD is still open to any applicantions by an individual or team that strengthens Aave. RFGs will use AGDs standard application form so they easily integrate into AGD’s existing system and data collection. An additional question has been added to indicate if an application is in response to a RFG.
h/t to Optimism Grants for the framing ‘Request for Grants’ - apologies if someone else used it before them.
Initial ‘Request for Grants’
The three initial RFGs are:
GHO Demand and Utility
Enhancing Governance Participation
Increasing Activity on OP Aave V3 Pool
While each RFG includes a description of ‘Ideal qualifications’, they are open to anyone including established teams and previous grantees.
If you’re interested in applying for an RFG, please visit our application form and indicate which RFG you are applying to. We have also outlined each RFG with more details on our website.
If you have an idea for a future RFG that will benefit Aave, please let us know.
While each grant will have its own milestones and success metrics indicated, the overall program will be judged mainly on:
- The number of applications received for each RFG
- The number of grants awarded for each RFG
We will report back on these metrics along with others in our monthly update posts.
GHO Demand and Utility
Description:
Projects or innovative strategies that can leverage GHO to stimulate demand, expand its utility, and accelerate GHO’s transactional velocity.
Problem:
Following GHO’s launch, its success heavily depends on demand generation and widespread implementation throughout the DeFi sector.
Solution:
The ideal applicant will develop a strategy that incorporates GHO to create demand, increase utility or boost the transactional velocity. The strategy’s success will be evaluated on how it enhances GHO in the following areas:
- Supply: Does it stimulate the minting of GHO?
- Velocity: Does it promote transactions involving GHO?
- Retention: Does it incentivize holding GHO and/or sustaining liquidity positions?
Ideal Qualifications:
We’re specifically interested in teams that possess established products or liquidity pools, which can be augmented with GHO. It’s a plus if such teams can leverage existing community awareness and demand.
Funding & Deliverables:
Qualified applicants can receive up to $35k in AAVE or stables. To aid the integration’s analysis and development, an initial milestone payment equivalent to 50% of the grant will be disbursed upfront. The remaining 50% will be awarded once the product or strategy is successfully implemented and operational.
Thanks to @TokenLogic for helping with the above details to streamline communication and reduce any duplicated resources. For any team looking to explore GHO integrations, feel free to also get in touch with TokenLogic.
Enhancing Governance Participation
Description:
Projects or initiatives that increase or enhance participation in Aave governance for individuals, voters and delegates.
Problem:
Aave governance is key to the success of the Aave DAO and has seen massive growth since its inception. The Aave DAO has been a leader in governance with the development of cross chain voting, encouraging the rise of delegate platforms and being open to experiments such as paying delegates and shielded voting. The design space for governance projects and initiatives is still nascent as community members face challenges with things such as figuring out which delegate is best suited for them, understanding the governance process and keeping up with current activity and proposals.
Solution:
We’re interested in novel projects or initiatives that can enhance participation in or understanding of Aave governance such as:
- Streamlining delegate discovery and engagement based on voters perspectives
- Motivating participation from individual voters
- Increasing the number of high quality and engaged delegate platforms
- Improving the visibility and understanding current governance processes and proposals
Ideal Qualifications:
We encourage applications from any teams or highly skilled individuals with a strong vision about how to enhance Aave governance. Extra consideration will be given for teams that:
- Showcase an in-depth understanding of the Aave ecosystem and its needs
- Demonstrate an openness and track record of conducting successful experiments in the DeFi space
Funding & Deliverables:
Applicants that meet the aforementioned criteria could be eligible for a funding amount of up to $20k in AAVE or stables based on the project’s scale, potential impact, and proposed use of funds.
Increasing Activity on OP Aave V3 Pool
Description:
Projects that aim to increase liquidity flows and add new users to Aave V3 on Optimism Mainnet.
Problem:
The OP ecosystem, including Aave V3 on Optimism Mainnet, is still striving toward its full potential. We want to help encourage this growth. Optimism has demonstrated itself to be a valued partner, having provided AGD with a grant as part of OP Stimpac Phase 0 which will be used to fund these grants.
Solution:
We welcome projects that incorporate Aave V3 Pools on Optimism Mainnet into their protocols to drive an influx of liquidity and increase the number of users.
Ideal Qualifications:
We encourage applications from teams that have:
- Projects already live on Optimism Mainnet who can integrate Aave Pools
- High quality projects on other chains that are looking to launch on Optimism Mainnet and integrate Aave V3 in the next three months
- New projects with innovative ideas to drive liquidity or users to Aave V3 on Optimism Mainnet
Funding & Deliverables:
Applicants that meet our criteria may be eligible for a funding amount of up to $35k in OP tokens based on the difficulty in implementation and potential impact to liquidity flows or user growth. An initial milestone payment will be issued upfront to support the development phase. The remaining funds will be disbursed upon successful implementation and live operation of the product or strategy.