There are less than two weeks left to apply for Wave 4 of the XRPL Grants! Have questions about the application process? The latest AMA (Ask Me Anything) features Emmaline, XRPL Grants program manager, to answer questions from the community Discord.
Below is the full transcript of the AMA ⬇️
Tooty: GM @everyone ☕
Join me in welcoming @Emmaline_XRPLGrants, here to answer your 🔥 burning questions about Wave 4 of XRPL Grants.
Thank you for joining us for this AMA! If anybody has a question, please send it over to #ama-questions and I will see them! This channel will be locked for the duration of the AMA 🙂
Hey @Emmaline_XRPLGrants, hope you are doing well today 💃 To start, would you mind introducing yourself and sharing a bit about what you do at Ripple?
Emmaline_XRPLGrants:
Hi all! I’m Emmaline, one of the Program Managers for the the XRPL Grants program, and I’ve been at Ripple for about 9 months! I co-run the program, along with Julia, who some of you may have met before. Happy to be here!
Tooty:
Awesome, thank you so much! Excited to have this chance to chat a bit about the grants program with you today 😁
We collected a few from the community in advance, but also feel free to ask any additional questions in the ❓・ama-questions channel!
Alright how about we begin with our first question. There are multiple segments of the evaluation like Infrastructure, Sustainability, UX etc. How is the process for these segments different, and is there a funding emphasis (differing slices of the overall pie) on specific segments in Wave 4?
Emmaline_XRPLGrants:
All applications are reviewed equally, and there are no specific reviews or funding slices associated with the project categories. We just use those to track the types of applications we receive!
There are, however, different tracks under Wave 4 (General, Sustainability-focused, Women/NB-led, and projects from HBCUs), but they are different applications, and they aren’t necessarily being weighed against each other.
Tooty:
Much appreciated, that makes sense🙂
Can we put 2 or 3 different functions/capabilities that we'd like to build in the same XRPL Grant application?
Emmaline_XRPLGrants: We will only fund one project per team in a single wave of grants. If the functionalities are milestones that fall under a single project scope, that’s fine, but they should all relate to the same project scope. You can indicate this in the required milestones doc (template provided) to show how they relate to the broader project.
Tooty:
Stepping back a bit, one question I've seen asked by many people lately is, are these grants exclusively dev-related?
Emmaline_XRPLGrants: Yes, the Grants program is only for software developers looking to build on the XRPL. The purpose is to support and encourage the development of new software projects on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and help foster the growing XRPL developer community.
Tooty:
As a quick follow up to this question, I know some people are confused about the difference between developer grants and Ripple’s Creator Fund. Could you briefly explain the difference between the two programs for everyone?
Emmaline_XRPLGrants:
The Grants program is exclusively for technical development on the XRPL. All teams must have at least one experienced software developer.
The Creator Fund is open to non-technical indie creators. It is focused on musicians, artists, etc. for projects that are centered around non-technical IP (e.g. music album, artwork, film, etc.). Further, the CF is not run by the Grants program staff. The best place to find out information about it is ripple.com/creatorfund or the #creator-fund channel in the Discord.
The Creator Fund is enabling a global community of NFT creators to bring their projects to the XRP Ledger.
Tooty:
Thank you so much for that! Alright moving on to the next question.
To apply, requirements say, "You should have, at a minimum, a rudimentary prototype we can see on GitHub." What should i do if the code is not open source?
Emmaline_XRPLGrants:
Please share your private repo with the members of the XRPL Grants review team that are listed under the GitHub question. We may request additional access for more reviewers as we move an application through the process. All information is kept private within the XRPL Grants review process, and we will not share any private code outside of this.
However, we really encourage you to share a public repo, if possible. It makes the review process much easier for our committee! 😁
Tooty:
The Grants page states applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, does this mean most applicants will receive feedback before October?
Emmaline_XRPLGrants:
We are reviewing applications as they come in and are doing our best to respond in the order they are received. Depending on when applications are submitted, we are aiming to have a response within 2 weeks. We are anticipating having all applications reviewed and interviews complete by the end of November.
Tooty:
Amazing! What are some themes being considered for the next waves of the Grants [program]?
Emmaline_XRPLGrants:
As always, any technical project focused on building on the XRPL will be considered! But in 2023, we are looking at a DeFi-focused Wave and potentially expanding to some geographic areas! Sign up for email updates at xrplgrants.org, and you’ll be the first to know 👀!
Tooty:
I personally love all things DeFi, so I'm super excited for that 🙌
Alright, I've seen a few questions from the community that I would like to get to 😁
Our project has no code yet, because that's the next step in our journey. So nothing for GitHub besides artwork. Once development for our website starts, we'll have something. Been creating on the XRPL close to a year and a grant would help us progress even further. Serious project here but without a GitHub I feel like won't be taken seriously, is that correct?
