Builder Program - Strategy Season 1

Proposals General
1

Abstract

This proposal aims to allocate the designated Lisk DAO Season 1 Programs Budget to three high-impact and proven programs in the Lisk ecosystem: Aya, Angel Hack, and Key Difference to continue to nurture Web 3 founders in emerging markets and beyond.

Rationale

Building on the success of the 2024 Lisk builder programs, Lisk would continue to provide support and resources to top builders in their region. By working with proven regional teams, we can identify, attract, and nurture the best regional talent early in their journey - resulting in them realizing their potential on top of Lisk.

Specification

This proposal requests 400K LSK to distribute to Lisk builders as grants and incentives through three promising builder programs in the Lisk pipeline, namely: Lisk Incubation Program (Aya), Lisk Spark (Angel Hack and 1000 startup digital), and Lisk Pioneer Program (Key Difference).

The selected programs focus on high-growth regions in Africa and Southeast Asia.

With this proposal, the Lisk team intends to allocate part of the Season 1 funds to support the fulfillment of its mission and continue working to provide Web3 founders with the most attractive ecosystem for realizing their products, which are focused on real-world use cases in high-growth markets.

Having Lisk’s community endorsement shows that the community fully supports Lisk’s mission fulfillment and is aligned with the decisions that the team puts in place in order to achieve it.

By committing part of the Seasons 1 funds to supporting existing builder programs, Lisk will be able to cement and extend its reach into key high-growth markets such as Africa and Southeast Asia.

One of the reasons for Lisk’s growth in high-growth markets in 2024 was related to strategic partnerships with key important players that already understood and were established with local communities and builders in these regions.

Having that in mind we believe that continuing to support them will make it possible for Lisk to scale beyond its current reach.

For that reason, we propose to allocate the 400K $LSK allocated for “Builder Programs” to the following programs.

Programs to support:

Programs Overview

Lisk Incubation Program (Aya)

The AyaHQ x Lisk Incubation Program is a bold initiative designed to elevate African builders and launch them into the global market, helping to refine their ideas and bring their vision to life.

:round_pushpin:Program Objectives:

  • The AyaHQ x Lisk Incubation Program was designed with a set of key objectives to foster innovation, support Web3 adoption, and drive long-term impact across Africa

  • Accelerate Web3 innovation across the continent, empowering African founders to create cutting-edge solutions.

  • Offer grants and funding opportunities to help African founders grow their projects and scale their businesses.

  • Promote the deployment of Web3 solutions on the Lisk L2, expanding the reach of decentralized technologies.

  • Provide comprehensive business and technical support to high-potential African startups, helping them develop viable solutions and market-ready products.

  • Drive real-world adoption of Web3 solutions in everyday life, helping African economies embrace blockchain technology and its many benefits.

For the first cohort of the program, we received 116 applications from across 10 countries in Africa. After a rigorous selection process, 25 projects were chosen to participate, and 12 projects successfully graduated.

Lisk Spark (Angel Hack and 1000 Startup Digital)

The first government-supported Web3 incubator in Indonesia, Lisk Spark brings together innovators, entrepreneurs, and developers to build groundbreaking decentralized applications. Support is open whether you’re an emerging Web3 startup or an established Web2 business ready to integrate blockchain.

:round_pushpin:Program Objectives:

  • Build impactful applications on Lisk to address real-world challenges;

  • Empower web2 startups to seamless integrate web3 technologies;

  • Scale web3 projects for local and global markets;

  • Accelerate early stage web3 projects to achieve critical milestones;

Currently, the Lisk team is evaluating all the projects that were pointed to be incubated. 60 projects have already applied, and 7 projects are in the process of moving forward.

Lisk Pioneer Program (Key Difference)

The Lisk Pioneer Program is a 4-month, go-to-market pioneer program for startups building on Lisk’s Layer 2 protocol. The program is a comprehensive accelerator designed to empower Web3 startups with the strategic, technical, and fundraising support they need to scale. This program provides hands-on guidance across business development, tokenomics, and investor readiness, ensuring that founders can successfully bring their blockchain projects to market.

