The EF’s Grants Program launched in 2018 and has developed over time to change into the Ecosystem Help Program (ESP), offering grants and help 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 corresponding to developer tooling, analysis, neighborhood constructing, infrastructure, and open requirements.
In 2024 alone, ESP awarded near $3M in funding to 105 tasks and initiatives that got here by way of our open grants program webforms. These grants, that are one a part of ESP’s bigger portfolio, supported a various vary of labor, corresponding to Commit-Increase (developer tooling), BundleBear (information and analytics), Web3Bridge (training), ZK Playbook (analysis), and Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress (neighborhood occasion).
Over the previous three years, we’ve streamlined our processes to enhance effectivity. Nonetheless, as an open grants program with a lean group and broad scope, the excessive quantity of inbound purposes has consumed most of our time and sources, leaving restricted capability to pursue new strategic alternatives. As we glance forward, we’re coming into a brand new chapter the place we’ll discover adjustments that enable us to higher focus our efforts, help the neighborhood extra meaningfully, and proceed rising along with the ecosystem.
Evolving with Ethereum’s Development
The EF not too long ago articulated its imaginative and prescient and launched adjustments to its Ecosystem Improvement construction, reflecting a broader shift in the way it engages with the Ethereum ecosystem. This second affords a well timed alternative to discover the subsequent 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 growth technique, we’re refining ESP’s priorities and method. As a part of this transition, we’ve quickly paused open grant purposes. This modification will allow us time to revamp in a approach 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’ll proceed funding Ethereum public items and accepting purposes, however with a brand new method to be outlined in a future submit. Our core values stay unchanged:
Allocate sources to crucial tasks and initiatives that strengthen Ethereum’s resilience and usabilitySupport public items and open-source work that advances the Ethereum ecosystemFocus on domains corresponding to developer tooling, core and shared infrastructure, analysis, neighborhood sources, and different public items
What’s Subsequent
Whereas open grant purposes are paused, the ESP group will proceed supporting our lively grantees and stays accessible by way of Workplace Hours—for these in search of non-financial help corresponding to steering, challenge suggestions, or help find helpful sources. Please word that in this era, we is not going to be reviewing new grant purposes.
We’ll share an replace on ESP’s refined priorities and method in This autumn 2025. Within the meantime, you possibly can comply with the newest 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 an entire checklist of EF grants, take a look at the quarterly Allocation Replace posts revealed on the ESP weblog.
We stay deeply dedicated to supporting the Ethereum ecosystem and the general public items that maintain it. Whereas these adjustments mark a brand new chapter for ESP, we’re energized by the alternatives forward to higher help the unbelievable 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!
