NEXFUND: Decentralized Fund Management Platform

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

NEXFUND: Decentralized Fund Management Platform

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

69360

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

11

[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?

Current fund management lacks transparency, is fragmented, and difficult to verify, leading to inefficiency, reduced accountability, and loss of trust.

[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

The project will be fully open-sourced under the MIT License, with all code, documentation, and assets available on GitHub.

[Theme Selection] Theme

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

DeFi

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Describe what makes your idea innovative compared to what has been previously funded (whether by you or others).

This is a fresh idea because it builds a general decentralized fund management platform for all kinds of funds, not only cornered or multi-purpose such as merely charity, community or investment funds. By following the steps from fund deposits, allocations, reporting and voting on-chain openness makes everything transparent hence removing second-guessing. Its open governance model allows the project to adapt to any need, from donations by members of the community and intracompany budgets even with investments keeping its trust level and scalability for long term.

Describe what your prototype or MVP will demonstrate, and where it can be accessed.

The MVP will demonstrate the core mechanics of decentralized fund management, including fund setup, deposits, allocations, and governance voting, all recorded on-chain. It will run on the Cardano testnet and be accessible via a simple web interface. The source code and future updates will be made publicly available on our GitHub account at NexFund.

Describe realistic measures of success, ideally with on-chain metrics.

Success will be measured with on-chain metrics such as: at least 50 funds created, 500+ transactions processed, over 200 unique active wallets, and more than 400 votes recorded within the first 3 months.

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

The question we are addressing is a solution for alternative transparent, verifiable and adjustable funds management. Current methods are either centralized (leading to a reliance on third parties) or narrowed decentralized tools that are limited to solving singular use cases. This fragments the system, makes it less efficient; increased risk to accountability and systemic threat of communities left without a reliable solution for collective resource management.

Our proposal is to create an entirely new stack of technology which will be completely open source in nature and that will yield a radically decentralized fund management ecosystem over time, encompassing funds of all types: charity, community-driven funds,investing pools or internal organization. The platform is different from the solutions that are purpose-built as it is multi-purpose and modular, which means flexibility and scalability.

Fundamentally, the platform builds upon the Cardano blockchain to guarantee each action fund creation, deposits, allocations, governance voting and financial reporting is recorded forever on-chain. It provides all the information in a handleable, uneditable and verifiable manner which plays an important in answering many questionable actions that are happening due to the centralized type of system such as fraud, misuse or hidden decisions.

The components ensure that communities can build upon the existing technology and tailor features and rules, according to their particular needs without breaking everything. Examples of this are a charity organization may prefer transparent donation tracking, a startup fund might do profit-sharing models and then an internal community fund would emphasize member voting rights. And all of these can be accommodated on a unified platform, customized in modules.

A key component is the open governance model. Instead of a rigid structure, the platform allows fund creators and participants to define their governance rules how votes are cast, how funds are distributed, and what conditions trigger disbursements. This flexibility ensures that the platform can adapt over time to new requirements, whether they come from small community groups or larger organizations.

To measure success and adoption, the platform will produce verifiable on-chain metrics such as the number of funds created, the total transaction volume processed, unique wallets participating, and the number of governance votes cast. These metrics not only serve as indicators of growth but also provide the community and funders with a transparent way to verify impact directly on the blockchain.

What makes this solution unique is its universality, openness, and adaptability. It is not designed for one sector, but for anyone who needs transparent and trustless fund management. The fact that it is fully open-source ensures that the community can contribute, improve, and extend it, creating a living project that grows with demand.

For Cardano, this project is highly significant. It expands the ecosystem’s real-world utility by providing a tool that bridges community governance, decentralized finance, and organizational resource management. By building on Cardano, the project strengthens its position as a blockchain that prioritizes security, sustainability, and transparency, while offering a practical solution with direct social and financial impact.

