- Season: Season 1 (2025 H2)
- Funding: 80,000 cUSD + 34,000 CELO
- Status: Finished
- Author: @ricaax @Celoeu
TL;DR / Summary
Season 1 marked a decisive reset for Cel’EU. Following community approval at the end of September, the region fully realigned its operating model with Celo’s Season 1 intents and executed all activities from zero within a compressed ~2.5-month window.
During this period, Cel’EU designed and delivered a structured builder activation funnel combining dedicated DevRel support, IRL community engagement, online programming, and the launch of the Cel’EU Cirkvit Program. Efforts focused on regions where Celo previously had limited or no structured presence, prioritising trust-building, local anchoring, and high-signal founder engagement over raw volume.
Despite the short timeframe and structurally higher onboarding costs in Europe, Season 1 achieved strong early traction:
- 4 IRL events
- 2 online sessions
- 120 total participants
- 16 project submissions
- Meaningful continuation into global ecosystem programs
Partnerships with established local communities created durable entry points for future activation and significantly reduced friction for subsequent iterations.
While some quantitative targets were not fully reached, results should be understood as foundation-building outcomes rather than mature funnel performance. The season validated regional demand, confirmed founder interest in long-term programs and funding pathways, and established a coherent, intent-aligned execution model. With the operational engine now rebuilt and aligned, Cel’EU is positioned to compound impact and scale more effectively in future seasons.
Goals, Metrics & KPIs
Strategic Goals
| Goal | Proposed | Achieved | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Activate Europe-based developers (focus on Eastern Europe) | Launch structured activation across EE | First-time Celo activation in Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Germany via IRL + online programming | Achieved |
| Launch a structured builder onboarding program | Design and execute a regional program | Cel’EU Cirkvit Program launched and completed | Achieved |
| Create a funnel into global Celo programs | Connect builders to Proof of Ship / Proof of Impact | 8 projects applied to Proof of Ship, 2 to Proof of Impact | Achieved |
| Establish durable local community anchors | Build long-term local relationships | ETHWarsaw, ETHCluj, ETHBelgrade partnerships | Achieved |
| Achieve full regional & quantitative coverage | Reach all proposed regions and volume targets | Partial coverage under time constraints | Partially achieved |
Core Metrics
| KPI | Description | Target | Status | Achieved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IRL Events | In-person community & builder events | 3–5 | 4 delivered | 100% |
| Online Sessions | Structured online build sessions | 2 | 2 delivered | 100% |
| Total Participants | Unique participants (IRL + online) | 250+ | 120 | ~48% |
| Project Submissions | Final Cirkvit submissions | 25+ | 16 | ~64% |
| Regional Coverage | EE regions activated | 5 | 4 | 80% |
| Transactions Generated | On-chain TXs from projects | Measurable growth | Early-stage | Open |
| Tracking & Transparency | Public tracking of activity | Full transparency | Dashboard + KarmaGAP | 100% |
Budget & Expenses
Season 1 expenditures remained aligned with the approved budget and were optimised for speed of execution and direct ecosystem impact.
| Category | cUSD | CELO |
|---|---|---|
| Local activation (events & ambassadors) | 18,000 | – |
| Extra collaborators (content, design, etc.) | 5,200 | – |
| Core team (Lead, DevRel, Marketing) | 46,859 | – |
| Team admin costs & tools | 1,845 | – |
| Program operations | 8,050 | – |
| Prizes (participants & ambassadors) | – | 34,000 |
| Total | 79,954 | 34,000 |
Cel’EU Cirkvit Program (Season 1)
The Cirkvit Program served as the primary onboarding and conversion mechanism for Europe-based builders, combining:
- IRL activation
- Online build support
- Tracked submissions via KarmaGAP
All submissions are publicly viewable here:
Notably:
- 8 projects continued into Proof of Ship
- 2 projects continued into Proof of Impact
This demonstrates meaningful follow-through beyond the program itself.
