💰 UDS Venture Fund
Backing Builders, Not Just Ideas The UDS Venture Fund exists to transform high-potential students, community contributors, and early-stage Web3 founders into DAO-funded innovators — by providing seed capital, resources, mentorship, and long-term support from our decentralized ecosystem.
🔍 What Is the UDS Venture Fund?
The UDS Venture Fund is a DAO-managed, community-powered capital engine. It is designed to support the most promising projects emerging from within our ecosystem — including student Capstones, accelerator teams, contributors, and DAO-aligned founders.
Unlike traditional grants, our fund goes further:
💡 Idea → 🧪 MVP → 📢 DAO Pitch → 🤑 Funding → 📈 Growth → 🧑💼 DAO Contributor/Delegate
Whether you're solving onchain UX, building public goods, or launching an ambitious new protocol — the UDS Venture Fund helps take your project from concept to traction, backed by both capital and community.
🎯 Our Mission
We believe that the best innovations emerge from the people closest to the problem — our students, builders, and contributors. The Venture Fund exists to:
Provide capital to the next generation of Web3 leaders
Unlock innovation within our curriculum, accelerator, and DAO
Empower the community to decide where capital flows
Support mission-aligned tools, protocols, and public goods
Bridge education and economic opportunity
🔩 How It Works
Stage
Description
Application
Projects submit proposals through the UDS Governance Portal
DAO Review
Community members and working groups review and provide feedback
Voting
Proposals are voted on via Snapshot (or other DAO tools)
Fund Disbursement
If approved, funds are unlocked from the treasury or Venture Fund pool
Milestone Reporting
Funded teams provide regular updates via dashboards and contributor reviews
Follow-On Support
Successful projects may access additional funding or join the accelerator
Projects are not judged by prestige or connections — only by clarity, traction, and alignment with the UDS mission.
🧠 Who Can Apply?
You don’t need a resume. You need a vision and proof of work. We fund:
✅ Students completing Capstone Projects
✅ Teams accepted into the UDS Accelerator or Incubator
✅ Builders and contributors active in the DAO or community
✅ External founders building public goods or infrastructure aligned with UDS
✅ Cross-project collaborations with ecosystem partners
New to UDS? You can still apply — but DAO engagement and values alignment will be assessed.
💼 What We Fund
Category
Example Use Cases
Product Development
New dApps, DeFi protocols, NFT tooling, social primitives, identity systems
Governance & DAO Tooling
Snapshot integrations, working group dashboards, coordination tools
Educational Infrastructure
New learning modules, interactive simulations, DAO literacy games
Ecosystem Utilities
Wallet UX, data dashboards, API layers, protocol explorers
Cross-DAO Collaborations
Co-funded public goods, layer-1 tooling, or mentorship-backed initiatives
📈 Funding Tiers
We support teams at every stage — from idea exploration to scalable MVP.
🎯 Tier
💸 Amount
🧭 Best For
🟢 Micro Grant
Up to $10,000
Experiments, research, testing ideas
🟡 Seed Grant
$10,000–$50,000
MVPs, audits, branding, smart contract work
🟠 Growth Grant
$50,000–$150,000+
Live products with traction and DAO utility
Larger funding rounds may require multi-phase disbursements, proposal re-evaluation, or DAO milestone voting.
🧾 Proposal Requirements
To apply for funding, teams should submit a proposal that includes:
Clear problem-solution narrative
Team bios, experience, and links
MVP or prototype (or roadmap to build one)
Budget and use-of-funds breakdown
Milestones + timeline (3–6 month window)
Tokenomics and revenue model (if applicable)
Alignment with UDS mission and how success benefits the ecosystem
Proposals that show community engagement, transparency, and learning value are prioritized.
📊 Governance & Oversight
All fund decisions are fully governed by the DAO. Our funding stack includes:
Tool/Layer
Function
Snapshot
Voting engine for all proposals
Gnosis Safe (Multisig)
Secure treasury access and disbursement
Milestone Dashboard
Public project tracking and accountability hub (coming soon)
Contributor Reviews
Community-based peer reviews of progress
DAO voters may revoke, pause, or extend funding based on milestone delivery and transparency.
🧱 Outcomes & Expectations
When we fund a project, we expect:
Delivery of stated milestones and transparency on blockers
Participation in community calls or public post-mortems
Public documentation of progress (preferably open-source)
Ongoing contribution to UDS ecosystem (if aligned)
🏆 Outstanding projects may earn follow-on support, accelerator fast-tracking, or even DAO delegate status.
🌐 Related Resources
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