Author: Upright
Budget Request: $299,040 cUSD and 223,098 CELO
Proposal Type: Funding Request
H1 2024 Report: Celo Camp 2024 H1: MiniPay Launchpad Post-Camp Report
Abstract
Following the success of Celo Camp previous cohorts, the Upright team is dedicated to bringing Celo Camp batch 10 to the Celo community to support multiple initiatives and use-cases namely: Minipay, CxAI and Divvi, Self Protocol.
The goal of this initiative is to guide the entrepreneurial journey of high quality projects towards building impactful businesses on Celo while connecting participants with other up and coming founders, protocols, experts, mentors and funding opportunities.
We look forward to continuing our collaboration with initiatives such as Verda Ventures, Prezenti, Celo Africa DAO, Talent Protocol, CeLatam, KohCelo, Celo Europe DAO and more to come, which will enable us to deliver an impactful batch to the wider Celo community.
Key Program Updates
- Initiative timeframe: 4 months, aligned with the new Celo Governance Seasons schedule for seasons 0-1, end of June - end of October 2025
- 8 week acceleration program
- 8-12 teams onboarded to the program, 3-5 teams in the final stage of the cohort (see details in the schedule section below).
- Virtual and global
- Physical one day event where the graduates of the cohort can meet in person, create strategic collaborations and reflect on their camp experience.
- Similar to the previous batch, Upright will create and publish a shortlist of prioritized use cases as well as a detailed questionnaire to help teams determine their eligibility for the program. The shortlist will be based on feedback from CxAI, the MiniPay team, Divvi, Verda Ventures, Celo Foundation, community feedback and our learnings from the last cohort.
Focus Areas
Minipay
Support the planned global expansion of MiniPay by adding a global track for applicants going to market in emerging regions around the world.
The list of regions has already been mapped according to feedback from the Minipay team and will be finalized during the planning phase of the program.
Curation criteria:
- Prioritizing new use cases that are not covered by existing dApps on Minipay.
- Projects must have big market potential “for everyone, every day” in a given country at the least.
CxAI
Identifying and accelerating teams who are building AI agents to benefit humanity. We are looking for projects which are:
- User centric.
- Leveraging the robust Celo stack, partnerships and emerging open source frameworks to build decentralized AI solutions.
- Stripping away the high barriers of cost and central control. Drive inclusive prosperity and transform industries by making high-performance AI accessible to all.
Some examples for solutions include: Smart accounts for AI agents, autonomous agents for onchain FX trading, AI for fair distribution of assets with increased automation and speed, authenticating humans and more. The program is open to any new use case, which can power prosperity for all.
Divvi
We are looking for exceptional teams at UX and user acquisition who will deliver products which contribute to key metrics of existing on-chain protocols on Celo while using the Divvi framework to track and get rewarded for the incremental value add.
Let’s explore together how we can make the Web3 pie bigger by rewarding builders for their actions in a fully transparent way.
Self Protocol
Accelerate teams which leverage Self to give users back the control over their digital identity while enabling effortless on-chain user experience. Self is a privacy-first, open-source identity protocol that uses zero-knowledge proofs for secure identity verification. We are looking for teams who use Self for some of the common use cases listed on the Self docs such as: airdrop protection, humanity checks for social media, quadratic funding protection, wallet recovery, sanction list checking as well as new and novel usages of the protocol.
Camp Schedule Season 0-1 (end of June - end of October) 2025
Planning: In this stage we tailor the program’s curriculum to the go-to-markets, set up the program’s campaign and messaging, onboard mentors and partners, implement learnings from previous batches and soft launch the application phase.
Phase duration: 1 week.
Application phase (pre-camp):
Where we onboard teams, host live events, conduct dozens of 1:1 meetings and run group pitch sessions. Applications are open to teams from around the world. In this stage, our focus is on outreach and curation to ensure the most suitable and talented teams are onboarded to the program.
Phase duration: 1.5 months.
Celo Camp:
An 8-week virtual accelerator and mentorship program where teams receive guidance on how to build with CxAI, Divvi and MiniPay, as well as business and technology advice designed to help build and grow their startups.
