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.

3 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!

1 Like
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.

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?

1 Like
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.