Reafino SmartStarter dApp: Audit & Mainnet Launch

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

Reafino SmartStarter dApp: Audit & Mainnet Launch

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

48000

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

3

[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?

Real-world economic activities are not yet linked to DeFi and there is a vacuum of smart contract driven RealFi products on Cardano.

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://reafino.io/
,
• https://reafino.io/reafino_litepaper.pdf
,
• https://reafino.io/dashboard

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

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

Yes

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

We have a dependency on the security audit firm which we engage to do the smart contract audit. We have already had disucssion with reputed audit firms in Cardano space in terms of cost and timelines and are confident that the audit wil be completed in the project timeline.

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

Yes

License and Additional Information

The project outputs from this proposal are the smart contract audit report and the UX improvements for mainnet launch. Both will be open sourced.

[Theme Selection] Theme

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

RWA

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

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

We found no crowdfunding dApps live on Cardano mainnet. From past funded projects (Fund 7 & 8), one stayed on preview testnet, the other never moved beyond MVP. Crowdfunding is a $20B+ market; Web2 leaders like Kickstarter processed billions across 600K+ projects.

Our innovation in SmartStarter:

Fully on-chain, trustless, permissionless dApp with self-service creation. There are no admin keys. Supports stablecoin and other cardano native tokens. Additionally we have a unique feature of in built ecosystem signalling for Cardano via public acknowledgement of Cardano from funded projects.

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

The public testnet of the fully functional dApp is already live at https://reafino.io/dashboard.

This proposal will go beyond MVP and launch the dApp on Mainnet after a professional audit of the the smart contracts for higher security assurance.

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

Measures of success

1. End-to-end smart contract workflow: Fully on-chain, without intermediaries.
2. Trustless and permissionless: No admin keys, No counterpary risk.
3. Scalable throughput: Free scaling of transaction volume for backing/ refunds within available block space on the Cardano network.
4. Sustainable revenue generation model

On-chain metrics:

1. Number of projects created and completed.
2. Total transaction volume (fund collections + refunds + payouts).
3. Sustained throughput without bottlenecks (showing scalability within Cardano’s block space).
4. Revenue metrics.

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

Reafino is a purpose driven RealFi platform connecting real world economic activities with DeFi. We envision catalyzing millions in on-chain value flow and fostering inclusive economies that promote sustainable, shared prosperity.

Our first product - SmartStarter - is a fully on-chain crowdfunding feature. Smartstarter is like the popular Kickstarter but fully trustless and permissionless via Cardano smart contracts. It offers an all-or-nothing crowdfunding model where projects get funds only if targets are met; otherwise, contributions are auto-returned.

We’ve self-funded the initial development of Reafino platform over 6 months and have completed the following:

1. Designed & developed SmartStarter smart contracts
2. Built frontend and metadata backend
3. Deployed SmartStarter to public testnet

Link to the dApp public testnet (Cardano preprod network) : https://reafino.io/dashboard

Screenshots from the testnet dApp

The public testnet has shown excellent results for SmartStarter in both functionality and the throughput achieved from our smart contact design.

We now seek Catalyst support for:

• A professional smart contract audit.
• Hiring 1 UX designer for a month for fine tuning UX
• Paying 1 frontend and 1 smart contract engineer for one month’s work before mainnet launch
• Mainnet deployment of SmartStarter with better cloud infrastructure than the testnet to support higher traffic
• A small budget for post-launch awareness and onboarding campaigns for publicity, including targeted social media outreach, explainer content.

We have already had discussions with reputed security audit firms in Cardano who are ready to take up our audit and receveid quotes. If funded, it will help us to launch the dApp on mainnet with audited smart contracts. We invite reviewers and voters to explore the public testnet experience and review our litepaper for full product and vision context. The links to the website, dApp testnet and litepeper is provided in the next section under supporting documentation.

Notable features of SmartStarter:

• Self service project creation
• No admin keys or super users. Entire workflow driven by smart contracts.
• SmartStarter supports stablecoins for RealFi and its extensible to all cardano native tokens.
• Public acknowledgement requirement for funded crowdfunding campaigns crteates ecosystem sgnalling or Cardano in the real world

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

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

Crowdfunding is a $20B+ global segment. Crowdfunding is a product category currently missing on Cardano. SmartStarter introduces it as fully on-chain, trustless, permissionless, transparent, and decentralized on Cardano.

