CeloPG Season 1 Funding Request

Governance Governance Proposals
1
  • Receiver Entity: Celo Governance
  • Status: [DRAFT]
  • Author(s): @LuukDAO @MontyMerlin
  • Type of Request: Funding
  • Funding Request: 288,500 cUSD, 875,000 CELO, 250,000 OP

A more detailed version of our proposal can be found in this Google Doc

Summary
In line with the Celo Governance Seasons Strategy and updates (1, 2) and Vision 2030, this proposal aims to fund ‘CeloPG Season 1’ — a builder team dedicated to attracting, nurturing, and growing projects on Celo to regenerate the network and treasury while creating the conditions for prosperity.

We achieve this by building on our existing programs and key partnerships, which provide essential resources and support to Celo Projects and Builders across various stages of their maturity cycle.

This funding proposal requests approval of up to 288,500 cUSD, 875,000 CELO, and 250,000 OP to invest in key programs and sustain initiatives until December 31, 2025.

CeloPG Season 1 Core Programs

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To win, Celo has to continue to attract and retain the best talent and supporting resources to the ecosystem. Below is a visualization of how the Celo Public Goods Funding Programs and Tools contribute to a Celo ecosystem growth flywheel that nurtures and attracts resources to grow the ecosystem value and treasury.

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Season 1 Objectives and Deliverables
To Attract, Nurture, and Grow projects on Celo to regenerate the network and treasury while creating the conditions for prosperity and support Vision 2030, we’ve established the following milestones:

1. Ensure wide adoption and efficiency of our ecosystem programs: KPI: Have at least 70% of all active projects on Celo benefit from at least 1 CeloPG Program in H2.

2. Amplifying Celo resources for builder programs: Ensure that all program resources are allocated to Celo-aligned builders who continue to provide value to Celo and attract third-party resources to increase the ROI of our programs. KPI: Aim to attract at least 50% of extra resources to the Builder Programs.

3. Grow the Celo Network Value: Contribute to attracting and growing the value of the Celo Network and Celo Ecosystem treasury, measured by an increase in Chains revenue, relative share of chain revenue connected to at least 1 CeloPG program, and tokens bridges to, launched on and contributed to the Celo Ecosystem Treasury in H2.

Specification
CeloPG Season 1 consists of eight interconnected line items, each with its own focus and budget.

A. Celo Support Streams
The protocol incentive flywheel is built on the learnings of Celo Support Streams Season 0. The mechanism switches to use stCELO as input to keep the Celo productive and staked while switching from bi-weekly vote cycles to continuous voting. Rewards will be issued in CELO on Celo Mainnet and OP on Optimism Mainnet.

B. Proof of Ship
Monthly builder grants to projects on Celo who meet certain milestones and progress criteria reported through Karma and reviewed by the Celo DevRel team.

C. Celo Impact Rewards
Building on the initial Celo Impact Rewards pilot with Divvi, CeloPG will issue monthly impact rewards based on key measurables of impact and project maturity, such as gas fees contributed, unique verified users, onchain revenue, and total value processed. Rewards will be issued in CELO on Celo Mainnet and OP on Optimism Mainnet.

D. Season 1 Contributor Rewards
Seasonal Contributor Rewards are allocated to individuals based on a set of impact activities measured through Prosperity Pass badges, curated in collaboration with the Foundation Growth team and all Celo Community Treasury-funded teams.

E. CeloPG Development Grants
Direct milestone-based grants for the development of software on Celo in line with the CeloPG program and ecosystem requirements. Distributed via Allo. Karma and Prosperity Pass as the primary solution to fund and develop further in Season 1.

F. Treasury, Marketing and Events
Maintain and enhance the Celo Community Treasury Dune Dashboard and Sheets, delivering regular updates on treasury status to key stakeholders and the community forum, along with proposed seasonal budgets. Support the design and development of ecosystem tools and resources, including the celopg.eco platform, visual assets, merchandise, and documentation. Allocate budget for CeloPG representation at relevant events and for organizing or sponsoring events aligned with CeloPG’s mission.

