Activating 100k Users: First Cardano Wallet & Tx

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

Activating 100k Users: First Cardano Wallet & Tx

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

60000

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

6

[Proposal Summary] Translation Information

Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated

No

Original Language

en

[Proposal Summary] Problem Statement

What is the problem you want to solve?

After creating Cardano awareness for 100k+ students, the key problem is the gap between knowledge and action. Without hands-on wallet skills, this massive potential remains off-chain.

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.herma.apps.textbooks
,
• https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Herma+plc

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

No dependencies

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

Yes

License and Additional Information

All educational tutorials developed in the project will be released as open source content. We will license these materials under the MIT License to ensure they are freely available for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. This approach supports widespread educational access and community contributions to the tutorials.

[Theme Selection] Theme

Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal

Training

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Who you’re targeting, how you’ll reach them, and why this matters for Cardano.

Target Audience: the project targets over 100,000 students, with a specific focus on the 50,000+ active monthly users of our existing educational app. The audience is described as young, tech-savvy students.

Outreach Strategy: we will reaching this audience is by integrating the new features directly into our existing, trusted educational app. The strategy involves: In-App Integration, incentivized Onboarding, targeted Promotion, community Workshops.

Importance for Cardano: Drives Mass User Activation, Establishes a Strategic Foothold, Cultivates Future Talent, Provides Demonstrable ROI

Provide a list of key activities of your project?

Our project's key activities are structured across three main milestones:

• Content Creation & Planning
• Application Development & Integration
• Testing & Quality Assurance
• Launch & Community Engagement
• Reporting & Dissemination

What are your success metrics?

We will measure success using a combination of quantitative and qualitative metrics, with a primary focus on verifiable on-chain activity.

• Primary Key Performance Indicator (KPI): The number of unique wallets that successfully complete the 1 ADA premium upgrade transaction.

• Quantitative Metrics: User Engagement Funnel, Premium Feature Adoption, User Retention

• Qualitative Metrics: In-App User Feedback, User Surveys, Community Testimonials.

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

Our Perception of the Problem

While our successfully funded Phase 1 project built foundational Cardano awareness for over 100,000 students in Ethiopia, we've identified that awareness alone does not create an active user. The single greatest barrier preventing these curious learners from becoming participants is the perceived complexity and risk of their first on-chain interaction. They have the theoretical knowledge but lack a safe, guided, practical first step. This project is designed to solve that exact problem.

Our Approach: Bridging the Gap from Theory to Practice

Our solution is to transform our existing educational app—a trusted platform with over 50,000 active monthly student users—into an interactive onboarding ramp to the Cardano ecosystem. We will achieve this by integrating a seamless user journey that guides students through creating their first wallet and executing their first real transaction in a low-risk, high-reward environment.

The User Journey: From Learner to On-Chain Participant

We have designed a simple, four-step journey to convert passive knowledge into active engagement:

1. Guided Wallet Creation: Within our app, students will find new, easy-to-follow tutorials. These guides will demystify the process of setting up their first self-custody Cardano wallet (e.g., Lace, Eternl), empowering them with the foundational tool for participation.

2. The First Transaction Challenge: We will introduce a clear call to action: "Unlock Premium Access for just 1 ADA." This isn't just a paywall; it's a practical, hands-on learning exercise. The app will guide them through the process of sending 1 ADA to a designated address, providing them with the invaluable experience and confidence of making their first successful on-chain transaction.

3. Immediate & Valuable Rewards: Upon completing their 1 ADA transaction, the user's account is instantly upgraded to Premium status. This unlocks a suite of valuable features designed to incentivize their action and deepen their engagement:

• Ad-Free Learning: An uninterrupted educational experience.
• Advanced Quizzes: Interactive tests to reinforce their blockchain knowledge.
• Exclusive Content & Community Access: Entry into advanced learning modules and user-only discussion forums.