This will open doors for RealFi/RWA adoption on Cardano. It caters to diverse user groups - artists, creators, and content makers, as well as entrepreneurs, innovators, and communities and has the potential to pool in people en-mass onto the Cardano ecosystem.

Cardano’s defining moment will be when it starts driving real-world economic activities. Reafino’s products will contribute to that vision of Cardano being a financial operating system for the world.

[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?

Capabilities

• Our Team has delivered end-to-end development till public testnet, self-funded.
• The public testnet features the fully functional dApp.
• Smart contracts are already tested on-chain in public testnet.
• Our design of the smart contracts provides parallelized UTXO processing and optimal utilization of available block space in the network. This allows SmartStarter to scale virtually without limits in volume at high throughput.
• Discussions with audit partners have been done already and quotes received.
• Launch path is ready, pending short-term budget requirement.

We have funded a major part of the development and we’re now requesting help to cross the final stage. We encourage voters to experience the public testnet.

Feasibility

We validated feasibility in two ways.

Firstly, by design, we are building a purely Web3 version of crowdfunding on Cardano with UX and features at par with popular platforms in the Web2 space. Traditional crowdfunding platforms are a huge $20+ billion industry. Further, all Reafino features have a clear revenue model for meaningful ROI and operational sustainability.

Secondly, we have already done small levels of community outreach to introduce our RealFi products, and the feedback we received has been positive. Reafino SmartStarter will onboard new economic sectors and new users through Reafino to Cardano. Sharing a recent tweet about our outreach: https://x.com/reafino/status/1955060260449947907

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Begin Smart contract audit and UX Work

Milestone Outputs

1. Sign contract with reputable security audit firm for smart contract audit.
2. Audit underway and work and smart contract dev works on improvements from any audit findings/feedback.
3. Hire a UX designer for one month to fine-tune existing UI/UX.
4. Front end engineer begins required improvements to the existing UI compoenents and user experience.

Acceptance Criteria

Smart Contract Audit Engagement: Signed contract or NDA from the audit firm; evidence of invoice or engagement letter.

UX Designer Engagement: Signed contract or confirmation of hiring for fine-tuning the front-end app.

Audit & UX Progress: Internal team review and sign-off confirming completion of audit milestones and frontend fine-tuning work (e.g., updated app screenshots, deployment logs, or change summary).

Evidence of Completion

• Copies of signed contracts/NDAs for audit firm and UX designer.
• Audit report or interim findings from the audit firm publicly.
• Publicly share all UX design mocks up/design material
• Before-and-after screenshots or live preview showing UX improvements applied.
• Internal sign-off document from Reafino team confirming milestone completion.
• All evidences will be shared publicly.

Delivery Month

1

Cost

14000

Progress

30 %

Milestone Title

Smart Contract Audit Passed and UI UX fine tuned

Milestone Outputs

1. Smart contract fixes completed for all audit findings/feedback.
2. Frontend improvements applied to the public testnet based on UX fine-tuning.
3. Publish the final audit report publicly.
4. Update the public testnet with fine-tuned frontend.

Acceptance Criteria

• All audit feedback addressed and resolved.
• Final audit report is completed and publicly available.
• Frontend improvements deployed to public testnet.
• Internal team review and sign-off confirming completion of audit fixes and UX updates.

Evidence of Completion

• Publicly published audit report.
• Updated public testnet with fine-tuned frontend.
• Change notes documenting UX improvements and audit fixes shared publicly.
• Internal sign-off from Reafino team confirming milestone completion.

Delivery Month

2

Cost

14000

Progress

80 %

Milestone Title

Mainnet Launch of SmartStarter

Milestone Outputs

1. Set up a cloud hosting environment for dApp front end and metadata store.
2. Launch SmartStarter on Mainnet with audited smart contracts.
3. Ensure frontend from public testnet (with fine-tuned UX) is deployed on mainnet.
4. Publish change notes documenting UX updates and mainnet launch.
5. Publish audit report.
6. Initiate post-launch publicity campaign to maintain community awareness and engagement (ongoing).

Acceptance Criteria

• All audited contracts successfully deployed and functioning on mainnet.
• SmartStarter is publicly accessible on mainnet.
• Internal team review and sign-off confirming mainnet launch readiness and release notes.
• Post-launch publicity campaign launched and ongoing, with materials, social media content, and community events planned.

Evidence of Completion

• Reafino dApp available on mainnet with SmartStarter feature; fully on-chain, trustless, and permissionless crowdfunding available on Cardano.
• Live frontend reflecting UX improvements from public testnet.
• Publicly shared change notes documenting UX updates and mainnet launch.
• Publicly published audit report.
• Initial post-launch publicity materials published and first community engagement events completed.

Delivery Month

3

Cost

20000

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Budget

• Smart contract audit expenses: 30,000 ADA
• Notional compensation for smart contract engineer (to be paid after audit, at mainnet launch): 3,000 ADA
• UI/UX designer (1 month): 3,000 ADA
• Notional compensation for frontend engineer (to be paid after UX improvements, at mainnet launch): 3,000 ADA
• Estimated cloud infrastructure budget (for running the dApp on Mainnet for one year): 6,000 ADA
• Post-launch publicity: Social media and campaign materials, small community events: 3,000 ADA

Cost Justification

1. Audit cost: We’ve had discussions with reputed audit firms, including Anastasia Labs, Certik, NoWitnessLabs, and Permissionless, regarding our smart contract audit. The estimated cost of 30,000 ADA is based on these discussions.
2. Notional compensation to developers: The requested 4,000 ADA (combined for smart contract and frontend engineers) acknowledges the team’s self-funded development effort over past 6 months. This is significantly lower than typical market rates for the work completed and is intended to help maintain development support after mainnet launch.
3. UI/UX expert cost: This reflects standard market rates for hiring an external consultant for one month to fine-tune the existing frontend.
4. Cloud infrastructure costs: The 6,000 ADA allocated is based on extrapolated costs from our public testnet deployment, with added resiliency for mainnet. This budget covers application hosting, metadata storage with backups, and a lightweight compute environment for background agents.
5. Post-launch publicity expenses: A modest budget is included to ensure community awareness of the product, covering campaign materials, social media content, and small community events. Marketing is treated as secondary to core development, ensuring resources remain focused on delivering a secure and functional product.

Summary:

The Reafino team has already built and deployed a fully functional SmartStarter protocol on the public testnet. To transition smoothly to mainnet, we are requesting funding for:

• A professional smart contract audit (62.5% of total budget requested)
• Compute infrastructure to handle mainnet load
• Short-term support for UX/UI improvements
• Modest expenses for post-launch publicity

Without this support, a high-potential RealFi dApp risks stalling immediately before mainnet launch.

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

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

1. ROI for Cardano

RealFi brings more transactions, greater on-chain value flow, and new users to the Cardano ecosystem by reaching previously untapped sectors and audiences.

With SmartStarter, every individual becomes a potential user for Cardano.

SmartStarter has inbuilt ecosystem signalling. It requires crowdfunding projects to acknowledge Cardano in their real-world activities as a goodwill gesture. This generates significant ecosystem visibility for Cardano across sectors and geographies.

2. Strategic Fit & Ecosystem Impact

The ecosystem gains a complete RealFi platform offering Crowdfunding with this project, not just a whitepaper.

SmartStarter will feature an end-to-end workflow driven by Cardano smart contracts.

It demonstrates how Cardano can tackle RealFi and evolve as a financial operating system for the world.

The dApp is trustless and permissionless, with publicly verifiable smart contracts.

3. Reasonableness of Costs

Most of the development has been self-funded and completed, including smart contract development, frontend, metadata backend, public testnet hosting, and small-scale community outreach.

Reafino contracts are already live on the public testnet and functioning flawlessly.

This funding request covers the expenses just preceding mainnet launch.

Of the Catalyst funds requested, 62.5% is allocated to the smart contract audit which in turn provides the mainnet dapp on Cardano to have higher assurance.

4. Delivery & Readiness

This is not an idea-stage proposal. Most of the work is already complete.

The product is publicly available for experimentation on the testnet.

Supporting this proposal enables Catalyst funds to:

Bring a tested dApp to mainnet quickly,

Kick off trustless and permissionless RealFi that can onboard masses to Cardano, and

Help the team to accelerate development Reafino's next product segment (currently under design).

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes