This S0 Report provides an overview of the developments, accomplishments, and learnings from Season 0 of Celo Europe DAO (June - Dec 2023) and provides context for Celo Europe 2024.
The written has been written by Luuk Weber @LuukDAO with input from @joan_ethichub , @pcbo and @NikoG.
TLDR
In season 0, we created the foundation for a vibrant Celo network in Europe. We developed important resources such as the Celo EU website which attracted nearly 2,000 visits, created a Celo Ecosystem Report and published 10+ hours of high-quality videos, including a mini-documentary about the CEL2 journey with Marek in Istanbul. The CELO EU Team (co) organized 14 events with over 2,000 attendees, in addition to representing and speaking at 25+ events in 6 countries. Through our programs, including ReFi DAO Europe, Take Off, and the creation of Casa Celo Madrid - we engaged hundreds of builders.
In total, Celo Europe spent 73% of our initial 440,000 CELO budget. We returned 120,000 CELO and 380 cUSD to the Celo Community Fund. We were able to operate well within our budget by coordinating efficiently with our internal team and Celo Ecosystem partners.
We believe S0 was a successful exploration and showcases the importance of Europe as a region for the Celo Ecosystem. We see a lot of value in continuing Celo Europe DAO in 2024 with the aim to capitalize on the network established in S0 and realize on-chain growth.
Some key elements we’re looking into are further increasing ecosystem alignment, running more programs, additional virtual campaigns, and organizing a Celo Connect in Europe in 2024.
S0 Progress Report
Budget and Spending
The initial budget was established in June based on estimations made in the months prior. Most of the line items in the budget were reasonable estimates.
After an initial period of 2 months, we gained better insights into the expected spending and opportunities and created an updated budget that introduced additional objectives such as producing more Celo videos (from 5 to nearly 30 recordings) and progressing the Governance and Operations framework of the Celo Ecosystem based on builders’ feedback collected in Paris and Berlin.
In total, 73% of the initial 440,000 CELO budget was spent in S0. After making the final payments of December this week, the remaining balance of 120,000 CELO and 380 cUSD was returned to the Celo Community Fund.
Takeaways:
- Despite being EU-based, a lot of partners and service providers invoiced in USD, making it harder to account. In the future, we would put cEUR more front and center in our operations.
- In some instances, not having a legal entity to invoice became problematic.
- While Safe Batch Transactions sped up multi-sig operations, they did create some challenges with accounting. In the future, we will separate each transaction.
- Web 3 tools such as Coinshift have made it easier to sign and account - saving us time and increasing trust among participants.
Event Organizations and Celo Representation
KPI: Attendance count to digital and in-person events = At least 1500 unique participants
KPI: Number of projects referred to Celo Camp and other ecosystem programs = At least 10
KPI: Projects participating in Celo Hackathons = At least 100 participants
Ahead of the Season, we envisioned 8 key events to build our activities around, which we did (+ even more).
Some of the highlights include:
- Co-hosting ReFi Gathering Spain and having a Celo Booth at ETH Barcelona
- Supporting CO:Operate and recording many ecosystem founders in Paris.
- Hosting an institutional ReFi event, speaking at DappCon and hosting a Founders Drinks ft Greenfield in Berlin.
- Playing an important role in the Block + Change Unconference and Hackathon
- Organizing a ReFi co-working day and institutional event in Amsterdam
- Building relationships with the Optimism, Polygon and zkSync ecosystems prior to and during DevConnect to increase Celo’s understanding and position in a potential L2 network.
- Supporting Marek in his L2 journey publishing a mini-documentary about the process during DevConnect and having multiple Take Off teams build on Celo and win prizes.
​Overall, we surpassed the attendance and participants KPIs but likely came short in referring 10 suitable projects to Celo Camp, especially given the fact that the latest batch was focussed on MiniPay.
The main takeaways:
- While CO:Operate made a big mark in Paris, we missed having a Celo Connect and see this is a critical event for our ecosystem that has to take place each year. We would like to play a leading role in organizing Celo Connect 2024 in Europe and have started some conversations to explore the potential.
- Whilst the smaller on-the-ground events and conferences were great to attend, the effort and costs for Celo EU team members were too high. In the future, we want to further decentralize local event organization and create replicable event kits for local representatives and communities.
Celo Ecosystem Website
KPI: Reach of the Celo EU website = At least 5k website visitors
We designed, developed, and launched the Celo EU Website in mid-August, a month after our first event in Paris. The website was built using the Celo brand kit and follows all Celo brand guidelines. The Celo EU website contains a full database of all Europe-based Celo projects, an overview of 2023 programs, and events, and dozens of blogs, videos and project highlights.
Since its launch, CeloDAO.eu has gained 2,250 visits from 465 unique visitors. Our initial aim was to gain 5,000 visits, which we only reached for ~45 %.