In short, this solution directly addresses the problem of opacity and inefficiency in fund management by replacing trust in intermediaries with trust in code and verifiable blockchain data. It empowers communities, increases accountability, and creates a foundation for scalable, transparent, and inclusive financial collaboration all powered by Cardano.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

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

Positive Impact on the Cardano Community

Our project aims to develop a decentralized fund management platform on Cardano, delivering the following key benefits:

Increase ADA Utility and Value

• By enabling real-world use cases in fund management such as charity, community funds, investment pools, and organizational budgets the project boosts demand for ADA through on-chain transactions for fund creation, deposits, allocations, and governance. This increased activity enhances ADA’s utility and helps drive the value of the token.

Ecosystem Expansion

• The platform’s modular and open-source architecture encourages multi-sector dApp development. Reusable fund management modules enable developers to create tailored solutions for various use cases, increasing transaction volume on the Cardano blockchain.

Enhanced Reputation for Cardano

• By ensuring transparency, immutability, and accountability in fund management, the project strengthens Cardano’s reputation as a secure and reliable blockchain platform. It demonstrates Cardano’s ability to support scalable, trustless financial systems.

Community Engagement

• Incorporating flexible governance features fosters greater participation and interaction within the Cardano ecosystem. Communities can define their own rules for fund allocation and voting, setting a precedent for inclusive, community-driven projects.

Educational Opportunities

• We will provide learning resources, including tutorials, documentation, and case studies, to help the Cardano community and beyond understand the importance of blockchain technology in transparent fund management. These resources will promote adoption and innovation.

Positive Network Effects

• As the platform gains traction, it will attract fund managers, communities, and organizations to Cardano, accelerating ecosystem growth and adoption. The open-source framework will encourage developers to contribute, creating a cycle of innovation and expansion.
• By addressing critical challenges in fund management transparency and efficiency, our project contributes to the Cardano community at large, reinforcing Cardano’s position in safeguarding trust and accountability in financial collaboration.

Impact Measurement

Quantitative Metrics:

• User Adoption: Target 200 fund managers and participants using the platform in the first 3 months.
• Fund Transactions: Target 500 transactions in the first 3 months.
• Efficiency Improvement: Reduce fund management processing time by 50% compared to centralized systems (measured through real tests).
• Community Engagement: Target 100 posts or comments related to the project on Cardano Forum, X, and Telegram within 3 months.
• User Retention Rate: Target 70% of users continuing to use the platform after 2 months.

Qualitative Metrics:

• User Satisfaction: Collect survey responses on security, usability, and satisfaction (targeting 80% positive feedback).
• Trust & Control: Assess user confidence in controlling and managing funds transparently through the platform.
• Fund Manager Feedback: Gather evaluations on operational efficiency and customization capabilities.
• Community Sentiment: Collect feedback from developers and users via Cardano Forum, X, and Telegram on the platform’s scalability and impact.
• End-User Experience: Evaluate how easily communities can customize and manage funds, ensuring flexibility and accessibility.

Methodology

• Conduct a 6-month pilot with 5 diverse funds. Use blockchain transaction analysis, user surveys, and in-depth interviews with stakeholders to measure adoption, usability, and impact.

Results Sharing and Opportunities

Communication Channels:

• Detailed reports on Project Catalyst.
• Regular updates on Cardano Forum, X, and Telegram.
• Technical articles and demo videos on Catalyst platforms (X, Discord, Telegram), explaining the fund management framework, project results, and real-world impact.

Target Audience:

• Cardano Community Members: Blockchain enthusiasts, ADA investors, and supporters of Cardano’s growth.
• dApp Developers: Programmers looking to integrate or build upon fund management modules to create new applications.
• Fund Managers: Charity organizations, community groups, investment pools, and businesses seeking transparent and decentralized fund management solutions.
• Organizations: Non-profits, DAOs, and enterprises needing scalable resource management tools.
• Regulatory Bodies: Entities promoting transparency and accountability in financial systems.

