The second report of Ink!ubator V2

Hello Polkadot community!

It’s time for another update from Ink!ubator 2.0 - and we’re thrilled to share our continued progress in supporting ink!-based builders across the ecosystem.

We remain committed to making everything in the Ink!ubator transparent and community-first - and we always welcome your feedback to help shape the future of smart contracts on Polkadot.

Here’s what we’ve been working on:

:white_check_mark: Application progress

Since the last update, we’ve received 38 new applications.

Breakdown by source:

We’ve now accepted 3 more projects, bringing the total number of accepted projects in Ink!ubator to 5. You can find all accepted proposals for Cohort 2 on our GitHub.

Here are the projects we’ve accepted so far:

The total amount of committed funding across these 5 projects is $239,000.

Total number of applications in the pipeline since the beginning of Cohort 2: 64!

:books: Updated strategy

To scale our impact and attract more high-quality teams, we’ve developed a new BD strategy focused on proactive outreach and onboarding of ink!-based projects.

Request for Proposals (RFP)

As part of our strategy planning, we launched a community RFP form and shared it across social media to collect input on what kinds of projects the ecosystem would like to see supported by Ink!ubator.

Based on the feedback we received - as well as internal discussions with curators and contributors - we created a formal Request for Proposals (RFP) document that outlines the core directions and priorities of the program. This document defines the types of projects we’re looking to support and serves as a guide for teams submitting applications.

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Read the RFP document on GitHub


:handshake: Ecosystem partnerships

  • We’ve begun a partnership with F6S, a leading startup platform, and published Ink!ubator on their network. We’ve already received 3 applications from this collaboration.
  • We’re also in active conversations with Distractive team. Together, we’re developing both a Request for Proposals (RFP) and a developer persona - tools to help us more intentionally identify the types of teams and projects we want to target.

The primary focus of this collaboration is to improve targeting and outreach - not just to attract more projects, but to attract the right projects that will meaningfully contribute to the ink! ecosystem. We’re currently working closely to determine how best to structure both the RFP and developer persona, and how to integrate them into Ink!ubator as well as broader ecosystem-wide marketing efforts.


:receipt: Facilitator compensation

A facilitator fee for the last 6 months has been successfully paid through the Polkadot treasury:


:rocket: DoraHacks momentum

Our official DoraHacks page continues to grow! Since the last report, we’ve received 10 new submissions via our hackathon track.

Developers participating in DoraHacks can still submit their builds and move forward to receive a grant from Ink!ubator.


:palms_up_together: Get involved!

We’re always excited to hear from new builders. If you’re working on something cool with ink! - we want to support you.

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Submit your project via the application form

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Or check out our GitHub page

And don’t forget to let us know:

What types of projects would you love to see in Ink!ubator? Fill out this quick form and help shape the future of the ink! smart contract ecosystem.

Let’s keep building - together :rocket:

6 Likes

what’s facilitator fee?

Hey!

So, Toma is not part of the curator set itself. Although, she is working on making sure that certain things happen within the program.
The role was called “Facilitator” and there is a compensation for it.

Hope that clears it out - You can read all details here.

1 Like