We want to thank everyone who took the time to read our post and share feedback - some really thoughtful and fresh ideas have come through. A few are immediately actionable for these final weeks of Season 1, while others would be great to explore if Prezenti is involved in Season 2 (especially ideas around encouraging deeper collaboration between teams).
Your comments were spot on and echoed our concerns. The current design of Prezenti Season 1 is trying to address two very different goals: supporting smaller, early-stage Celo-native teams and attracting larger, external protocols. Those are distinct priorities, and you’re right that applying the same “instrument and thresholds” to both doesn’t quite fit.
At Prezenti, we want to give grants, we want to give all the allotted funds as grants - to keep supporting Celo and its builders. We’re fundamentally a Celo service provider, and this commitment is everything we do. Ultimately, our sole goal is to help Celo which is why we have been agile and adapted over the last several years. To ensure we can deliver meaningful support in Season 1, we’re proposing the following immediate adjustments:
Proposed updates for the remainder of Season 1:
- Extend the open round deadline from 10 December 2025 to 31st December 2025 to make the most of the time remaining in the season.
- Maintain the current Celo Foundation criteria, with a minimum of 10,000 daily tx’s (as outlined in [this forum post]) around daily transaction thresholds and team stages (minimum being ~10,000 daily transactions) but this won’t be strict and if an application falls close enough (~15%) to the specified criteria we will consider it.
- Remove the fixed cUSD amounts ($25k Growth / $50k Scale) to allow for more flexibility in matching funding to team capacity and impact - especially for those driving significant transaction or volume to Celo. This would be discretionary and determined by the value added to Seasonal intents and prospective grantees.
- Review and refresh application forms to reflect these updates. The Boost application has already been revised to better align with the Foundation’s direction.
- Engage in Season 2 planning - to help shape new criteria and identify how Prezenti can best support both larger, external players and grassroots Celo teams.
One theme that emerged clearly and that we fully agree with is that the ideal long-term setup may look like closer coordination between Foundation Business Development (BD) and an external granting entity. Foundation BD has the relationships, reach, and ability to bring in major partners, but the Foundation doesn’t currently have the resources or appetite to facilitate grants directly. A structure where BD drives ecosystem growth and a dedicated external grants entity operationalizes funding could strike the right balance and set Celo up strongly for future Seasons.
We’re grateful for everyone’s insights and collaboration - this feedback loop is exactly what makes the Celo ecosystem strong.
Lastly, we would love if we could get feedback about Prezenti in an anonymous way with this survey: Prezenti: Season 1 feedback Please feel free to share!