:round_pushpin: Program Objectives:

  • Build impactful applications on Lisk to address real-world challenges;

  • Scale web3 projects for local and global markets;

  • Develop and execute a targeted growth plan

  • Get pitch-ready and secure capital through key introductions.

Currently, the Lisk team is evaluating all the projects that were pointed out to be incubated. 190 projects have already applied, and 10 projects will be selected to move forward.

Action plan

If approved, the budget of 400k LSK will be distributed to the respective programs by the Lisk Team.

6 Likes
2

Hi @fgtv, could we see some examples of the most promising projects that have moved forward, specifically those showing the highest quality and potential?

Thank you!

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3

I understand that you want to focus on Africa and Southeast Asia but why lisk is limiting itself only to “emerging markets” and won’t host this kind of programs in Europe, USA, GB where we have with all the respect better skilled and better educated programmers? Is lisk being burned and long time ago deserted in high tech countries? Wouldn’t it be better to try regain trust in those high tech markets at the same time instead of only focusing on replacing once lost community from Europe with Africa and Asia? What’s your plan about that? Also as investor I want to know same as @przemer to who you want to give free lisk tokens and are they trusthworhy people or people who will build simple dapp just to take free lisk and disappear in 6-12 months. Do you have any procedures of validation to prevent it or no?

Because if you want to give free lisk for any developers willing to build anything on lisk blockchain then it makes zero sense to me and it is by fact free giveway.

First show me stats proving that those people are contributing to growth of lisk ecosystem in long term. I want to know what your validation strategy is in details.

In my opinion as long as those developers are not putting their own money into their projects it means that they are not showing true dedication, comittment and faith in their own work. By funding 100% of their expenses you give them green light to scam you. Believe me we investors can’t take any more of it after such token value decrease. That’s why the most important thing in it is how you are checking those people? What steps you take to make sure that their participation will be really beneficial for lisk ecosystem not just on paper or words but in real life.
Are you willing to take any responsibility for funding people if they leave their project in 6-12 months time? As investor I want you to take at least some responsibility because I simply don’t want to play casino here. It’s not you who gonna lose money if grants will fail but all lisk investors.

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4

Thanks for bringing such a structured proposal forward @fgtv

It seems logical to double down on Lisk ecosystem program, we’re in favor of that!

It would be good (and important) to continue to track graduated builder impact on the Lisk ecosystem.

Could you or the AYA team share some stats from the initial cohort graduates and the impact they had on the Lisk ecosystem after the completion of the first Cohort?

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5

It’s really great to see proposals like this right at the start of DAO Season 1. I’ve been following the activities of the programs listed here on social media, and they’ve been consistently active and driven. I think they’re definitely deserving of a grant.

Transparency is something the community values a lot, too. Sharing how the grant is used, the progress, and the outcomes will help build trust and make the DAO stronger. If the proposal gets approved, I hope you’ll also focus on keeping things transparent.

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6

Details and evidence please. As of now I only assume guy who proposed it cannot answer our simple question about how this can help grow lisk ecosystem in long term meaning he don’t know much about those projects, people behind them and their roadmaps, ideas and goals.

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7

This is highly unnecessary.

It’ll only centralise funding decisions and further discourage new early stage builders.

I’ve followed Angel hack, Aya and key difference closely this past year, and though they have recorded some success, allocating to any of the them will amount to cornering the DAO fund.

These three have been previously funded in the past, and if they do need more funding then they must go through the Lisk team. Otherwise the aim of the DAO and it’s treasury is defeated.

The DAO and it’s treasury exists to be independent of the Lisk team, provide transparency, accountability and decentralisation. Allocating to any of these three destroys that, creating more centralisation of decision making and funding at a time when the DAO participation is at all time low and the ecosystem is trying to reboot.

MY RECOMMENDATION!

If Aya, Angel hacks and key difference are happy to keep helping builders, let them encourage such builders to apply directly through the DAO.

Let the DAO council and steering committee do it’s job (and not delegate it to third party).

Let the ecosystem see who is applying, what they are submitting and why it is funded or not.

Otherwise the relevance of the DAO council, steering committee and the entire ecosystem is at risk.