G. CeloPG Operations
Reward for the core and on-demand CeloPG contributors responsible for the design, support, and execution of the Celo Ecosystem Programs. Includes legal and accounting costs related to operating the initiative through the Regenerative Finance Foundation, a non-profit organization that has collaborated with Celo on ecosystem development since 2022.

H. Celo x Gitcoin Strategic Rounds
CeloPG is a strategic partner of Gitcoin and actively participates in the Gitcoin 3.0 strategy sprint to play a key role in the next phase of Gitcoin and lead the solution development of at least two of Ethereum’s largest problem domains, in line with Celo’s vision and strengths.

While the exact domain scopes are to be ratified later, we are prioritizing two domains:

  • ETH Localism: Physical ecosystems such as Crecimiento, Celo Africa, and CeLatam to run focused programs for driving regional development. This program builds on the successful Regen Coordination and Ethereum Localism movement and rounds. To increase impact and long-term sustainability, the program will prioritize movements that can gain co-matching from their local stakeholders and develop/use onchain tools that drive meaningful usage of Celo.

A detailed program proposal will be shared in the coming week on the Gitcoin forum.

  • ETH For The World: Real-world development through onchain applications and programs for projects such as Pretium and EthicHub to build new solutions or expand to new markets. The programs build on the successful Real World Builder round hosted in GG21 by CeloPG. View a detailed program draft on the Gitcoin forum here.

We aim to raise a combined amount of USD 500K for these two programs, with approximately 30% coming from the Celo Community Treasury.

Both rounds would run on Celo and optimize for progressing Celo’s Season 1 Intent. To further accelerate the impact of these programs, we’ll run marketing campaigns around these rounds, such as EF-funded ETH FTW case studies and an event in BA, and leverage Prosperity Pass and Regenerative to attract protocol deployments and tokens to Celo.

In line with Gitcoin’s future vision, we’ll also use these rounds to gain valuable insights for a potential Celo Ecosystem Fund, to provide the Celo Ecosystem Treasury with upside in promising projects in exchange for access to the CeloPG programs.

The amount of funds allocated in GG24 is dependent on our ability to gain co-matching and perceived round impact on key Celo metrics and long-term ecosystem growth.

Budget Breakdown (7)

CELO cUSD OP
Support Streams 150,000 150,000
Proof of Ship 100,000
Impact Rewards 250,000 100,000
Contributor Rewards 100,000
CeloPG Development Grants 50,000
Treasury, Marketing, and Events 32,500
CeloPG Program Ops 125,000 106,000
GG24 DDAs 150,000 100,000
TOTAL 875,000 288,500 250,000

Any unspent resources will be returned to the Celo Ecosystem Treasury by January 31st, 2026.

Payment Logistics
CeloPG’s programs will operate their resources through a 3 out of 5 Safe on Celo Mainnet. CeloPG Season 1 (Celo): 0x85910bE70D7eBF149918ed96eF8BE175A0639c33

All signer addresses are part of the previously approved CeloPG Proposal and have been verified.

CeloPG Team
The CeloPG core team consists of a diverse and experienced set of contributors and advisors. In addition to these people, we also have a flexible budget for ad hoc contributions by non-core contributors.

  • Lead: Luuk Weber - Twitter
  • Co-Lead: Monty Bryant - Twitter
  • Contributor: Niko da Costa Gomez - Twitter
  • Advise and Support: Sophia Dew - Twitter
  • Advise and Support: Sov - Twitter
  • Designer: Enrique Badaracco - Twitter
  • Developer: Luis (AnotherDev)
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Hi @LuukDAO, thank you for the detailed and thoughtful proposal! Looking forward to continuing to work together with Celo PG to accelerate Celo Ecosystem.

Few questions to add some additional context. Can you please share more details about Gitcoin program? Given that 100k cUSD + 150k CELO is a large ask proportionate to the rest of the budget can you expand on what are some results you are expecting from this funding?