1. Sustained Engagement: The premium features and community access create a powerful reason for students to remain active, continue their learning, and explore other aspects of the Cardano ecosystem.

What Makes Our Solution Unique and Effective?

• Leverages a Massive, Existing User Base: We are not starting from zero. We are activating a pre-existing, engaged audience of over 50,000 active students, representing one of the most cost-effective user acquisition strategies in the ecosystem.
• Low-Friction Onboarding: The "First Transaction Challenge" removes the fear associated with using a blockchain for the first time by making the process guided, low-cost (1 ADA), and immediately rewarding.
• Creates a Sustainable Funnel: This isn't a one-time event. Our app will become an evergreen engine for continuously onboarding new Ethiopian students to Cardano as our user base grows.

Beneficiaries and Importance to Cardano

1. Who Benefits: Students in Ethiopia will gain tangible, real-world skills in blockchain and digital finance, empowering them to participate in the global digital economy and positioning them as the next generation of tech talent.

2. Why This is Important for Cardano: This project provides immense value by:

• Driving Mass User Activation: This initiative has the potential to create tens of thousands of new, active wallets on the Cardano network, directly increasing on-chain activity.
• Establishing a Grassroots Foothold: It solidifies Cardano's presence in Ethiopia, a key strategic region, by embedding it within the daily educational tools of its youth.
• Cultivating Future Talent: We are not just creating users; we are nurturing future developers, entrepreneurs, SPOs, and DReps who will build on and govern the Cardano of tomorrow.
• Providing Demonstrable Metrics: Success isn't just a hope; it's measurable through new wallet activations, on-chain transactions, and user engagement data, offering a clear return on investment for the community.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

This project moves beyond passive education to deliver tangible, measurable growth for the Cardano ecosystem. By converting our massive user base of learners into active participants, we provide clear value in four key areas:

1. Value to the Cardano Community

• Activating a New Generation of On-Chain Users: Our primary impact will be the mass activation of new users. We are not just teaching theory; we are guiding tens of thousands of young, tech-savvy students in Ethiopia to create their first wallet and execute their first transaction, turning them into genuine on-chain participants.
• Generating Verifiable On-Chain Growth Metrics: Unlike projects focused solely on awareness, our success is visible directly on the blockchain. Each 1 ADA premium upgrade is a new user making a real transaction, providing the community with concrete, verifiable data on user acquisition and network growth.
• Cultivating a Future Talent Pool: We are building a foundational talent pipeline in Addis Ababa and across Ethiopia. These newly empowered students are the future developers, entrepreneurs, SPOs, and DReps who will build, innovate, and govern the Cardano ecosystem for years to come.
• Creating a Scalable & Replicable Onboarding Model: We are creating a successful "playbook" for user activation. By proving this model of in-app, incentive-driven onboarding, we provide a template that other educational platforms around the world can adopt to bring their users to Cardano.

2. Measuring Our Impact

We are committed to transparently measuring our project's success through a combination of on-chain data and direct user feedback.

Our Primary Key Performance Indicator (KPI) will be

• The number of unique wallets that complete the 1 ADA premium upgrade transaction.

Quantitative Metrics

• User Engagement Funnel: We will track the percentage of our 50,000+ active users who start the tutorials, create a wallet, and complete the 1 ADA transaction.
• Premium Feature Adoption: We'll monitor completion rates for our premium quizzes and advanced courses to measure continued engagement after the first transaction.
• User Retention: We will measure how many activated users remain active in the app's community features on a monthly basis.

Qualitative Metrics

• In-App Feedback: Users will be able to rate each tutorial and provide immediate feedback, allowing us to iterate and improve the experience continuously.
• User Surveys: We will conduct pre- and post-launch surveys to measure the increase in students' confidence and practical knowledge regarding blockchain transactions.
• Community Testimonials: We will collect and share stories from students about their first experience with Cardano, providing a human element to our impact data.

3. Sharing Our Success

Our goal is to ensure the benefits of this project extend far beyond our direct user base. We will share our outputs and learnings with the entire Cardano community.

• Public Impact Dashboard & Final Report: We will create a public page on our website with regularly updated key metrics (e.g., number of wallets activated). At the project's conclusion, we will publish a comprehensive report detailing our strategies, full results, and key learnings.
• Open-Source Educational Playbook: We will package our tutorials, quiz content, and strategic framework into an open-source "playbook" under an MIT License. This will allow other projects, both in Cardano and beyond, to freely use and adapt our successful onboarding model.
• Community Workshops: We will host both online webinars and local meetups here in Addis Ababa to present our findings and share best practices with other developers, educators, and community builders like as we hosted on phase 1.

[Your Project and Solution] Capabilities & Feasibility

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Our Capability: A Proven Team with Unmatched Reach

Our team is uniquely positioned to deliver this project with excellence. Our capability is not just a promise; it is demonstrated by our established track record and strategic assets here in Addis Ababa.

• Proven Catalyst Delivery: Our capability is best proven by our successful delivery of the Fund 11 project, "Cardano for 100,000+ students." (https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/11/cardano-open-ecosystem/cardano-for-100000-students)) We met our milestones, managed funds responsibly, and built a massive audience, establishing deep trust within both the Catalyst and local Ethiopian communities. This Phase 2 is a direct continuation of that success.
• Unmatched Reach and Existing Infrastructure: Our primary asset is our live educational app with over 50,000 active monthly users. Unlike projects that need to build an audience from scratch, we have a direct, established channel to tens of thousands of students. This drastically de-risks the project and ensures immediate impact.
• Expert Local Team: Our core team is based here in Addis Ababa and possesses an intimate understanding of the Ethiopian student demographic. Our blend of technical expertise (led by Tadesse), specialized content curation, and robust development is perfectly tailored to this project's needs.
• Cardano Certified: Our project lead is a Cardano Blockchain Certified Associate (CBCA), ensuring our educational content and technical implementation align perfectly with Cardano's principles and standards.

Trust & Accountability: Our Commitment to the Community

We understand that managing community funds is a great responsibility. We guarantee accountability through the following transparent processes:

• Transparent Fund Management: All project funds will be held in a dedicated, publicly disclosed Cardano wallet. We will maintain a detailed public ledger of all expenditures, linking each transaction to its corresponding budget item, ensuring any community member can verify how their funds are being used.
• Milestone Based Public Reporting: We will provide milestone based progress reports on our company Linkedin account and in the Project Catalyst Ethiopia Telegram group. These reports will detail our progress, key metrics achieved, challenges faced, and a clear breakdown of funds spent.
• Open Communication Channels: Our project lead will be consistently available through Telegram and Linkedin to answer community questions, provide updates, and ensure we remain accountable to our stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle.

Validation & Feasibility: A Data-Driven Approach

Our approach is validated by the success of our first phase and will be refined using a data-driven methodology.

1. Phased Beta Testing: Before a full public launch, we will conduct a two-week beta test with a cohort of 50 students from our existing user base at Addis Ababa University. We will analyze user behavior, completion rates, and gather direct feedback to resolve any issues and optimize the user journey.

2. Continuous Feedback Loop: The app will feature built-in, non-intrusive feedback mechanisms allowing users to rate tutorials and report issues. This data will be reviewed weekly by the project team to make rapid, iterative improvements.

3. Proactive Risk Management: We have identified and planned for potential challenges:

• Risk 1: Wallet UI Changes. Popular wallets like Eternl may update their interface, making our tutorials obsolete.
  • Mitigation: We will design our tutorials in a modular format for easy updates. A small portion of the contingency budget is allocated for content maintenance throughout 2025.
• Risk 2: Low Adoption of the 1 ADA Feature. Students may hesitate to acquire and send their first ADA.
  • Mitigation: During the beta test, we will A/B test different in-app messages to find the most effective call to action. We will also create a simple guide on the safest ways to acquire a small amount of ADA in Ethiopia.
• Risk 3: Technical Bugs During Launch. A surge of new users could reveal unforeseen bugs.
  • Mitigation: Our launch will be preceded by a rigorous QA process, and our lead developer will be on dedicated standby during the first 72 hours of launch to address any critical issues immediately.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Foundation & Content Creation

Milestone Outputs

To finalize the project strategy and create all the necessary educational content required to guide students from theory to on-chain action.