There is a reason why the DAO is operating independent of the team. Taking the DAO’s money to fund third-party handler’s will only kill the DAO

Enough of the delegation, let’s do things ourselves for once. Except you mean to say you’ve lost faith in the DAO Council and it’s steering committee

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8

I’m 100% voting against this!!

The last thing we need is funding third-party contractors to do the job for which the DAO and it’s council was instituted.

If you look at OP funding rounds (which Lisk and the DAO have consistently mimicked), applications are openly submitted and reviewed for transparency, and the process is faster and more straightforward because we can see progress as it is made.

Yes the three he mentioned have done some good for the ecosystem. But there’s only so much that can be delegated, and THIS ONE IS NOT ONE OF SUCH!!!

let the trio using their network encourage builders to submit applications directly through the DAO. There’s no need to want to do the DAO’s job here.

The more handlers in-between, the more time and resources to spend on miscellaneous activities.

Let builders apply and get funded directly. That is how a DAO fund should work.

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9

Fully agree with @Jujuboy!

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10

I will also suggest that we have to get rid of DAO people and hire someone who is competent to do the job. Total reconstruction of stuff is needed if we want lisk to last another year or two. People can’t handle such record breaking failure streak. We don’t ask for much just start functioning like normal blockchain project.

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11

@Filmmaniak can you start a new discussion with a detailed proposal for this reconstruction??

Would really appreciate any details you can provide for a change in process that will result in a bigger, better Lisk ecosystem :+1:t5:

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12

Transparency is a big issue here. It almost doesn’t exist.

let someone point me to a website or directory of some sort where I can find details of who was funded and why. Most of these projects are not even active of X and their founders are also not present in this forum nor the DAO.

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13

For me it looks like they are funding themselves by using freshly created unknown pseudo projects as money mules. Track those projects and observe how long it will take for them to vanish. Prove me I’m wrong but lisk for me smells like corruption and fraud.

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14

I like the DAO grant process tho (Even though it is too slow for it’s short timeline)

You can see all applications, review them and leave comments, and you can actually see progress for each application, wether it gets funded or not (All publicly available)

In contrast, you cannot find any public information on the funding process for some of these programs eg. Key difference

2 Likes
15

Gm @Jujuboy

We left more of our thoughts on this topic with rational on why we believe this approach by @fgtv makes sense for Season 1 in the other thread here, but want to write a TLDR here too!

From our understanding, the Lisk team - previously to the start of Lisk DAO has already - have already started working with these teams, which means that all of the Builder Program budgets distributed to them now would be added as grants to be issued to graduating teams.

We always look at these programs by analyzing the program costs / resources distributed to builder teams - and from that angle this sounds like a great deal.

Also, these teams seem - as far as our online research can tell - to have a clear track record and pipeline, which is not something Lisk DAO would be able to build capacity for within the next months.

The alternative would be to not fund these Builder programs with additional grants - however in that case I suspect they would still run, just with less resources for Graduates, which we don’t think is a good outcome.

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16

I left a comment here too: Why none of this feels right!! :smiling_face_with_tear:

There are better, more transparent ways to fund initiatives without making it seem like an attempt to hijack DAO funds

17

Hey there,

Thanks for providing such feedback and raising important concerns that you see on this proposal, I really appreciate Lisk’s community involvement and interest in these discussions, it shows that we’re all steering for Lisk’s success in the end.

Looking at what was accomplished, the Aya team is definitely the one leading the path in terms of supporting Lisk’s growth in Africa. I noticed that some of you were requesting statistics regarding the initial cohort, and I’m happy to share more information about the 12 projects that have graduated.

By accessing the link, you’ll have access to the following info:

  • Website
  • Pitch Deck
  • Pitch Video
  • Booking a meeting with the team

For the ones that don’t want to enter the link, here is a brief description of the 12 projects:

