Algorand Announces $43 Mln Grants Program to Foster ‘Borderless Economy’

The Algorand Foundation announced a 250 million ALGO (roughly $43 million) grants program to foster development on the Algorand blockchain on April 14.

Cointelegraph spoke to Fangfang Chen, the Algorand Foundation’s head of operations, to find out more about the program.

Algorand launches $43 million grants program

The funds will be allocated to “qualified investors across four major categories: innovative research, development tools for the Algorand blockchain, use cases for decentralized applications (Dapps) [...], and education and community initiatives.”

Chen emphasizes that the grants are intended to bring about the Algorand Foundation’s vision for a “borderless economy:”

“In this vision, we see a global economy that is able to function in a frictionless way, enabling everybody to participate in the global economy, no matter where they are based. The goal of the 250M ALGO Grants Program is to encourage innovation and learning that achieves this vision of a borderless economy.”

Chen provides several examples of projects that the foundation believes to contribute to bringing about the borderless economy — including decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, social media integration, digital identity, supply chain management, and asset tokenization.

“In addition, we will also look to support innovation around infrastructure and middleware that further enables and simplifies the creation of end-user applications,” he adds. 

Algorand Foundation announces first three recipients

Alongside announcing the program, the Algorand Foundation has also announced its first three grant recipients. 

They include Bloq — a “multi-blockchain infrastructure provider” that delivers Algorand APIs and nodes, PureStake AlgoSigner — an open-source browser plug-in allowing developers to integrate ALGO payments into their applications without compromising users’ private keys, and Reach — a development platform designed to simplify the creation of Dapps on the Algorand blockchain.

Chen states that two of the recipients engaged the foundation through its Development Awards program — a precursor to the grant program that was launched in late-2019, while the third reached out directly to discuss a partnership.

Derek Yoo, PureStake Algosigner’s CEO, stated: “We are pleased to have been selected by the Algorand Foundation for a grant that lets us break down barriers between token holders, application developers, and the blockchain network itself."

Grant distribution will be “open-ended”

Chen notes that the distribution of the 250 million ALGO — nearly 10% of Algorand’s current circulating supply — will be “open-ended.”

No annual budgets are in place to direct disbursement, with the program slated to distribute funds according to “the quality and quantity of submissions.” 

While Chen states that while the foundation intends to spend roughly no more than 2 million ALGO ($345,500) per project, applicants seeking larger sums will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Blockchain platforms launch grants programs

Many high-profile blockchain projects have launched grants programs to foster development in recent months.

At the end of March, open-source payment network Celo (cGLD) announced it had awarded $700,000 in development grant funding to 16 startups planning to build on the Celo platform.

One week earlier, interoperable blockchain project Ark launched a roughly $150,000 grants program for projects deploying its technology stock.

On March 19, blockchain platform Tezos published its bi-annual report — revealing that it had issued $37 million grants during the second half of 2019.