The program will include both joint and region specific sessions, and incorporate alumni members as mentors. Celo Camp batch 10 is designed to enable founders to focus on their value proposition while learning about Celo’s unique features, product roadmap, and connect with other projects / contributors in the ecosystem.
The program includes two sections (4 weeks each):
Landmark A (8-12 teams)
Refine your product roadmap and go to market strategy, conduct user research, craft your pitch and build a lean MVP testing your product’s value proposition.
Landmark B
Tighten up your MVP, onboard early adopters and collect feedback, create your first on-chain traction.
Top graduates of Landmark B (up to 5 teams) will get a $5-25K investment offer from the Upright team as well as a fast track to Verda Ventures, Prezenti, Flori Ventures and other partners which at their own discretion invest in the top graduates of the program.
During the planning phase, the Upright team will work together with representatives from the Celo community fund to construct the best way for recipients of the investment to give back to the Celo community while contributing to the long term success of both the graduates and future builders in the Celo ecosystem.
Accelerator Benefits and Perks:
- Virtual: Join the program remotely and meet founders from across the world.
- Mentorship: One-on-one guidance from industry experts at leading organizations, such as Opera, EchoVC, Borderless Capital, Hashed Emergent, Arca, MetaMask, a16z, NFX, Verda Ventures, Flori Ventures and many more.
- Workshops and events: Access to workshops, networking events, pitch and mindfulness sessions led by experts, mentors, investors, and partners.
- Technological support and integration: One-on-one meetings with Celo engineers.
- Celo Camp partner support: Access to products and services from camp partners including AWS, Hubspot, Tatum, Hacken, and more.
- Networking: Opportunities to connect with like-minded creators and entrepreneurs in the Celo community.
- Funding: A fast track to Celo grants and exposure to investors.
- Impact: Contribute to Celo’s mission of creating the conditions of prosperity — for everyone.
In this batch we plan to onboard: 8-12 teams, 8-12 mentors, 10-15 speakers and partners.
Phase duration: 2 months.
Launchpad Wrap Up: Includes selection of winning teams, due diligence and distribution of prizes, feedback collection and reporting, connecting teams with VC’s and other initiatives as well as curation and promotion of founder stories and videos.
Phase duration: 1 week.
In-person Event:
IRL event at the end of the camp experience to get all the graduates and contributors together for a day of workshops, perks and celebration of their accomplishment. This will be a great opportunity to form meaningful relationships and strategic collaborations with the cohort graduates.
Program KPIs
KPIs we will measure and report to the community at the end of each batch (twice a year):
- Number of projects which integrated with Minipay / CxAI partners and frameworks / Divvi protocol in a meaningful way
- Total Celo on-chain transactions & active users / addresses by alumni
- Total funds raised by alumni
- Total # of graduates who have successfully integrated with Celo including project pitch and live demo
- Net promoter score (NPS) - we want to ensure our builders have a great experience, and turn into leaders in the Celo ecosystem and promoters of the program.
- Total active alumni open source repos
Success Metrics
The success metrics we believe to be appropriate for the upcoming cohort are:
- At least 1 high quality project integrated in a way which moves the needle for each one of the initiatives (Minipay, CxAI, Divvi, Self)
- All graduates will demonstrate their integration with Celo
- Net promoter score (NPS) greater than 60
- At least 150 applicants with global distribution
The success metrics will be collected and made public at the end of the cohort.
*These success metrics are how we envision a successful batch and what we believe to be achievable based on our past results. Having said that, this specific program is fairly new and achieving these KPIs is not fully under our control and may vary based on market conditions, go-to market and the actual start date of the event among other factors. Our team will, as always, strive to maximize these KPIs.
Overall Allocation (end of June - end of October)
Upright is requesting a total of $299,040 cUSD and 223,098 CELO be authorized for the budget of Season 0-1.
The receiving address is 0x4aE7E074773866Ee35443a5785c8B74faEA843D6
| Item | Allocation |
|---|---|
| Operations & Marketing | $248,800 |
| Investment in teams | $100,000 |
| In-Person Event | $25,000 |
We’d love to hear from you
Let’s make season 0-1 a great cohort for founders and builders in the Celo ecosystem. We are open for feedback and happy to discuss the proposal with the community stakeholders in detail.
Remember 