The Final report of Ink!ubator V2

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Hello Polkadot community!

This is the final report of Ink!ubator 2.0. The program has concluded, and we want to share a full and transparent account of everything that happened — from launch to closure.

Ink!ubator 2.0 officially launched in February 2025 with a single mission: accelerate the adoption of ink! smart contracts within Polkadot by funding and mentoring promising open-source projects. Building on the lessons of the first cohort, we streamlined operations into one focused ecosystem-grant track. This report covers the full program lifecycle from February 2025 through February 2026.

:clipboard: Program at a glance

  • 100 applications received (vs 28 in Cohort 1 — a 3.5× increase)

  • 7 projects funded with US $309,000 committed in milestone-based grants

  • 6 out of 7 projects reached full milestone completion

  • 9 hackathon winners at the Web3 Summit Berlin

  • All finances processed on-chain and publicly verifiable

:white_check_mark: Accepted projects & milestone outcomes

7 projects were selected for ecosystem grants. Here is where each one stands at program closure:

:books: What was built

Together, these teams produced open-source tools that will outlast the program:

  • A full-stack dApp boilerplate with React hooks and CLI scripts (ink!athon v2)

  • A type-safe JavaScript client and React hooks library for ink! (Dedot & Typink)

  • An off-chain trusted execution SDK with oracle support for price feeds, VRF and data queries (Verifiable Offchain Computing)

  • A gamified AI-powered learning platform with dynamic NFTs (Monster’s Ink)

  • A capture-the-flag security training game for ink! smart contracts (InkCTF)

  • A VS Code-integrated step-debugger for ink! v6 (Ink! Step-Debugger)

:trophy: Hackathon: Blockspace Synergy at the Web3 Summit

Ink! Alliance and ink!ubator sponsored and organised a dedicated ink! track at The Blockspace Synergy hackathon, a three-day chain-agnostic event held 16–18 July 2025 at Funkhaus Berlin during the Web3 Summit. The ink! track provided $10,000 in prizes and attracted 9 winning teams.

:trophy: Top Winners:

:books: ink! Tutorials Bounty ($250 each):

:mobile_phone: Mobile App Bounty:

:chart_with_upwards_trend: Application pipeline

The multi-channel approach — Typeform, GitHub, F6S, and DoraHacks — brought in 100 applications total (vs 28 in Cohort 1). From October 2025, intake was closed as all funding had been allocated to the 7 active grantees.

We also published a Request for Proposals (RFP) to guide applicants towards high-impact ideas the ecosystem needed most.

:moneybag: Payment summary and transparency

Ink!ubator 2.0 is funded via the Wasm smart contracts bounty (#19) on the Polkadot treasury.

  • Starting funds: 122,555 DOT (carried over from Cohort 1, no top-up required)

  • Grant milestone payments: ~94,530 DOT across 6 completed projects:

    • ink!athon v2 — 12,792 DOT

    • Verifiable Offchain Computing — 16,192 DOT

    • Dedot & Typink — 14,929 DOT

    • Monster’s Ink — 15,777 DOT

    • InkCTF — 21,390 DOT

    • Ink! Step-Debugger — 13,450 DOT

    • Treasury Flow — 0 DOT (withdrew)

  • Curator fees: ~20,686 DOT (base stipends, performance bonuses, final curation fees)

  • Facilitator fees: 4,892 DOT (six-month retainer, 250+ hours engagement)

  • Hackathon prizes: 1,436 DOT (~US $5,000) across 9 winners

  • Price-feed compensation: ~630 DOT (DOT/USD mismatch between approval and disbursement)

  • Program closure: The bounty has been formally wound down. All remaining DOT has been returned to or retained within the parent bounty.

All transactions are publicly verifiable: Subsquare child bounties

:warning: Context: Discontinuation of ink!

ink!ubator 2.0 concludes at a difficult moment for the broader ink! ecosystem. The program ran in three phases:

  • Phase 1 (Feb–Jun 2025): Over 60 applications reviewed, first projects selected, simplified application process launched.

  • Phase 2 (Jul–Oct 2025): 7 funded projects, ink! track at Web3 Summit Berlin, 100 applications reached, intake closed.

  • Phase 3 (Nov 2025–Jan 2026): ink! v6 remained in beta; the ink! Alliance operated without funding while three treasury proposals were rejected. In January 2026, following discussions with the Web3 Foundation and Parity Technologies, support for ink! was declined, and development was officially discontinued on 27 January 2026.

For the full account, see: Discontinuation of ink!: Rust smart contract language

:handshake: Acknowledgements

We want to acknowledge the teams who built with ink! throughout this program — and who did so in a climate of genuine uncertainty. Their work was real, their commitment was evident, and the tools they built stand on their own merits.

We also want to thank the curators — Michi, Web3 Foundation, Velocity Labs, David Semakula, and R0GUE — for their expertise and dedication throughout the program.

And thank you to the broader Polkadot community for the trust placed in this initiative.

ink!ubator 2.0 is now closed. All financial records remain publicly accessible on-chain. We are grateful for the community’s support throughout.

:link: Links

  1. 2.0 Report #1: The first report of Ink!ubator V2

  2. 2.0 Report #2: The second report of Ink!ubator V2

  3. 2.0 Report #3: The third report of Ink!ubator V2

  4. Discontinuation of ink!: Discontinuation of ink: Rust smart contract language

  5. Bounty: Wasm Smart Contracts Bounty

  6. GitHub: GitHub - use-inkubator/Ecosystem-Grants · GitHub

  7. Website: Documentation | ink!

  8. DoraHacks: Ink!ubator 2.0 | Organization | DoraHacks

  9. Payments: Subsquare | Polkadot Treasury Child Bounties

  10. Full final report (Notion): Notion

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