Outputs:

• Comprehensive Project Plan: A detailed public document outlining the full project timeline, development sprints, marketing strategy, and risk mitigation plan.
• Wallet Tutorial Content: A complete set of user-friendly video and text-based tutorials for creating and managing Cardano wallets (focusing on Yoroi/Eternl or Lace).
• Interactive Quiz Module: The complete question bank and logic for the interactive quizzes that will be integrated into the app to reinforce learning.

Acceptance Criteria

• A public link to the final Project Plan is shared with the community.
• A link to a public repository (e.g., GitHub, Google Drive) is provided, containing the final video files and written scripts for all wallet tutorials.
• A video walkthrough demonstrates the functional quiz module in a test environment, ready for integration.

Evidence of Completion

• Link to the final project plan
• Google drive or github link to tutorial video's
• Link to demo quiz module

Delivery Month

2

Cost

18000

Progress

30 %

Milestone Title

App Development & Beta Testing

Milestone Outputs

To fully integrate all new features into our existing application and conduct rigorous beta testing with a select group of students to ensure a seamless user experience.

Outputs:

• Fully Integrated Features: The wallet tutorials, interactive quizzes, and the 1 ADA premium upgrade mechanism are coded and integrated into a functional beta version of our app.
• Beta Testing Program: A structured testing phase with at least 100 students from our existing user base here in Addis Ababa.
• Feedback & Bug Report: A summary document detailing the feedback, bug reports, and planned adjustments gathered from the beta testing phase.

Acceptance Criteria

• A test version of the app is provided to Catalyst for review, showcasing all new integrated features.
• A video screencast is produced demonstrating the end-to-end user journey: a user watches a tutorial, creates a wallet, and successfully completes the 1 ADA transaction to unlock premium features.
• A public link to the Beta Testing Feedback Report is shared.

Evidence of Completion

• Link to the new version of the app
• Video link of the demonstration journey
• Link to users/beta tester feedback report

Delivery Month

4

Cost

18000

Progress

60 %

Milestone Title

Public Launch & Community Onboarding

Milestone Outputs

To deploy the fully tested and refined application to our entire user base and execute our marketing campaign to drive adoption of the new features.

Outputs:

• Live App Update: The new version of the application is successfully published and live on the Google Play Store.
• Launch Marketing Campaign: A multi-channel promotional campaign is executed across social media and through our partner networks to inform users of the new features.
• First Onboarding Workshop: The first of our community workshops is held to support the launch and assist new users.

Acceptance Criteria

• A public link to the updated application on the Google Play Store is provided.
• Links to our launch announcements and promotional materials are shared.
• A brief summary report, including photos or a short video clip from the first onboarding workshop, is published.

Evidence of Completion

• New version release on google play
• Announcements and promotions posted on social media
• Link to summary report

Delivery Month

5

Cost

12000

Progress

80 %

Milestone Title

Project Completion Report & Video

Milestone Outputs

To provide a comprehensive summary of the project's performance, outcomes, and impact, fulfilling all Catalyst close-out requirements.

Outputs:

• Comprehensive Final Project Report: A detailed document outlining the project's achievements against its goals, final metrics (KPIs), and key learnings.
• Project Showcase Video: A 3-5 minute video summarizing the project's journey, showcasing the app's new features in action, and featuring testimonials from student users.