The majority of European website visitors came from The Netherlands, followed closely by Germany and Spain. We also saw dozens of visitors from Portugal, Turkey, UK, and France. About 57% users visited via Desktop, with 42% visiting from Mobile.
The most visited page (after the Homepage) was the Ecosystem page (300 views) followed by the events and insight pages.
In addition to building Celo Europe, we collaborated with CeLatam, to allow them to launch their site quick and easy by using the Web template we made for Celo Europe.
A take away for S1 would be to increase the focus and resources for digital content creation and distribution. This season we could not dedicate sufficient energy to publication and distribution.
Program Highlights
Through Celo Europe we launched and supported multiple initiatives:
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Casa Celo Madrid
Celo House is a pioneering initiative designed to bolster the ReFi ecosystem of Celo in Spain. This strategic approach has been realized through hosting two significant Celo meetings and sponsoring key events across Madrid and Spain. Notable among these is the collaborative hackathon with Telefónica at 42 Madrid, a renowned developers’ school, and the influential Crypto Plaza Forum V. These events have played a crucial role in advancing Celo’s vision and objectives within the region, effectively raising awareness and engagement with the blockchain community.
Looking ahead to Season 1, there are exciting plans to host “Celo Days” at Casa Celo. These events are envisioned as a series of both technical and non-technical workshops, aimed at sustaining and nurturing the community that has been cultivated. “Celo Days” will serve as a vibrant platform for deepening understanding of Celo’s blockchain technology and fostering collaborative growth within the local community. This initiative represents a significant step towards enhancing knowledge, sharing expertise, and strengthening the network of Celo enthusiasts and professionals in Spain. -
ReFi Gathering 2023
The ReFi Gathering Spain 2023, was the first event supported by Celo EU. Held in Barcelona, marked a milestone in regenerative finance, bringing together over 150 participants including founders, investors, and project leaders. This interdisciplinary event, driven by Celo, Ethic Hub in collaboration with Crane Earth, focused on integrating traditional investment, impact investment, and blockchain and Web3 technologies. Discussions and workshops highlighted the importance of regenerative finance for sustainability and social impact. -
Take Off Istanbul - powered Talent Protocol
Take Off by Talent Protocol is a scholarship program that provides high-potential individuals a life-changing opportunity to grow, learn, and connect with Web3 builders. Check the video highlights of Take Off Istanbul:Take Off Istanbul
2023 - Highlights 
In total, the scholars won 15+ ETHGlobal awards: https://twitter.com/TalentProtocol/status/1727010744888414426.
(picture taken at Talent Brunch – the 15 scholars + Juampi, the Take Off host)
(picture taken at Take Off Welcome Dinner with scholars and partners) -
Celo Europe Ecosystem Report
The Celo Europe Ecosystem Report is a comprehensive overview of the progress and achievements within the Celo network across Europe. The report is based on dozens of interviews with Celo ecosystem players and features recordings made in Paris, Berlin, and Istanbul. -
ReFiDAO program
The ReFi Local Node Beta Cohort is a three-month program where a global network of local regenerative leaders gather online once a month to support each other through hosting regular events, building community and onboarding talent and capital into the regenerative economy. The ReFiDAO program supported local ReFi communities in 15+ countries and supported their initiatives through cUSD grants, onboarding them further into the Celo ecosystem. -
Exploring L2 with Marek: Short documentary
Exploring the Frontier of L2 in Istanbul is a short documentary produced by Celo Europe that tracks Marek as he investigates Ethereum L2 solutions in Istanbul. -
Celo Ecosystem Governance Sprint
After gaining important feedback from Celo ecosystem founders and builders about the limitations of Celo Governance and community fund spending, Celo Europe to the lead to improve the situation by kickstarting Celo Governance Development Sprint ahead of CEL2. This work is now resulting in an overhaul of the Celo Governance and Treasury processes.
Reflection and outlook for 2024
We consider S0 a success, as we hit most of our predefined milestones and played an important role in the Celo Ecosystem. As the initial season, it allowed us to gain the insights required to optimize our efforts and become more effective in attracting and nurturing talent and resources in the European Ecosystem.
We believe S0 was a successful exploration and showcases the importance of Europe as a region for the Celo Ecosystem. We see a lot of value in continuing Celo Europe DAO in 2024 with the aim to capitalize on the network established in S0 and realize on-chain growth.
Some key elements we’re looking into are further increasing ecosystem alignment:
- Make sure a Celo Connect or equivalent transformational ecosystem event takes place.
- Do less, and do it better: We should not try to do everything and can leverage the local communities even more for distribution and coordination.
- The importance of collaborating closely with all ecosystem partners. Aim to create an aligned reporting plan and improve coordination plan with the other Regional DAOs and Ecosystem players.
- Continue to leverage our regional Hubs and communities to reach far and wide.
We hope to collaborate closely with the other regional DAOs in the coming weeks and submit a new proposal in January 2024, once the Governance improvements have been implemented.