It would be helpful to know more about the types of projects that might receive this funding and how they are contributing to Season 1 Intent. Specifically, what is the benefit of funding ecosystems like Creciemento via Gitcoin rather than through direct sponsorship, which can provide visibility and exposure for Celo aligned with our ecosystem goals. In addition since Celo Africa and CeLatam have also received funding through governance, it could lead to double spend in this category.

Can you please share what is the break down from 100k cUSD and 150k CELO that would go directly to projects via Gitcoin rounds versus costs for the marketing campaigns and infrastructure costs related to Prosperity Pass?

What will happen to the funds if you are not able to gain co-matching and what are the conditions for return of these funds (e.g. what matching are you aiming for to make this call, how will return of funds be handled, etc)? How much would be returned and how much is earmarked to be spent on operation related costs that would not be returned in case of pivoting away from supporting round?

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Hi @annaalexa, thanks for the detailed questions - happy to elaborate further.

To start off, it’s relevant to highlight the transformation that Gitcoin is going through, the past successes we’ve had with them, and the large opportunity of progressing our strategic collaboration.

  • Gitcoin is the largest funder of public goods on Ethereum with over Over $60 million USD in cumulative funding since inception in 2017. It has had two iterations, in which it developed and leveraged open-source software to help fund what matters. Now, they are in the process of relaunching as Gitcoin 3.0 with a mandate to solve Ethereum’s biggest problems, such as funding the app layer and adoption of the Ethereum ecosystem (including its L2s). Gitcoin has nearly $30M USD/ETH in treasury resources they aim to spend in the next 5-7 years to accomplish its goal.
  • The priorities of Gitcoin have had and continue to have incredible overlap with Celo’s mission and intents. Over the past 18 months, CeloPG has supported or operated 13 rounds as part of GG (1,2,3) with a total amount of over 850K USD flowing to projects on Celo with less then 300K USD of those funds being provided by Celo (over 2,75x ROI on each dollar spent) across domains including Real World solutions, Climate Tech, and DeSci. These programs have funded some of Celo’s key projects, including Grassroots Economics, GainForest, and GoodDollar. Now, Gitcoin is shifting it’s focus to solving challenges that drive onchain revenue and measurable growth & impact, comparable to Season 1 intents of Celo.
  • The programs have also (re-established) Celo’s leadership position as the EVM blockchain for real world impact and sustainable development, which is already resulting in the next wave of impact/climate solutions deciding to build on Celo due to it’s ecosystem, values and opportunities.
  • By being a leading player and strategic partner of Gitcoin, Celo(PG) has the ability to position Celo and its ecosystem as a key part of solving the largest (and most rewarding) problems of Ethereum and the world - a huge opportunity, with Gitcoin as a strong and well-resourced partner.

Now, to answer your Qs:

  • We aim to design, fund and operate programs (Domains) which provide the required resources for projects to make meaningful (onchain) progress in priority areas. Regional actors like CeLatam, Celo Africa, and Creciemento can be allies for sourcing co-funding, attracting builders, and nurturing solutions as part of those programs. The domains do not aim to provide “generalized” or “marketing” funding to these or any communities, but will instead prioritize accelerating the development of products and services that generate value and increase onchain usage.
  • The marketing and operating costs of GG rounds have historically been a small fraction of the program budget, ranging from 0-5% of the budget. In our specific case, we don’t intend to charge any fees for usage of marketing tools and platform - however, we do aim to reward the domain operators with a small (2-4%) share of round budget.
  • Great question, what we propose if for someone from the Celo Ecosystem team (could for example be you or Sophia) to join us in the exploration on which Domains to fund and how to structure the programs for maximum overlap with Season 1 intents. We aim for a match of about 3x (so 200% on top of what we provide) and only backing Domains that have strategic and value alignment with Celo’s vision and Season 1 intents. Any amount of budget unspent will be returned to the Celo Ecosystem Treasury (as we have done in the past), without taking any operational fees.