Acceptance Criteria

• The Final Report prepared based on the Cardano catalyst guideline and submitted to the Catalyst team.
• The final 2-5 min showcase video is uploaded to YouTube, and the link is provided.
• Link to final report

Evidence of Completion

• Final project closeout report based on the Catalyst guideline
• Final closeout video prepared and shared on youtube

Delivery Month

6

Cost

12000

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Our project budget is 60,000 ADA. This budget is meticulously planned to cover all aspects of development, content creation, and community engagement, ensuring a high-quality outcome. All costs are based on competitive rates for expert technical and creative talent here in Addis Ababa.

Milestone 1: Foundation & Content Creation

• Project Management & Planning (2,000 ADA): Covers initial setup, detailed sprint planning, and management tools for the 4-month duration.
• Content Strategy & Scriptwriting (5,000 ADA): Research and writing for a full series of wallet tutorials (Eternl, Nami, or Lace) and the development of the interactive quiz question bank.
• Video & Graphic Production (6,000 ADA): Professional recording, editing, and graphic design for all video tutorials to ensure they are clear, engaging, and easy to follow.
• Peer Review & Content Validation (2,000 ADA): Compensating local Cardano experts to review all educational content for technical accuracy and clarity before development begins.

Milestone 2: App Development & Premium Features

• Backend Development (10,000 ADA): Engineering work to build the secure logic for the interactive quiz module and the 1 ADA premium upgrade transaction verification system.
• Frontend Mobile Integration (8,000 ADA): Development hours required to seamlessly integrate the new tutorials, quizzes, and premium features into our existing application.
• UI/UX Design & Prototyping (4,000 ADA): Designing an intuitive and encouraging user journey for all new features, from the first tutorial to the final transaction.

Milestone 3: Public Launch & Community Onboarding

• Quality Assurance & Beta Testing (4,000 ADA): Managing the beta test group, gathering feedback, and conducting final QA checks before the public release.
• Marketing & Promotion (6,000 ADA): A targeted digital marketing campaign aimed at our existing user base and the wider student community in Ethiopia to announce and drive adoption of the new features.
• First Community Onboarding Workshop (5,000 ADA): Covers venue rental, materials, and refreshments for a launch event in Addis Ababa for up to 100 students to celebrate the launch and offer hands-on support.

Final Milestone: Reporting & Close-Out

• Data Analysis & Final Report Writing (3,000 ADA): Compiling and analyzing all project metrics (KPIs) and writing the comprehensive final report.
• Project Showcase Video (2,000 ADA): Scripting, editing, and producing the final video as required by Catalyst close-out guidelines.

Contingency Fund

A 5% contingency to cover unforeseen challenges or technical hurdles, ensuring the project remains on track.

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?

Our 60,000 ADA budget represents an exceptionally high-value investment for the Cardano Treasury, designed for maximum impact and cost-efficiency.

1. Leveraging Existing Infrastructure for Maximum ROI: This budget is not for building an app from scratch. We are injecting Cardano functionality directly into a proven platform with 50,000+ active monthly users. This allows us to bypass immense development and user acquisition costs, multiplying the impact of the Treasury's previous investment in our work.
2. An Unprecedentedly Low Cost Per User Activation: The primary value of this project is activating new on-chain users. Based on our user data, we can project a powerful return:
   1. A conservative 20% adoption rate (10,000 students) results in a Cost Per Activated User (CPAU) of just 6 ADA.
   2. A successful 50% adoption rate (25,000 students) drops the CPAU to an incredible 2.4 ADA per new on-chain user. This represents one of the most efficient user acquisition funnels available to the ecosystem.
3. Locally Optimized Costs for Global Impact: Our budget is strategically based on the competitive rates for expert tech talent here in Addis Ababa. This allows the community's funds to go significantly further, achieving a level of development and reach that would be far more expensive in other regions.
4. Creating a Sustainable, Long-Term Asset: This project's output is not a temporary campaign. The integrated features will become a permanent part of our app, creating an evergreen onboarding engine that will continue to bring new users to Cardano long after the 4-month funding period has ended.

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes