Status: DRAFT
Receiver Entity: Celo Governance
Author(s): Rene (@rene_celo), Celo Foundation
Type of Request: Funding
Funding Request: $1.5M equivalent to 4,545,454.55 CELO based on the 90-day average CELO price ($0.33 from April 17–July 15, 2025)
Summary
Over the past five years, Celo has grown from a bold idea into a mission-driven ecosystem focused on financial inclusion, real-world applications and impact. Now, as Celo enters its next phase of evolution, the community will play a pivotal role to help to scale that vision.
The transition to Ethereum Layer 2 marks not just a technical upgrade, but the beginning of a new chapter in Celo’s role as a frontier chain for global impact. As we look toward 2030, we envision a thriving, trillion-dollar onchain economy built on Celo that creates the conditions of prosperity––for everyone, everywhere.
From what we learned in the last few cycles, sustaining that vision and providing continuity to programs that bring that vision to life requires continuous resourcing, especially during periods of market volatility. At today’s token prices, continuing to fund critical scope exclusively through internal Celo Foundation resources would require deprioritizing some of the initiatives that have proven so valuable to the ecosystem.
This proposal requests $1.5M in funding from the Celo community treasury to support essential ecosystem work stewarded by the Celo Foundation during Season 1 (July–December 2025). These include, but are not limited to, developer growth and programs, industry and community events (technical and non-technical), strategic partnerships, marketing and PR, as well as critical operational support aimed at driving continued awareness for and adoption of Celo. This request is by no means intended to cover all of the Foundation’s operating costs, but rather, to ensure that this scope, for which the community already knows and benefits from, can continue without interruption.
The strategic objectives of these programs are directly aligned with Celo Governance’s Season 1 Intents:
1. Grow daily transactions on Celo
2. Grow Total Value Locked (TVL)
Current Status
This is the first-ever funding request submitted by the Celo Foundation to the Celo Community Fund, and we appreciate the continued trust bestowed upon us by the community to best serve our ecosystem.
Most of the scope outlined below is already live and has demonstrated positive growth and traction within the Celo ecosystem. These additional resources will enable us to continue scaling this important work and to put our best foot forward at leading industry events, among other activations and touchpoints.
We welcome everyone’s feedback and look forward to continued collaboration with the entire Celo community!
Motivation
The Celo Foundation has historically supported ecosystem growth through various initiatives, including developer onboarding, grants, marketing and communications, partnerships, and events. Up to this point, these efforts were funded internally, but as Celo enters its first governance-led funding season as an Ethereum L2, there is a growing opportunity to evolve how foundational ecosystem work is resourced.
Without additional support, the Foundation would need to pause or scale back these high-impact programs to preserve its operational runway, and at an inflection point of increased activity and momentum.
The intent of this proposal is to trial a first-time, small-scale grant for the Foundation’s most high-impact work, taking inspiration from other ecosystem models, from Arbitrum, Uniswap Foundation, Compound, dYdX, all of whom rely on additional community-funding mechanisms for similar initiatives.
This proposal not only provides a path for continued delivery, accountability, and increased alignment between the Foundation and the community it serves, but also ensures the long-term success of the Celo ecosystem, stood up by its diverse contributors, including the Foundation.
Specification
The proposed funding will support delivery across a wide range of categories. This includes partial support for full-time employees and contributors (10) across functions and teams, from developer relations to marketing and communications, and whose day-to-day work is required to keep these various initiatives running.
| Category | Description | Estimated Budget |
|---|---|---|
| Builder & Ecosystem Growth | Ongoing programs to onboard builders, from early-stage devs (e.g., Proof of Ship), to continuous support for later-stage projects and growth opportunities (e.g., incentives). | $500k |
| Event Sponsorships & Opportunities | Continued representation at large-scale events across Q3 and Q4, including Devconnect, among others. This includes planning and logistics, key sponsorships, misc. travel expenses, and affiliated production and operation costs. | $300k |
| Marketing & Communications | Brand awareness campaigns, tactical and operational growth marketing support, ecosystem co-marketing and partnerships, and ongoing PR and communications for Foundation-led announcements and initiatives. | $200k |
| Foundation Grants | Strategic partnerships and YOY renewals. | $500k |
(cont’d below)
