Last updated 8 months ago
LatAm has bright talent but little access to up to date and specialized Cardano training. High costs and outdated courses block careers and limit the region’s voice in the decentralized economy.
A 20 week, zero upfront Cardano bootcamp. Learn technical and soft skills by building real dApps, then repay interest-free after employment, creating a self-sustaining cycle that continually expands.
This is the total amount allocated to Regenerative Cardano Bootcamp for Latin America.
Please provide your proposal title
Regenerative Cardano Bootcamp for Latin America
Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA
60000
Please specify how many months you expect your project to last
12
Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated
No
Original Language
en
What is the problem you want to solve?
LatAm has bright talent but little access to up to date and specialized Cardano training. High costs and outdated courses block careers and limit the region’s voice in the decentralized economy.
Supporting links
Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?
No
Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'
No dependencies
Will your project's outputs be fully open source?
Yes
License and Additional Information
MIT License
Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal
Learn to Earn
Who you’re targeting, how you’ll reach them, and why this matters for Cardano.
We target aspiring developers and tech professionals across Latin America, especially those blocked by cost and access barriers. We’ll reach them via partnerships with regional tech hubs, universities, and Cardano community channels. By training job-ready, Cardano-fluent talent, we expand the ecosystem’s reach, accelerate adoption, and strengthen its presence in an underrepresented but high-potential region.
Provide a list of key activities of your project?
Design a Cardano-focused curriculum (Plutus, Aiken, MeshJS, Hydra, CIPs, BaaS). Recruit and select 20+ students per cohort. Deliver 20 weeks of technical and soft skills training. Host weekly mentor sessions. Guide teams to build and deploy MVPs on Cardano. Organize a public Demo Day with ecosystem participation. Graduates will join an alumni decentralized network hosted on an existing governance platform such as Clarity, contributing mentorship, launching new proposals, and collaborating on ecosystem tooling
What are your success metrics?
80% cohort completion rate. >40% employed in Cardano/Web3 roles within 12 months. At least 10 MVPs deployed to Cardano testnet/mainnet with public repos. >50 attendees at Demo Day. >10 graduates contributing to the alumni decentralized network. Measurable growth of the on-chain treasury from repayments. Public engagement metrics: social reach, repository forks/stars, and partnerships formed with Cardano projects.
Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem
Nodo Genesis is designed to solve one of the most pressing challenges in Latin America’s technology sector: the lack of accessible, high-quality training in blockchain, particularly within the Cardano ecosystem. While global demand for decentralized technology expertise is growing at record speed, thousands of talented young professionals in the region remain locked out. Our solution is a 20 week, intensive, fully online bootcamp that blends Cardano-native technical skills with professional development and career placement support. The program is tailored to the realities of the Latin American market, offering a flexible online structure with no upfront costs. Program Structure:
Technical Training:
Professional Skills Development:
Career Placement Support:
The bootcamp operates on a pay-it-forward model: students pay no tuition up front. Once employed, they contribute interest-free repayments over up to 24 months. These contributions go directly into a Cardano smart contract treasury, funding future cohorts. This creates a self-sustaining cycle of growth: each graduate helps train the next, reducing reliance on grants and ensuring long-term scalability. Key Advantages:
By the end of each cohort, Cardano gains 20+ trained professionals capable of building production-ready dApps, infrastructure tools, and integrations. Open-source student projects become part of the ecosystem’s shared resource pool, available for others to fork, adapt, or scale. Over time, Nodo Genesis builds not just individual careers, but a network of alumni-mentors who contribute to Cardano’s innovation cycle, governance, and global reputation. With every iteration, the program strengthens Cardano’s foothold in Latin America, while offering life-changing opportunities for local talent to participate in and shape the future of the decentralized economy.
Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community
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 multidisciplinary team combines technical depth, operational rigor, and financial governance to ensure Nodo Genesis is delivered on time and to the highest standards.
Ivan Romero – Full Stack Web Developer & IoT Specialist: PhD in Science (THU, Germany), Master’s in Renewable Energy (Dalarna, Sweden), and Electronic Engineering degree (PUCP, Peru). Years of experience developing IoT systems and full-stack web solutions, ensuring the curriculum and technical infrastructure are current, robust, and market-relevant.
Angélica Rojas – Finance Specialist: MBA graduate (HHL, Germany) with a strong track record in financial planning, cost optimization, and transparent reporting. Ensures funding is allocated efficiently, milestones are met within budget, partner coordination and every expenditure is traceable.