While some of Gitcoin’s previous round had mixed results (which they recognize and is part of the reason they are relaunching now) - being a strategic partner for the next phase of Gitcoin is a key opportunity for Celo to 1. accelerate it’s builder ecosystem in priorities areas, 2. continue to position as a leading blockchain for real world impact and Ethereum / PG innovation and 3. have milions of dollars in co-matching flow on Celo to projects in it’s ecosystem.

We’re convinced the budget requested is a good investment, and hope you to have convinced you and other stakeholders of the merit with the above answers. Happy to expand further in the forum and in the Governance calls!

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Hi @LuukDAO @MontyMerlin,

Thanks for the comprehensive proposal. We have a few questions to better understand the allocation and execution of the proposed budget:

:magnifying_glass_tilted_left: Budget Clarification

Could you please provide a detailed breakdown of the following line items?

1. CeloPG Program Operations

125,000 CELO / 106,000 cUSD
Could you please provide a more detailed breakdown of this budget? Specifically:

  • How much is allocated to:
    • Contributor compensation (including core team)
    • Legal/accounting
    • Administrative overhead or tooling
  • How are these costs split across the program’s time frame (e.g., monthly/quarterly)?
  1. GG24 DDAs (Domain DAO Allocations)
    • 150,000 CELO / 100,000 cUSD
    • How will these funds be distributed between the two strategic rounds (ETH Localism & ETH For the World)?
    • What portion is for co-matching vs. operations vs. marketing or tooling?

:busts_in_silhouette: Team Structure & Compensation

Thanks for listing the core team. Could you also clarify:

  • Which of the following team members will receive monthly compensation from this proposal?
  • What is the expected time commitment (hourly or % of time per week) for each core contributor?
  • What are the monthly payment ranges or total compensation amounts for each?
  • Are roles considered full-time, part-time, or on-demand?

This clarity would help the community better understand how the requested resources are being allocated and ensure alignment with ecosystem priorities.

Lastly, could you please share the results from the previous round of the Celo Support Streams program (Season 0)?

Specifically, it would be helpful to understand:

  • Which projects received funding
  • How much each project received
  • (If possible) a graph or comparative visualization showing the distribution across all projects

This information will help the community evaluate the effectiveness of the program and better understand the rationale for continued funding in Season 1.

Another question: when people stake their CELO in order to participate in voting for this program, how are those staked CELO actually used?
Are they locked, delegated, earning yield, or contributing to network security in any specific way?

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Hi @ThirdEyeDelegate - happy to share more perspective.

  1. Our estimates (based on past learnings) breaks this down to about 80% compensation, 10% legal, 10% overhead and tooling. We pay contributors at the end of each month, and other costs such as subscriptions, and legal when they come in.

  2. We anticipate to allocate the GG24 DDA budget strategically based on the final Domains that will be selected for GG24 using prioritizing domains that accelerating the development of products and services that generate value and increase onchain usage. As mentioned in the governance call, we will bring someone from the Foundation in who will have a veto on which (and to what amount) we allocate budgets.

Team Structure

  1. All members will be rewarded for their contributions (hours) each month. Most of the fixed responsibility and hours (~125 hours a month combined) are split between the Lead (me) and Co-Lead (Monty) role. Average hourly rate is around 75cUSD + 100 CELO per hour. Other activities are on-demand.

S0 Programs

  1. We published the Support Streams distributions, including amount and method used per cycle on our socials. You can view the sheet here.

  2. Currently the CELO in the Support Streams program is regular Celo locked - which can be unstaked within 3 days. Next season, we aim to use stCELO as the input token (will have to do some custom work to enable this) to allow for yield generation and delegation while participating in the support streams.

  3. In the Gov Call we also shared a preview of the overachring ecosystem database we’re creating and hope to publish in 2-3 weeks which pulls together all ecosystem project data from the Foundation’s DBs, Karma, and the CeloPG programs since start to create an overarching breakdown of projects in the ecosystem, their participation in programs and contribution to Celo ecosystem usage and fees.

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Thanks for sharing the Support Streams Season 0 data.

