New Pilot Program Increases Grant-Giving Transparency, Clarity, And Collaboration

The HBAR Foundation (THF) is excited to announce the pilot of our request for proposal (RFP) process to deliver a more transparent, community-supported element to grant giving. 

We’re kicking things off by piloting two separate RFPs to build solutions meeting specific ecosystem needs. Developer teams everywhere are invited to apply. Open, public community input is embedded into the process of determining which applicants will receive grants.  

The intent of this pilot is to take the learnings from the inaugural RFPs outlined below and formalize them within our grant program - ultimately helping the Hedera ecosystem scale quicker and more holistically.

After we outline the first two RFPs below, we’ll go over details of the pilot program, then deep-dive into how everything integrates with - and complements - our existing grant process. 

‍Inaugural RFP Pilot Category: Lending Markets

This pilot will consist of two individual RFPs created to address the following needs:  

1. Credit Market Development [Apply Here]
   This grant will be structured like a standard THF development grant, with funding tied to the completion of clearly articulated development milestones. 

2. Credit Market Liquidity [Apply Here]
   This grant will be structured as a new type of grant modeled off a network utilization incentive pool. The incentive pool will be evergreen and potentially topped up depending on ecosystem needs. 

The Foundation will initially commit up to 10M HBAR in support that eligible teams can apply for.

As the pool will remain evergreen, project teams will be able to apply multiple times depending on liquidity needs. Each proposal should tie back to specific growth objectives and applicants will be required to outline milestones and goal KPIs.. ‍

Here’s a simplified overview of how the pilot works:‍

1. THF will issue an RFP that clearly outlines the specific ecosystem need and strategy the project will fill.‍‍

2. Any and all builders are welcome to reply to the RFP(s) using the existing grant application.

3. THF will review each submission and associated community feedback to determine which applicants will receive grant funding.    

‍We want to be super clear that there will likely be specific outcomes of technical and finance reviews that we aren’t legally able to share publicly and that various steps will happen in public and private - as appropriate.

We also want to emphasize the community will have ample opportunity to engage in discussions around the applications and that this feedback will help inform final decisions. ‍

For community members looking to engage with the pilot, we recommend starting by reviewing the RFP(s) and responses. From there, keep an eye out on Twitter for THF-hosted discussion opportunities and of course, be sure to tag us in posts with your feedback. With your help, here’s how this pilot can be a win for the Hedera network, developer teams, and the community at large.
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• Increased Transparency and Clarity: By clearly articulating a funding intent, THF can provide more timely updates to the community around key priorities. It will also provide clarity to teams who may not qualify for a grant, not because the idea or proposal is inadequate but because it may not meet the network’s most pressing needs. ‍
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• Increase Ecosystem Collaboration And Diversification Of Ideas: By inviting broader participation, we hope to drive more collaboration between THF, applicants, and the community - all in the spirit of arriving at better solutions. We also believe that creating more avenues for builders to share their vision, thinking, and education directly with the community in advance of product or platform launches will be a great value across the entire development cycle.

‍HOW RFPs ENHANCE OUR EXISTING STRUCTURE‍

THF’s existing grant process is designed to seed an organically-growing Hedera ecosystem.

The core tenets of this grant process have been collaborative grant scoping with prospective recipients, an extensive due diligence process, and a milestone-driven payment structure and we’ve iterated on the process over the past three years and tuned it to be effective in filling explicit and discrete ecosystem needs.

The full grant lifecycle consists of three phases and the RFP process is designed to add transparency to all phases of THF’s existing grant program. Let's check it out: 

Phase One: Application

• Standard Grant Process
  Once a prospective grantee applies for a THF grant, the business development representative assesses whether the project or idea fits with the fund’s current needs and strategies. Based on that, the lead is either qualified and passed into Phase 2, or unqualified.
  

• RFP Pilot Process
  ‍What’s New: THF’s RFPs invite teams to fill specific needs with pre-defined objectives, and product, platform, and build requirements before the grant application process begins.
  ‍Why It’s Good: This added visibility creates tighter alignments between THF, builders, and the community by clarifying top priorities and delivery expectations.
  

Phase Two: Review

• Standard Grant Process
  Phase Two is the bulk of the grant process. The business development representative works to better understand the prospective grantee’s strategy and needs, while collaborating to ensure alignment with the specific Fund’s needs and the Foundation’s broader strategy. 
  
  Once alignment is established, the business development representative and applicant scope the grant, effectively coming together on an execution plan that's then reviewed and discussed with the Foundation’s Technical Team. 
  
  These conversations are broad ranging depending on specific application and encompass technical advice, problem-solving, and market assessment, all done with the goal of supporting the team in releasing a user-friendly application or use case that can be systemically adopted by the broader Hedera ecosystem. 
  
  At times, unknown gaps surfaced elsewhere in the ecosystem, leading the Foundation team to work with other partners to fill those gaps. By the time we get to the finish line, it's not uncommon that through discovery, grant scoping, and technical review, the resulting grant application looks quite a bit different. 
  
  This new in-depth proposal for funding now includes tangible business goals, a revenue model (if applicable), architecture diagrams and user journeys, competitor analysis, development and growth milestones, network utilization projections, and developer community KPIs. 
  
  This application is then sent to the Foundation’s Finance team, charged with analyzing the payment structure of the grant proposal, considering payment amounts, timing, instruments and ensuring completeness of the financial information. 
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• RFP Pilot Process
  ‍What’s New: The RFP pilot complements the existing grant process by opening up scoping and review phases to community insights, input, and engagement.
  Why It’s Good: It creates opportunities for everyone to talk about, learn, share knowledge, and engage with the planned product or platform leading to more holistic collaboration as the grantee’s idea is matured into a viable product or platform.

Phase Three: Decision and Delivery

• Standard Grant Process
  Once the grant application has passed Finance review, it is submitted to the first of two decision-making groups. The first is the HBAR Committee.
  
  The HBAR Committee is charged with ensuring the grant fulfills the broader strategic goals of the Foundation. Once the application passes HBAR Committee review, it is shared with the Grant Committee, composed of the Foundation’s board members. The Board is charged with ensuring that the Foundation is responsibly executing its mission of growing the Hedera ecosystem. 
  
  Once the application has received adequate support from both the HBAR and Grant Committees, Legal begins the contracting and Know Your Customer/Business (KYC/KYB) processes. The legal team drafts a contract using standard terms and conditions around milestone execution and reporting. Depending on the use case, there may also be open source requirements.
  
  Once the contract has been executed, the grantee begins building towards their first milestone. Throughout the term of the agreement, the business development representative has a continued relationship with the team to support delivery upon milestones in addition to ensure project growth. 

• RFP Pilot Process
  ‍What’s New: More public updates and open discourse provide clarity and transparency into project milestones and grantee expectations.
  Why It’s Good: More engagement fosters shared buy-in between THF, grantees and the community while simultaneously providing earlier signaling for ecosystem partners to prepare for any additional supporting technical work that could improve the product or feature.‍

Next Steps‍

We know there’s a lot to absorb here and want the main takeaway to be that this program is a critical step towards stronger Hedera-native ecosystems, communities, and developer networks. In the coming weeks and months, we hope to share more grant program updates.

As always - thanks for your continued contributions and insights - both are much appreciated.