Our team brings direct, personal experience with regenerative education models-including Angelica’s successful participation in a similar pay-it-forward program to finance her university studies. This firsthand insight gives us a deep understanding of the student journey, challenges, and motivations, allowing us to design an empathetic and effective learning experience.
To ensure trust and accountability:
Feasibility validation:
This combination of technical delivery capacity, educational know-how, and transparent governance makes us fully capable of delivering Nodo Genesis with measurable, verifiable results the Cardano community can trust.
Milestone Title
Curriculum Development & Student Recruitment
Milestone Outputs
Create a comprehensive 20 week curriculum including Cardano fundamentals (eUTXO, Plutus, Aiken), frontend integration (Lucid/MeshJS), standards (CIP-30/68), Hydra, BaaS, testing, and security. Add soft skills modules and project briefs for 10+ real-world MVPs. Build partnerships with at least 5 Latin American tech hubs/universities and launch an inclusive recruitment campaign targeting 20+ students.
Acceptance Criteria
Evidence of Completion
Public GitHub repo with curriculum, slides, and assessments.
Signed MoUs with partner hubs/universities.
Anonymized applicant database.
Public announcement with start date, cohort profile, and confirmed mentor list.
Delivery Month
4
Cost
20000
Progress
30 %
Milestone Title
Bootcamp Delivery & Project Development
Milestone Outputs
Deliver the 20 week bootcamp to the selected cohort, combining technical and soft skills training.
Hold weekly mentor-led sessions, code reviews, and milestone check-ins.
Guide teams in building and deploying at least 10 open-source Cardano MVPs (dApps, tools, integrations) to the testnet/mainnet.
Organize a final Demo Day to connect students with ecosystem stakeholders and potential employers.
Acceptance Criteria
Evidence of Completion
Class and mentorship session recordings.
GitHub repositories for each project with commit histories, READMEs, and deployment addresses.
Demo Day event video, attendee metrics, and Q&A notes.
Post-program survey results with completion and satisfaction rates.
Feedback from Cardano project partners.
Delivery Month
9
Cost
20000
Progress
70 %
Milestone Title
Alumni decentralized network Launch & Regenerative Funding Activation
Milestone Outputs
Acceptance Criteria
Alumni network proposals submitted and voted on, governance deployed and verified, with a live dashboard providing automatic real-time updates, showing treasury inflows/outflows and graduate contributions.
Evidence of Completion
Delivery Month
11
Cost
10000
Progress
90 %
Milestone Title
Close-out video and close-out report
Milestone Outputs
A 2–3 page Project Close-out Report (PCR) documenting all key aspects: project details (name, URL, manager, dates), challenge and project KPIs, achievements, learnings, next steps, and final comments.
A Close-out Video (PCV) (2–5 minutes, public YouTube/Video link, 720p/1080p quality) summarizing project goals, approach, milestones achieved, learnings, demo of outputs, and plans for next stages.
Acceptance Criteria
PCR fully completed and submitted in the Catalyst Milestone Module with all required sections.
PCV publicly available, showing clear visual evidence of developed outputs.
Next steps and sustainability plans clearly outlined, ensuring continuity beyond Catalyst funding.
Evidence of Completion
Publicly available PDF of the Project Close-out Report shared via GitHub/website and Catalyst platform.
Public YouTube/Video link to the Close-out Video, demonstrating project outputs and summarizing results.
Verification by Catalyst moderators that PCR and PCV have been submitted in the Milestone Module.
Links to repositories, deployed platforms, or supporting materials referenced in PCR.
Delivery Month
12
Cost
10000
Progress
100 %
Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources
How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?
Catalyst funding will seed a program that becomes self-sustaining. Instead of running as a one-time training, Nodo Genesis creates a regenerative model where every employed graduate repays into an on-chain treasury, directly funding the next cohort. This ensures a growing pipeline of Cardano builders, more dApps, and stronger adoption in Latin America, without relying on constant new grants.
All graduate projects, lesson materials, and recorded sessions will be published openly, alongside transparent treasury reports, so the results are both visible and reusable for the community. The impact is immediate: more skilled contributors, faster project delivery, stronger ecosystem teams, and long-term growth.
Terms and Conditions:
Yes
Full Stack Web Developer & IoT Specialist. PhD in Science (THU, Germany), Master’s in Renewable Energy (Dalarna, Sweden), Electronic Engineering degree (PUCP, Peru).
Finance Specialist. MBA (HHL, Germany) with proven experience in financial planning, cost optimization, and transparent reporting.