F10: Catalyst Open

This Challenge is for small, low-budget ideas that don’t fit any other Challenge in the Fund. 

Proposals can be related to any industry or use-case, whether technical or non-technical. They can be a self-contained small idea, or a project to conduct exploratory research for something bigger. Catalyst Open also supports the open-source ecosphere - proposals in it must be open-source.

Catalyst Open proposals must be:

• small (maximum ₳ 75,000). Note that the minimum of ₳ 15,000 applies here too, as for all proposals.
• short (up to 6 months long)
• open source 
• unable to fit into any other Fund 10 challenge.

Why it’s important

Catalyst Open aims to seed the ideas which might, in time, grow the ADA economy and inform our future funding priorities. It’s all about exploring the gaps where Catalyst innovation funding hasn’t reached yet.

We don’t want to miss out on great ideas because they’re new, or because they fall outside the mainstream of the other Challenges. Perhaps they need foundational research to convince voters of their value; or perhaps they simply need a home to ensure continuity. Catalyst Open ensures they have a place to be proposed.

Your proposal should:

• explain how your project will benefit the Cardano ecosystem
• explain whether your idea is stand-alone, or whether it will require further development longer-term, after your Catalyst Open project is complete (both possibilities are OK) 
• explain how your approach is open-source
• explain how you will share your outputs (for example, a litepaper/white paper for a research proposal, or another form of publicly-accessible documentation to showcase your outputs)
• include a brief, clear rationale to confirm that your proposal does not fit any other challenge in Fund 10.