Emerging Artist Growth Fund
03.05.2023
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Ari Swap
1420 Celebration Blvd
Celebration, Fl. 34747
Overview
Ari Swap seeks to support emerging artists and creators by establishing a $300k fund. This fund will be used to support artists who have a strong community of followers and who can influence others to learn about blockchain and Celo. The program will last for 12 months, during which time we will track new user growth and revenue growth. Additionally, we will host in-person events to promote the program and showcase the work of the artists. We will focus on artists who have a community of at least 10k and are highly active. Artists and digital creators that can bring new engaged users to the Celo ecosystem and that are aligned with the mission
Goals
- To support emerging artists and creators who have a community of followers and can promote blockchain and Celo to their followers.
- To increase the number of users on the Celo network.
- Goal is for each artist to be on board and to add 10% of their community to Celo via Valora wallet and on Ari platform. (1000 new users per artist with a goal of retaining 100 as active ecosystem participation)
- To generate revenue for the Celo ecosystem and introduce to partner projects
- To create a community of artists who are interested in blockchain and Celo.
- Partner with Arbor Day Foundation
- Partner with Refi projects in Celo ecosystem
Milestones
Month 1-2:
- Establish the selection process for artists and creators. Mission aligned and with a minimum of 10k followers or more that are engaged. $25k is the ask for this first milestone
- Launch a call for artists and creators to apply for funding.
- Host an informational event to promote the program and attract potential artists and creators.
- Evaluate applications and select the first group of artists to receive funding. Will select 5 artists/creators.
- Each artist selected will produce a special piece of either digital or physical art. The art will represent a pillar of Celo and our mission. Nature, environment, and/or culture. In addition each artist will create a special community token that will engage their community. (Free to mint of 2 Celo to mint)
- Each piece will also generate towards offsets, impact, or conservation
- Each artist will have a goal to bring at least 200 users to the ecosystem. This will initially be done through sending 2 celo to members of their community through Valora wallet and creating a profile on Ari. Goal for this milestone is to add a minimum of 1000 new wallets
Month 3-4:
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$100k to be released upon successful completion of first Milestone
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Host an in-person event to showcase the work of the artists and promote the program to a wider audience. Mint new art in Ari as well as create potential for fractional community tokens of artists to engage their community and introduce them to Celo. This will be open to the artist’s entire community.
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The event will focus on new artists and digital artists as well as their communities. Goal is to engage non blockchain artists and a large community of artists from different chains.
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Track the number of new users who have joined the Celo network as a result of the program. Anticipate 1% of each artist community to join the ecosystem. This means 100 new ecosystem members per artist we are on board with potential to scale greater results with more engaged communities.
Month 5-6:
- $25k based on successful completion of previous milestones
- Provide additional funding to the first group of artists based on their progress and performance. This will be used to send Celo via Valora to engage and attract new users into the ecosystem. Each user will be asked to download the Valora to receive Celo as well as create a profile on Ari
- Host a second in-person event to showcase the work of the artists.
- This event will be free for those that show they have a Valora wallet and profile on Ari. In addition this event will seek engagement of other ecosystem projects as a sponsor and event host. These partners will share with the community their projects and mission to help scale further and gain further engagement of Celo native projects. We will look at Impact Marker, Toucan, Carbon Path, Valora, Talent Protocol, and others. The goal will be for each project to engage with these potential and current community members and expand offerings and ecosystem growth
Month 7-8:
- $50k based on successful completion of previous milestones
- Evaluate applications for a second group of artists to receive funding.
- Same criteria as the first batch of artists. Mission aligned. Minimum of 10k followers in their community that are actively engaged. A mix of non blockchain and blockchain communities.
- Each artist will send 2 celo to a minimum of 500 community members through Valora wallet and each will set up a profile on Ari. 2500 total new Valora wallets with a goal of 500 active new community wallets will be created
- Each artist will make a special piece and a community token same as the first batch of artists.
- The goal of the community token will be to add an additional 2000 community members
- A portion of the funds in this milestone will be used to purchase art from artists in vulnerable communities or living below the poverty line. This art will then be used to back $Ari and will remain in the treasury for 1 year.
Month 9-12
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$100k based on successful completion of previous milestones
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Host various virtual educational Web3 clinics with the support of all artists in the program. Provide education and resources on building a Web3 community and the benefits they can leverage from mobile first ecosystems and platforms such as Valora and Ari. Each member of these sessions will be sent 2 Celo through Valora. Goal is to add 1000 new wallets into the ecosystem
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Host a final event focused on every artist in the program as well as the art purchased by Ari and the fund. This event will be free to all Valora wallets that have a profile on Ari. Similar to the previous event we will look for Celo Native projects to co-sponsor. In addition we will seek to attract Web2 communities and businesses. This event will also house an art challenge. Each participant will create a piece in 1 hour and each will be minted on Ari using Valora wallet. Each will be listed and the community will vote on the winning artist. That artist will receive $10k in cUSD as well as $5k in which they will decide on donation to one of our partner funds of GIEE, Arbor Foundation, Manatee Fund, Toucan, Carbon Path, or Impact Market
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The goal from this event is to add an additional 1000 wallets into the ecosystem.
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Evaluate the overall success of the program in terms of new user growth and revenue generation. In total the goal will be to bring in a total of 50,000 new wallet addresses
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Publish a report detailing the program’s impact and outlining potential future initiatives.
Budget
Total of $300k to the program
- $5,000 Community send through Valora
- $25,000 Total to artist
- $20,000 Towards purchase of art from artist in vulnerable communities
- $150,000 in events and hosting virtual education
- $25,000 Marketing and advertising
- $25,000 in join/complete to earn
- $25,000 legal and misc expenses
- $15,000 Art Challenge prize
- $10,000 To be distributed to members of the team after successful completion of each milestone.
Conclusion
The Ari Emerging Artist and Creator Fund will not only support emerging artists and creators but also help promote blockchain and Celo to a wider audience. The in-person events will provide a platform for artists to showcase their work and help create a community of artists, collectors, and users who are interested in blockchain and Celo. Through this program, we aim to increase the number of users on the Celo network and generate revenue for the Celo ecosystem. In order to support the greater mission of Celo we understand that it takes active users and money. The most active chains have the most active Web3, NFT, and creator ecosystem. By bringing the creator and Web3 economy to the forefront we can deepen the roots in Celo to bring about to full Evolution and growth of ReFi and true conditions of Prosperity for All
The artist putting this together has a solid 22k following and most attendees will be traditional artist. This is us starting. 
Sorry for the delay as I had a scary moment as a father and our youngest is now home and recovering. For those that have responded and to those that had questions during our May 30th governance call, we will have the info in the repo! Again, thank you and we apologize for the delay.