  • CryptoMomo
    • Simplifies crypto use in Africa with a USSD-based product, making digital asset transfers as easy as sending mobile money using phone numbers.
  • LearnWay
    • Simplifies crypto education through interactive, gamified, and reward-driven learning experiences, empowering users
  • Project Mocha
    • Unlocking access to finance for coffee farmers through tokenization.
  • FiatSend
    • A stablecoin network that facilitates payments using tokenized fiat.
  • Euterpe
    • Our human layer helps music artists with under 1,000 fans grow to 25K fans with matching revenue, while our blockchain layer enables fans to earn royalties through token ownership.
  • CoinSafe
    • A decentralized platform offering effortless crypto savings with automatic saving options and personalized plans.
  • Pesabits
    • A peer to peer lending platform where Africans can access emergency loans by using their crypto assets as collateral.
  • GuardZero
    • A decentralized KYC solution using blockchain for secure identity verification, protecting sensitive information.
  • DigitPay
    • Enables direct spending of crypto for fiat-based purchases, avoiding the cumbersome process of off-ramping.
  • Pepper
    • Pepper is a prediction market platform where users can bet on real-world event outcomes using cryptocurrencies.
  • AudioBlocks
    • A streaming platform that offers better earnings for artists and a seamless listening experience for users.
  • Faitto
    • A blockchain-powered marketplace for traceable and authentic medicines.

Additionally, you can scroll through the AyaHQ x Lisk’s Impact on African Founders blog and check: the program structure, objectives, and also feedback from the builders themselves who were onboarded into the first cohort.

I want to mention that by supporting and creating these programs, we’re putting Lisk in front of the eyes of many builders who are right now questioning which L2 they will choose to bring their idea to dApp format. Ultimately, this makes Lisk a more familiar blockchain to build on, while simultaneously promoting organic growth to the chain.

For the other programs, which are still in process, we’ll also publish their results and findings, similar to what was done with Aya, rest assured. We’ll include this on the official proposal on Tally, making it a must-have for these programs’ deliverables.

Important to remember that, additionally, there are 600K LSK from Lisk DAO Season 1 specifically allocated for builders within the Lisk Ecosystem. Feel free to send your application via the Lisk DAO Hub ( CharmVerse - The Network for Onchain Communities). Furthermore, 2.5 M LSK tokens will be distributed as milestone-based incentives for live applications on Lisk.

Lastly, it is worth highlighting that all of this—our community participation, the builder incentives, and the accelerator programs—are paving the way toward our ultimate goal: for Lisk to become a truly DAO-led ecosystem. We’re laying the foundation now by giving the community more ownership, voice, and responsibility over how resources are allocated and how the ecosystem evolves. This journey won’t happen overnight, but each initiative we launch and each builder we empower brings us closer to a decentralized, community-driven future for Lisk.

Thanks again for the continued engagement! Let’s keep building this together! :sun_with_face:

2 Likes
18

Hello @fgtv

Thanks for your feedback.

I have taken time to go through the brochure as well as the pitch deck for all the projects listed above and I have a few things I’d like to point out for further clarification

  1. Do you plan to stick to season 1 Intent and criterion while disbursing and managing the 400k program grant?
  2. If NO, please say why
  3. If yes, it is important to note that not all the projects here aligns with season 1 Intent. Only “CoinSafe”, “Pesabits” & “Pepper” come close to directly boosting TVL.
  4. Deadline for seasion 1 is almost here. This 400K if allocated will not be completely utiliosed before the deadline, does it this mean the 400k Program grant is an exception to the rule stated here: Season 1 Timeline

My goal from the start has always been to properly understand the motivation behind your proposal and also ensure that due process is followed at all times.

Note that proper management is key, and while Aya team is not active here, we will hold you responsible if we don’t see the results you are promising.

19

With regards to this :up_arrow:

I’d like to bring to your notice and also that of @Ibraziz21 & @SuperchainEco that the DAO grant review process is awfully slow. We have barely 1 month to the end of season 1 and not even one application has been approved.

If all milestones are supposed to be completed between now and June 11th, I imagine the review process should be a bit faster to allow ample time for projects to execute effectively.

Also, the feedback on declined applications lack clarity. It’s hard to know exactly why an application was declined or what a project could do differently if they choose to reapply.

Season 1 will set the pace for subsequent seasons. If we dont do it right. we risk loosing the attention of builders in the coming seasons.

20

I just wanna say that I’m glad you did it and that you are asking those questions. Thanks. Replying to your DAO reconstruction question no. I have no time to work on it, no authority and no reason to do it by myself. I’m just investor who put money on wrong project and want it to start growing to be able to break even. That’s it.

1 Like