The Starknet Foundation has recently announced the launch of a significant initiative, the $5 million Seed Grants Program, denominated in USDC, aimed at accelerating the development of emerging projects on its network.
This program intends to offer crucial financial support to approximately 200 emerging teams, with each team receiving a grant of $25,000. The primary focus is to assist projects in their final stages, helping them overcome the challenges typically faced during the last phase of development to successfully launch on Starknet.
Starknet operates as an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution utilizing zero-knowledge rollup technology, which has been gaining momentum among developers seeking efficient scaling solutions.
Diego Oliva, CEO of the Starknet Foundation, highlighted the rationale behind this significant financial commitment, stating, “We’ve been closely listening to developers and understanding the primary challenges they encounter. We're talking about highly creative individuals with visionary ideas who require support to overcome the final hurdles and transition their projects into production. Hence, we have initiated this program with the aim of directly addressing these challenges with minimal bureaucratic hurdles.”
This statement underscores the foundation’s strategic approach to fostering a conducive development environment and expediting project completion.
The program is specifically geared towards Starknet-associated projects that have already developed a minimum viable product (MVP) or proof-of-concept, signifying readiness for the next phase of growth.
Oliva further emphasized, “In essence, our goal is to lower the barriers and burdens faced by budding teams contemplating project initiation. We aim to pave the way for innovation,” indicating the foundation's commitment to reducing entry barriers for newcomers and stimulating innovation within the blockchain ecosystem.
The increasing interest in Starknet is evident from the growing number of developers engaging with its ecosystem. According to Electric Capital’s 2023 Developer Report, the total monthly developers associated with Starknet surged to over 22,400 by December 2023, reflecting a notable increase of more than 113% since December 2020.
Notably, blockchain gaming has emerged as a significant area of growth and application within the Starknet and broader blockchain environment. Oliva commented on the exciting developments in this sector, stating, “Starknet is at the forefront of fully on-chain gaming, with notable projects such as Realms, Influence, and Dojo leading the way. This sector is witnessing rapid growth, with more teams adopting the Dojo standard and building on Starknet. Gaming holds significance not only for gamers but also for everyone as it tests the network's capabilities and showcases its potential.”
According to DappRadar, blockchain gaming accounts for 35% of total decentralized application activity, attracting over 2.2 million daily unique active wallets, underscoring the substantial impact and potential of gaming on blockchain platforms.
May 2024, Cryptoniteuae