Program Winners
All winning teams originated from Poland, highlighting the region’s strong density of technical founders.
1st Place — c402.world
Protocol-level exploration of on-chain coordination and infrastructure primitives with long-term ecosystem relevance.
2nd Place — MySphere
User-centric application focused on identity and social coordination bridging real-world use cases with blockchain tooling.
3rd Place — Praychain
Experimental project exploring community and faith-based coordination models using decentralised infrastructure.
Community Activation & Partnerships
Cel’EU established durable working relationships with:
- ETHWarsaw
- ETHCluj
- ETHBelgrade
These communities now act as local anchors for future engagement and materially reduce onboarding friction for subsequent seasons.
Event audiences included founders, senior developers, junior developers/students, and non-technical community members. Across all regions, interest in Celo was high, particularly as these were the first Celo-focused events ever held locally.
Key Insights from Season 1
- Strong presence of technical founders seeking structured programs, not informal hack sessions
- High interest in funding pathways, grants, and long-term ecosystem support
- Most engaged teams deployed or continued building
- Regional communities respond strongly to consistent presence and continuity
- Competition from other ecosystems is increasing, reinforcing the need for sustained regional engagement
Team Structure (Season 1)
Season 1 included a deliberate adjustment to Cel’EU’s leadership and operational structure to enhance accountability, execution focus, and cost efficiency.
Leadership transition
- Due to budget constraints and a deliberate decision to reduce fixed operational costs, the team agreed to streamline leadership responsibilities during the season.
- As part of this adjustment, @Joan_DeRB stepped down from the Co-Lead role.
- @ricaax assumed full leadership responsibility for Cel’EU, including strategy, execution, and alignment with Season 1 intents.
- Joan continues to support Cel’EU as a punctual advisor, contributing to relevant discussions when needed.
Execution capacity
To strengthen technical delivery and builder conversion, Cel’EU onboarded:
- A DevRel lead with strong DeFi expertise, responsible for technical onboarding, direct builder support, and facilitating progression from experimentation to on-chain deployment.
- A part-time marketing contributor with prior experience at Google and Vice Magazine, supporting content execution and strategic communications.
Regional execution
Cel’EU appointed four regional leads to anchor local delivery and reduce onboarding friction across priority markets:
- Serbia (Balkans)
- Romania
- Poland
- Germany
This structure enabled clearer ownership across strategy, technical onboarding, communications, and local execution, while maintaining continuity and advisory support under constrained budget conditions.
Closing Remarks
Season 1 marked a decisive turning point for Cel’EU, not because of scale alone, but because it represented a fundamental shift in how the region operates. Following community approval, Cel’EU reset its operating model entirely to align with Season 1 intents, building all activities, processes, and programs from scratch within a compressed execution window.
This season was therefore less about incremental iteration and more about establishing the right execution foundations: builder-first engagement, direct DevRel support, clear pathways into global Celo programs, and verifiable tracking.
Operating in Europe entails higher onboarding costs than in other regions. Talent is highly competitive, ecosystems actively court communities, and comparable regional programs elsewhere deploy significantly larger budgets. Against this backdrop, Season 1 focused on precision, trust-building, and signal quality, rather than competing on spend.
Season 1 should be understood as the phase in which the engine was rebuilt and aligned, not yet fully accelerated. The operational machine is now in place and being “oiled” through follow-ups, partnerships, and project progression — a necessary step before expecting compounding results.
Looking ahead, Cel’EU will:
- Deepen execution rigour using best practices from other regions
- Adapt mature cohort and onboarding frameworks to the European context
- Shift further toward founder- and business-oriented programming
- Improve planning horizons, post-event retention, and regional continuity
- Expand engagement beyond developers to non-technical contributors and operators
Season 1 confirmed that Europe is not a low-effort growth region, but a high-quality, high-leverage one when approached with the right structure and expectations. By resetting its operating model and grounding execution in local realities, Cel’EU has laid the foundations for a more scalable, competitive, and sustainable regional presence.