The Open Source Developer Grants Bounty is starting!
The grant program will support ~15 individuals and small teams that want to develop open-source software like proofs of concept, general-purpose libraries, or full-scale dApps for the Polkadot ecosystem. Each grant will provide up to $30,000 per team.
You can NOW submit applications. To learn more, start here.
Good to know:
Payments will be milestone-based and only made after review. We expect applicants to present a long-term perspective on the project.
Only open-source software development is funded - no tangential costs like marketing, events, audits, etc.
The beneficiaries of the grant must successfully go through a KYC/KYB check during the application phase to be eligible.
We do not award grants for projects that have been the object of a successful token sale.
We do not fund projects that actively encourage gambling, illicit trade, money laundering, or criminal activities in general.
Two bits of news for the Open Source Developer Grants Bounty:
Current status of projects in the bounty
Changing from cohort-based to continuous
Current Status of Projects
So far, we have received 11 applications to build apps, libraries, and tools to build Open Source infrastructure for Polkadot. Of those, two have been approved and two have been rejected. The accepted proposals are
Proposers will get paid after the successful acceptance of their milestones.
Changing from cohort-based to continuous
We are receiving applications on an ongoing basis and don’t want to stall the process for the incoming projects. Thus we have decided to make our process more agile and move away from the cohort-based approach. Applications will be processed as soon as they come in. We have also looked at the learning experiences from the first few weeks to make are process more lean.
Apply for an Open Source Grant
If you like to build Open Source common goods for Polkadot or get your project started, apply here.
Hey @gozni, the processes are somewhat different, as the funds are already allocated to a bounty, which is handled and decided on by a group of curators. The details and processes are all on our Github org page: Open Source Developer Grants Bounty Program · GitHub.
Here’s the latest update on the Open Source Grants program, covering activity from January through October 2025. The report displays all applications, accepted proposals, delivered milestones, and funds distributed so far. The goal is to keep the community informed and provide full transparency around the work being supported.
At this time, the bounty is not accepting new applications. We’re currently focused on processing the outstanding deliveries already in progress, and available funds are close to being fully allocated.