Emmaline_XRPLGrants:
It sounds like this project may be better suited for the Creator Fund, if it is focused on artwork. The Grants program is exclusively for developers building on XRPL, so we do require code to show that the team is capable of building the project.
Tooty:
Hello, we have submitted a cross-currency prototype, can we get some feedback regarding any info about our application, to continue building on a more oriented path, or to change something that was not right, from the beginning? Thank you guys.
Emmaline_XRPLGrants:
Unfortunately, we are unable to provide specific feedback on project ideas or allow for substantive editing of applications. In some cases, we have allowed for clarifying information, based on questions from reviewers.
Tooty:
What happens when budgets fall between funding bucket sizes like 75k, 100k?
Emmaline_XRPLGrants:
That is fine! You will have to provide a detailed budget, as well as budget against the planned milestones, so you can indicate this. We have funded projects historically that fall between the ranges. You can indicate this in both your budget and your project narrative. When it come to selecting the button in the budget question, I suggest choosing the one that is closest to your actual request.
Tooty:
Perfect, thank you!
What can our team do to best prepare and make it easy for the review process to be frictionless?
Emmaline_XRPLGrants:
The best advice I have is to very carefully read all of the instructions provided. We have provided a lot of guiding questions and helpful tips inside of the application. The best way to make sure it’s a frictionless review for us is to make sure that all aspects of the application are included and completely filled out. That way, we don't have to go back to an applicant and ask for missing pieces or additional information, and can pass to the next review round easy peasy! 😁
Tooty:
If we have another project that is more appropriate for the Creator Fund, and we have applied for the wave 4 the XRPL Grants program, should we not apply for the creative grant?
Emmaline_XRPLGrants:
You are welcome to apply for both if you have a software-focused project and an art-focused project. The teams are separate and we don’t weigh applications against each other.
Tooty:
We would like to build an application for the XRPL, but we're not sure if it will end up being a web app or an Electron desktop app (because of security concerns) - would we need to have decided that before submitting our application?
Emmaline_XRPLGrants:
That’s totally fine! You can indicate this in your project narrative. By the time we move the application through the process, we hope you will have come closer to an answer. But in the initial application, please just provide as much information as possible, including why you’re thinking about either option!
Tooty:
Can developers work on more than one project being submitted to the XRPL Grant program?
Emmaline_XRPLGrants:
Yes, technically developers can work on multiple Wave 4 projects at the same time, but they can only be the project lead for one.
Tooty:
What does the evaluation team look for/at in the code repo? Do I have to be a pro developer?
Emmaline_XRPLGrants:
They are evaluating your and your team’s ability to complete the proposed project. Reviewers are looking for overall effort, not just base code. Your code must be more than a skeleton and cannot be a copy of an example. Reviewers will be looking at your commits, in addition to your overall code.
Overall, technical capability and passion for the project! They want to see that you have taken time to really build out your project code and have put in the effort to provide as much initial info as possible.
Tooty:
Awesome, thank you so much for that!
We are nearing the end of our time here today, so I'll pick one or two more questions before we end the AMA 🙂
How much code needs to be completed because initially your team said only a day work of coding was the requirement and that doesn’t seem to work if you need more than base code to qualify.
Emmaline_XRPLGrants:
Before submitting this application, you should have, at a minimum, a rudimentary prototype we can see on GitHub. The minimum is at least a few days of work (e.g. proof of concept created over the course of a weekend or during a hackathon).
If you do not have the above, please take the time to build out a repository with your project. We will not fund projects that are just an idea or do not show sufficient initial work.
However, if it is an existing project, such that you already have a previously-built beta or release, you can use that! Just make sure it is open sourced on GitHub first. The prototype does not need to be fully functional. For some projects, technical specifications and preview documentation may be sufficient.
Tooty:
Alright this will be our final question for the day, following the AMA this channel will be unlocked again for grant discussions if anyone has further questions.
If XRPL Grant applications are provided an answer by the end of November(ish) - approximately how long would it take for successful applications to receive funding?
Emmaline_XRPLGrants:
The payments process can take a little time, as we require additional compliance screenings, etc., but we are aiming to have all Wave 4 grants paid out by the end of the year! We appreciate patience while we process the grant payments 🙂
Tooty:
Thank you so much for taking time to chat about the XRPL Grants program today with us @Emmaline_XRPLGrants 🙌
If you have any closing words you would like to share, please feel free to do so. Also if you wouldn't mind, whats the best and easiest way for everyone to stay up-to-date about the Grants program?**
Emmaline_XRPLGrants:
Thank you @Tooty!! In closing, we are really excited for all of the incoming applications! We've had the opportunity to fund super interesting projects that are making a real impact on the XRPL community and ecosystem, and we are looking forward to funding more!
Reminder that the deadline for Wave 4 is October 14th, so please submit ahead of that! Visit XRPLGrants.org to learn even more and apply!!
Learn more about XRPL Grants and apply by October 14 2022, 11:59 pm PST on xrplgrants.org and join the conversation on the XRPL Developers Discord.
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