grants/overview-w3f

W3F Grants Complete Guide (with 24 Case Studies)

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v2.0.0·Updated 3/20/2026

Ecosystem Overview + 24 Approved Case Studies

What are W3F Grants?

Web3 Foundation is the most important funding program in the Polkadot/Substrate ecosystem, supporting infrastructure, tooling, and protocol-layer development.

Funding Levels

LevelMaximum AmountSuitable For
🐣 Level 1$10,000Individual developers/small teams/PoC
🐦 Level 2$30,000Teams with technical track record
🦅 Level 3$150,000Complete product roadmap

Application Process

  1. Fork W3F Grants Program
  2. Copy applications/application-template.md
  3. Fill out proposal (team/project description/milestones/budget)
  4. Submit PR → W3F committee review (typically 2-4 weeks)
  5. PR merge = acceptance, payments disbursed upon milestone completion

Key Elements for Successful Applications

  • Technical feasibility > creativity — Requires clear, executable technical approach
  • Milestones must be specific and verifiable — Each phase has concrete deliverables (code/documentation/tests)
  • Team background — GitHub activity, previous Web3 project experience
  • Strong relevance to Polkadot/Substrate ecosystem — Pure Ethereum projects will be rejected by W3F
  • AgriDot (Level ?): See specific case study
  • AISLAND DAO (Level ?): See specific case study
  • Reserve Labs (Level ?): See specific case study
  • Fuu (Level ?): See specific case study
  • Apron Labs (Level ?): See specific case study
  • ArtZero (Level ?): See specific case study
  • Awesome Polka (Level ?): See specific case study
  • AdMeta (Level ?): See specific case study
  • Afloat Inc. (Level ?): See specific case study
  • BCANN (Level ?): ### Overview BCANN is a protocol of assigned names & numbers & crypto-currency addresses for multi-chain.
  • Esscrypt Ltd. (2): See specific case study
  • Banksy Finance (Level ?): See specific case study
  • CESS LAB (1): See specific case study
  • Collective Intelligence Labs (2): See specific case study
  • TopMonks (Level ?): This application is a response to a [Multi-chain Block Explorer](https://github.com/w3f/Grants-Program/blob/master/rfps/

All 24 Approved Projects

  1. AgriDot — grants/w3f-agridot
  2. AISLAND DAO — grants/w3f-aisland-docsig
  3. Reserve Labs — grants/w3f-algocash
  4. Fuu — grants/w3f-anchor
  5. Apron Labs — grants/w3f-apron-network
  6. ArtZero — grants/w3f-artzero-inkwhale
  7. Awesome Polka — grants/w3f-awesome-polka
  8. AdMeta — grants/w3f-admeta
  9. Afloat Inc. — grants/w3f-afloat
  10. BCANN — grants/w3f-bcann
  11. Esscrypt Ltd. — grants/w3f-bandersnatchvrf
  12. Banksy Finance — grants/w3f-banksy-finance
  13. CESS LAB — grants/w3f-cess
  14. Collective Intelligence Labs — grants/w3f-cila-omnichain-infrastructure
  15. TopMonks — grants/w3f-calamar
  16. Cere Turnkey Private Blockchain Network — grants/w3f-cere-turnkey-private-blockchain-network
  17. Taiwan Research-based Biopharmaceutical Manufacturers Association — grants/w3f-claps
  18. CoinFabrik (Nektra S.A) — grants/w3f-coinfabrik-on-ink-integration-tests
  19. CoinFabrik (Nektra S.A) — grants/w3f-coinfabrik-on-ink-integration-tests-2
  20. CoinFabrik (Nektra S.A) — grants/w3f-coinfabrik-on-ink-integration-tests-3
  21. Mutai Solutions — grants/w3f-crowdloans-fet
  22. Cyborg Network — grants/w3f-cyborg
  23. DIA Data — grants/w3f-dia-bridge-attestation-oracle
  24. DICO Team — grants/w3f-dico

Reference Resources