Opportunities:

• Open-Source Release: Release the platform on GitHub with documentation and integration guides, helping increase ADA transaction volume.
• Collaboration with Cardano Projects: Extend fund management use cases through partnerships with other Cardano projects, driving ecosystem growth and ADA adoption.
• Community-Driven Innovation: Organize hackathons or dApp development challenges based on the platform, attracting new developers and fostering innovation within the Cardano ecosystem.
• Global Expansion: Support international communities and organizations in adopting the platform, boosting Cardano’s global presence and increasing ADA usage in cross-border transactions.

[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?

Proven Track Record in the Cardano Ecosystem

Our team has consistently demonstrated the capability to deliver innovative, high-quality solutions recognized within the Cardano community. Over the last two years, we achieved multiple awards in Cardano Hackathons with projects that address real-world challenges through blockchain technology:

3rd Prize – Blockchain Cardano Hackathon Vietnam 2024

• Project: “Blockchain Application in Carbon Credit Management and Trading”

2nd Prize main track – Blockchain Cardano Hackathon Vietnam 2025

• Project: “Decentralized Identity for Medical Records Management and Storage”

3rd Prize student track – Blockchain Cardano Hackathon Vietnam 2025

• Project: “Decentralized Fund Management Platform”

Winning awards across consecutive hackathons validates not only our technical expertise but also our ability to create solutions that are practical, scalable, and aligned with global needs. These achievements also confirm our capacity to execute proposals with high levels of trust, transparency, and measurable success.

Technical Expertise & Team Capacity

Our team combines expertise in blockchain engineering, smart contracts (Aiken, CIP-68 NFTs), decentralized identity (DID), and decentralized finance (DeFi). The hackathon projects showcase our capacity to operate across diverse domains:

• Healthcare data security (decentralized identity)
• Financial transparency (fund management)

This cross-domain success highlights our adaptability and innovative capacity, proving we can deliver complex projects that require both technical depth and real-world applicability. It also shows strong alignment with Cardano’s mission of driving decentralized innovation.

Feasibility & Validation Approach

We ensure project feasibility through a structured validation framework that combines quantitative and qualitative methods:

Quantitative Validation

• Monitor GitHub contributions and code commits
• Track adoption via active wallets and on-chain activity/transaction volume
• Measure task completion against milestones (Trello/Jira)

Qualitative Validation

• User testing and iterative feedback with early adopters
• Surveys to assess satisfaction, usability, and trust
• Engagement with the Cardano community (workshops, technical reviews)
• This framework validates both the technical soundness and real-world usefulness of the solution.

Accountability & Reporting

While this is our first time participating in Project Catalyst, our hackathon experience demanded clear coordination, time-boxed delivery, and transparent presentations to judges and community members. Building on that foundation, we commit to:

• Milestone-based delivery with public proof of work (repos, demos, testnet contracts)
• Regular progress updates on the Catalyst platform (status, blockers, next steps)
• Open roadmap & changelogs so stakeholders can track what’s shipped and what’s next
• Internal, auditable budget tracking with concise public summaries

This approach emphasizes verifiable outputs and transparent progress, in line with Catalyst expectations.

Amplifying Impact & Open-Source Commitment

We aim to extend the value of this project beyond its immediate scope:

• Open-source key components under the MIT License to enable reuse and forks
• Publish documentation, tutorials, and reference implementations to lower adoption barriers
• Maintain public issue boards and invite community contributions/reviews
• Share on-chain dashboards/metrics so impact is independently verifiable

By making our work reusable and easy to build upon, we multiply the impact of Catalyst funding and help other teams accelerate innovation across the Cardano ecosystem.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Research & System Design

Milestone Outputs

• Market research & user needs analysis.
• System architecture diagrams (smart contracts, APIs, SDK).
• Initial UI/UX wireframes for key user flows.
• High-level project plan with resource allocation.

Acceptance Criteria

• At least 2 research reports delivered (market + user needs).
• Approved architecture diagrams for system, SDK, and contracts.
• Wireframes covering at least 3 main user flows.
• Project plan documented and approved.

Evidence of Completion

• Published research docs (online repo/Notion).
• Architecture package on GitHub.
• Figma link with UI wireframes.
• Signed-off project plan in repository.

Delivery Month

2

Cost

13920

Progress

10 %

Milestone Title

Core MVP Development

Milestone Outputs

• Smart contracts implemented in Aiken with unit tests.
• Backend APIs & off-chain services connected to Cardano testnet.
• Basic front-end MVP with wallet integration.
• Initial developer documentation.
• QA testing and bug fixing.

Acceptance Criteria

• ≥ 80% unit test coverage for smart contracts.
• Backend APIs successfully connected to Cardano testnet.
• At least 20 successful testnet transactions executed.
• MVP UI supports wallet connection & basic onboarding.
• Developer docs published online.

Evidence of Completion

• Public GitHub repo with codebase & test results.
• Deployed MVP demo on Cardano testnet.
• Documentation portal live (GitHub Pages/ReadTheDocs).
• Video demo uploaded (YouTube).

Delivery Month

3

Cost

20400

Progress

40 %

Milestone Title

Online Pilot Program

Milestone Outputs

• Pilot program deployment on testnet with early adopters.
• Online onboarding guides, tutorials, and support (Discord, YouTube).
• Community-driven feedback collection.
• Iterative improvements based on pilot results.

Acceptance Criteria

• ≥ 50 active online pilot users onboarded.
• ≥ 300 transactions executed during pilot.
• System uptime ≥ 95%.
• At least 1 improvement release deployed.
• Documented feedback report with actionable insights.

Evidence of Completion

• Usage analytics & performance dashboard (screenshots/links).
• Online survey results summary (Google Forms).
• Updated documentation & release notes.
• Public announcement post (Twitter/Discord).

Delivery Month

3

Cost

17880

Progress

70 %

Milestone Title

Mainnet Launch & Community Integration

Milestone Outputs

• Final bug fixes and optimizations from pilot.
• Mainnet deployment & final integration.
• Comprehensive documentation (user + developer).
• Online launch campaign (Twitter Spaces, YouTube live webinar).

Acceptance Criteria

• Successful mainnet deployment with verified contracts.
• Governance/DAO-related logic tested and live.
• Documentation portal complete and accessible.
• ≥ 2 online community events (Twitter Spaces, webinar).

Evidence of Completion

• Verified contracts published on GitHub.
• Mainnet launch announcement online.
• Public documentation portal live.
• Recordings of online events shared.

Delivery Month

3

Cost

17160

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Our proposal is expected to be divided into 4 milestones with the estimated budget as follows:

• Milestone 1: Design and Construction of Architectural Systems 13920 ₳ <=> 20,07 %
• Milestone 2: Core MVP Development 20400 ₳ <=> 29,41 %
• Milestone 3: Online Pilot Program 17880 ₳ <=> 25,78 %
• Milestone 4: Mainnet Launch & Online Community Integration 17160 ₳ <=> 24,74 %

Total: 69360 ₳.

View detail here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1q2vy3KgY5-3tz7MiXMcqQgRi4luEZIvaQWknlqDsvEs/edit?usp=sharing

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

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

The value of this proposal to the Cardano ecosystem can be demonstrated by highlighting the following key benefits:

Increased Transaction Volume on the Platform:

• The demand for medical record storage and secure data sharing among users is high. By utilizing the final product of this project, these activities can be conducted seamlessly, thereby driving up transaction volume on the Cardano blockchain.

Growth in the Number of Wallets:

• The project is expected to attract users from various backgrounds, including those unfamiliar with blockchain technology but who still have a need for healthcare services. This will contribute to an increase in new wallet creations.

Enhanced User Awareness of the Platform:

• This project will pioneer blockchain applications in sensitive sectors such as healthcare, medical services, and insurance in Vietnam. As a result, it will raise public awareness of the importance and practical use of the Cardano blockchain ecosystem.

The project is expected to run for 11 months with a team of 4 people, ensuring that the system is secure, user-friendly, and cost-effective. The average compensation per person would be 69,360 ADA / (4 people × 11 months) = 1576 ADA/month

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes