The EF’s Grants Program launched in 2018 and has advanced over time to grow to be the Ecosystem Support Program (ESP), offering grants and assist to builders that assist the Ethereum ecosystem thrive. Our mission is to allow work that strengthens Ethereum’s foundations and empowers future builders, in domains resembling developer tooling, analysis, group constructing, infrastructure, and open requirements.
In 2024 alone, ESP awarded near $3M in funding to 105 tasks and initiatives that got here by means of our open grants program webforms. These grants, that are one a part of ESP’s bigger portfolio, supported a various vary of labor, resembling Commit-Boost (developer tooling), BundleBear (information and analytics), Web3Bridge (training), ZK Playbook (analysis), and Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress (group occasion).
Over the previous three years, we have now streamlined our processes to enhance effectivity. Nonetheless, as an open grants program with a lean staff and broad scope, the excessive quantity of inbound functions has consumed most of our time and assets, leaving restricted capability to pursue new strategic alternatives. As we glance forward, we’re getting into a brand new chapter the place we’ll discover modifications that permit us to raised focus our efforts, assist the group extra meaningfully, and proceed rising along with the ecosystem.
Evolving with Ethereum’s Progress
The EF not too long ago articulated its vision and launched modifications to its Ecosystem Development structure, reflecting a broader shift in the way it engages with the Ethereum ecosystem. This second affords a well timed alternative to discover the following iteration of ESP. Because the Ethereum ecosystem grows in scale, complexity, and visibility, our funding method should evolve alongside it.
To align extra carefully with the EF’s up to date ecosystem improvement technique, we’re refining ESP’s priorities and method. As a part of this transition, we have now quickly paused open grant functions. This variation will allow us time to revamp in a means that redirects our focus towards strategic initiatives, shifting from a reactive mannequin to a extra proactive one which additionally helps the priorities of different EF groups.
We are going to proceed funding Ethereum public items and accepting functions, however with a brand new method to be outlined in a future publish. Our core values stay unchanged:
- Allocate assets to important tasks and initiatives that strengthen Ethereum’s resilience and usefulness
- Assist public items and open-source work that advances the Ethereum ecosystem
- Deal with domains resembling developer tooling, core and shared infrastructure, analysis, group assets, and different public items
What’s Subsequent
Whereas open grant functions are paused, the ESP staff will proceed supporting our lively grantees and stays out there by means of Office Hours—for these searching for non-financial assist resembling steering, challenge suggestions, or help find helpful assets. Please notice that in this era, we is not going to be reviewing new grant functions.
We are going to share an replace on ESP’s refined priorities and method in This fall 2025. Within the meantime, you possibly can comply with the most recent EF grant bulletins and grantee challenge progress on our socials: @EF_ESP X (Twitter), @ef-esp Farcaster, @ef_esp Lens, and @ef-esp Bluesky. For a whole record of EF grants, take a look at the quarterly Allocation Replace posts printed on the ESP blog.
We stay deeply dedicated to supporting the Ethereum ecosystem and the general public items that maintain it. Whereas these modifications mark a brand new chapter for ESP, we’re energized by the alternatives forward to raised assist the unimaginable builders, researchers, and contributors driving Ethereum’s development. The way forward for Ethereum is a shared journey, and we’re excited to maneuver ahead with you!
