Sei Ecosystem Builders Gitcoin Funding Round
The Sei Builders Round 1 on Gitcoin is designed to retroactively recognize and support native builders who have made a significant, measurable impact on the Sei ecosystem since the launch of Sei V2 (July 9, 2024). This round consists of two distinct funding tracks: Consumer-Facing Contributions and Infrastructure & Tooling.
By prioritizing high-quality projects with tangible results, this initiative ensures that impactful contributors are provided financial support encouraging and rewarding continued development and growth within the Sei ecosystem.
Round Set Up
Funding Amount
$750K worth of $SEI (price determined at round close using a 3-day TWAP from CoinGecko) split across the two tracks
Application Details
- Applications go live at 12 PM EST on Monday, February 17th.
- Applications close at 12 PM EST on Thursday, February 26th.
- Voting and donations will open on the Gitcoin platform at 12 PM EST on Friday, February 27th.
- The round will close at 12 PM EST on Monday, March 12th.
Who should apply?
Sei Native
- Applicants must be builders who have deployed tools, infrastructure, on-chain applications or assets natively on the Sei network.
- Projects must have gone live on Sei on or after July 9, 2024 (V2 launch), or have substantially upgraded their product following the V2 launch to deliver significant contributions to the ecosystem.
Builder Definition
- Eligible participants are defined as teams or individuals who have deployed functioning applications, tools, or infrastructure on Sei Mainnet.
- “Operational” is defined as: Verifiable Deployment: The project must be live (in a fully working state) explicitly on the Sei network for at least 30 continuous days before the application period. Forked or adapted applications must demonstrate that the Sei-specific deployment has been fully operational and functional for at least 30 days, through either usage metrics or git activity logs.
- Projects in ideation or pre-launch stages are not eligible for this particular round.
- Note: Infrastructure projects don’t need to be built natively on Sei, but must provide clear benefits to the ecosystem—whether by enhancing network functionality, expanding access to new user bases, or improving interoperability with other ecosystems.
Round Structure
The funding round is divided into two tracks, each with its own criteria for demonstrating project impact and key metrics. Below are the detailed breakdowns for each track.
Consumer-Facing Track
Examples of Demonstrated Impact
- User growth & retention: Growth in DAUs, WAUs, and MAUs
- Transaction activity: Material volume of genuine, user-driven transactions and/or interactions with smart contracts
- Liquidity & volume: Generating measurable trading volume, or TVL growth
- New user acquisition: Onboarding first-time Sei users through direct interactions with the project.
- Cross-project integrations: Measurable engagement through partnerships or integrations with other Sei ecosystem dApps.
Infrastructure & Tooling Track
Examples of Demonstrated Impact
- Network Adoption: Integrated into at least 3 active dApps or projects within the Sei ecosystem.
- Developer Usage: Evidence of at least 10 active developers using the tool. Applicants must submit sufficient proof to be considered.
- Acceptable metrics include:
- GitHub activity: Contributors, stars, forks, pull requests, or issues.
- API usage: Volume of API calls, unique users (e.g., IPs or authenticated accounts), or endpoint performance data.
- Package adoption: Downloads from registries (e.g., npm, Docker Hub) or integration into ecosystem tools.
- Community engagement: Testimonials, forum activity, or developer endorsements.
- Ecosystem Enablement: Demonstrate measurable impact, such as reducing transaction costs by 20% or increasing application throughput by 15%.
- Documentation: Publicly available documentation that allows other developers to integrate or adopt the tool without direct assistance.
Voting Mechanics
All funding will be determined through community voting on Gitcoin. Only applications that meet the criteria outlined in the Demonstrated Impact section for each track will be accepted. Community members will vote directly for the accepted projects by donating to them.
- Wallet Requirement: To participate in voting, wallets must hold at least 100 SEI. This requirement is designed to make sybil attacks impractical while ensuring that votes come from real community members who are actively engaged in the ecosystem.
- 10% Matching Cap: No single project can receive more than 10% of the total funding available for either track. This ensures a fair distribution of funds across multiple impactful initiatives.
How to Apply
- Create a profile on Builder (if you do not already have one).
- Apply to the round on Gitcoin’s Grants Stack that best fits your project
How to Vote
- When donations open on February 27th at 12 PM EST, you can review accepted applications as they come in at Gitcoin Explorer.
- Review the list of grantees.
- Donate to the grantees of your choice by adding to your cart and checking out using $SEI (Guide).
Note: Gitcoin pools small donations from many people and matches them with the larger $750K central fund provided by the Sei Foundation. The result is that the community has direct influence over how funding is allocated, ensuring that every vote matters!
Sei Community Grants Chat
If you have any questions, join the Sei Community Grants Telegram Group.
About Gitcoin
Gitcoin creates technologies and opportunities that empower communities to fund, build, and protect what matters. Through its Grants Program, Gitcoin has distributed over $60 million to early-stage builders championing public goods initiatives in decentralized finance (DeFi), climate, open sourcing, and more. Core products include Grants Stack, an end-to-end grants management solution, and Allo Protocol, a decentralized capital allocation tool.
Note: This announcement is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Please conduct your research and evaluation before participating in any project.