After reviewing the distribution chart, we noticed that nearly 80,000 CELO was distributed, but 67% of that went to just three projects. Notably:

  • Prosperity Pass alone received 23% of the total distributed CELO.
  • Prosperity Pass appears to be a project operated or closely affiliated with CeloPG, which raises concerns about self-funding rather than broad community support.

This raises the question: How does CeloPG define and ensure “community” participation vs. self project support?

Support Streams are meant to grow and support the broader ecosystem, but if a large portion of funds are circulating back into internal CeloPG programs, it may compromise that objective. It would be helpful to understand how you plan to address this concentration issue in Season 1.

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As mentioned in the Governance call - we’re increasingly optimizing for programs that leverage publicly accessible data, AI and CELO as sensemaking tools rather then individuals judging.

The Support Streams program especially is 100% controlled by stCELO voters - which provides equal participation access to any Celo stakeholder.

In the first cycle, the number of stCELO and projects was low - which resulted in few voters deciding on most of the rewards which influenced the outcome of the first round and is most of the rewards allocated to Prosperity Pass.

Since, voting and rewards has stabilized, where week of week the dispersion between projects is decreasing. We expect that as the number of projects joining the program (currently at 27) increases the rewards distribution will become more distributed.

Finally, 100% of the Support Stream rewards will be distributed to Celo Season 0 contributors, as a matter of fact - $0 USD has been spent on the development of Prosperity Pass till date from CeloPG as it truly aim to be a public good for the Celo ecosystem.

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Thanks @CPG_Stewards and team for the proposal, at my end this proposal is fulfilling all the requirements:

  • Post a proposal in the Celo Forum and leave it for discussion at least for seven (7) days.
  • Present Proposal in a Governance Call and address the feedback received: Proposal was presented during Celo Governance Call #72 | Jul 17th, 2025

With the above said, from my end the proposal is ready to move into the voting phase when proposer wants to move forward or consider is appropriate.

:bangbang: Remember Current Celo Governance Overview & Procedures

To proceed to the submission and voting phase at least two Celo Governance Guardians must post explicitly that the proposal fulfills the requirements to be able to move into the Voting Stage in the proposal thread on the Celo Forum.

Remember next steps

  • Submission of PR to Celo Governance Repository
    Proposers needs to fork the Celo Governance Repository and add a PR including the proposal .md file and json file.
  • Approval of PR by Celo governance Guardians and merge into main branch of Celo Governance Repository.
    Celo Guardians are responsible for conducting a comprehensive review of every Pull Request (PR) to ensure that there is complete alignment and consistency between the final proposal posted in the forum post and the specific files that are being requested to be merged.
    This review process is strictly technical in nature, focusing solely on verifying the authenticity and good faith of the proposers. It does not involve any personal opinions or biases regarding the merits or content of the proposal itself. To maintain the integrity of the Celo Governance repository, it is mandatory to obtain approval from a minimum of two Governance Guardians for each PR before it can be merged into the main branch.
  • OnChain Submission of Proposal
    After PR is merged into main Governance Repo the proposers needs to fork locally the Celo Governance Repository and submit the proposal onchain using the guidelines described in the Celo Docs.

CC: Governance Working Group (@annaalexa @Wade @0xGoldo)

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Also from my perspective, the proposal now meets all the necessary requirements:

It has been posted on the Celo Forum and remained open for discussion for at least seven (7) days.

It was presented during Celo Governance Call #72 on Jul 17th, 2025, and the feedback received has been addressed.

With that in mind, I consider the proposal ready to move to the voting phase whenever the proposer decides to proceed.

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Congrats @CPG_Stewards and team on the successful passing of CGP-194 :tada:

This proposal received overwhelming community support:

  • :white_check_mark: YES Votes: 24,639,434 (95%)
  • :cross_mark: NO Votes: 1,014,923 (4%)
  • :white_circle: Abstain Votes: 104,257 (1%)
  • :ballot_box_with_ballot: Total Votes: 25,758,614
  • :busts_in_silhouette: Total Voters: 72

:clap: Big thanks to the community for showing strong support!

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