GG21 on Celo Retrospective

GG21 marked a significant milestone for Celo. It was the first time that Gitcoin Grants Stack was fully deployed on the Celo blockchain. Kicking off this milestone, Celo Public Goods (CeloPG) supported and managed two key funding rounds: Real World Builders and Regen Coordi-Nation Genesis. Both rounds focused on empowering projects that aim to create real-world solutions and impact, in alignment with Celo’s mission of building infrastructure for financial inclusion and prosperity for all.

Real World Builders: Driving Real-World Impact with Celo

The Real World Builders program was designed to support teams working on impactful use cases of blockchain technology that positively affect physical communities and environments. These use cases included financial inclusion, ecological credits, Real World Assets (RWA), and Decentralized Physical Infrastructure (DePIN), among others.

Key Stats

• Matching Pool: 75,000 cUSD
• Number of Projects: 56
• Donations Made: $13,790.04
• Unique Contributors: 609
• Total Contributions: 2,577

The Real World Builder round had an outstanding balance between existing Celo projects participating in CeloRPGF0 and new projects recently deployed or launching on Celo. We also saw multiple graduates from the recent Celo Camp batches participating in the program to progress their projects. Simultaneously, some of the projects that applied for this RWB round received referrals to Prezenti - a Celo Ecosystem grants program, to be able to apply for additional development and funding opportunities.

Feedback & Challenges

Average Ratings (out of 5):

• Application Process: 5.0
• Fairness of Outcome: 4.0
• Communication & Support: 4.0
• Overall Program: 4.6

"Great support and the process was very smooth and clear."

However, there were also some challenges faced by participants. Some users experienced confusion and bugs while bridging funds and accessing gas tokens on the Celo network. To address this, we provided additional support resources, updated documentation, and direct assistance through the Telegram group. Despite the improvements, this remains an area where Celo, Gitcoin, and the wider Web3 ecosystem can continue to improve.

Regen Coordi-Nation: Building Global Regenerative Communities

The Regen Coordi-Nation Genesis Round was the first of its kind, aiming to support regenerative communities that use Web3 technology to address local needs and generate real-world impact. This initiative brought together the GreenPill Network, ReFi DAO, and Celo Public Goods under a shared mission to support communities dedicated to regenerative finance (ReFi) and sustainability.

Key Stats

• Matching Pool: 50,000 USDGLO
• Number of Projects: 46
• Donations Made: $8,450.45 (16.71% of the matching pool)
• Total Contributions: 1,473

Feedback & Impact

Average Ratings (out of 5):

• Application Process: 4.38
• Fairness of Outcome: 4.29
• Communication & Support: 4.25
• Overall Program: 4.14

The feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive. Beyond the financial support, the round strengthened collaboration between ReFi DAO, the GreenPill Network, and Celo Public Goods, helping align builders with the Celo ecosystem.

For more detailed results, reflection, and analysis on the round, check out the Gitcoin Forum.

Celo Impact

We recognize that the amount of matching received by many projects may seem modest, however we hope this funding has provided some form of meaningful boost at a time when macro funding conditions remain challenging. Furthermore, these rounds should be seen as part of a larger suite of grant opportunities within the Celo ecosystem, including Prezenti, the Celo Community Treasury, Foundation grants, accelerators, hackathons, and regional DAO support.

In addition, as part of the CeloPG H2 Budget, 1,250,000 CELO has been allocated for an application to Optimism Season 6 Intent Budget to run large-scale co-funded programs for Real World Builders and Climate Tech. If successful, the projects from these initial GG21 rounds will feed into larger programs, creating greater opportunities for impactful builders in the Celo ecosystem.

Beyond the funds raised and projects supported, these rounds have also had a significant macro-level impact on the Celo blockchain and community. GG21 not only empowered innovative projects but also increased awareness and engagement with Celo. Here are some key metrics:

• Number of Transactions: The GG21 rounds on Celo generated a large volume of on-chain activity, with over 4,050 contribution transactions. This also doesn't take into account all of the additional transactions that will have resulted from the round (bridging, swapping etc…)
• New Wallet Addresses: The rounds engaged over 750 wallets, with many of these being first-time donors to Celo. This indicates growing adoption and interest in the Celo ecosystem.
• Increased Engagement: The rounds helped boost awareness of Celo’s infrastructure, with significant social media engagement, as well as increased activity in key community spaces.

Additional Mechanisms & Impact

Regen Tips & Tunable Quadratic Funding

To further incentivize participation, we partnered with Regen Tips to boost engagement and provide exclusive rewards. Contributors to the rounds received $REGEN token allocations and additional rewards were offered for higher donations.

• $1 USDGLO donated = 10,000 $REGEN
• Donate > 10 USDGLO = 10x tip boost
• Donate > 69 USDGLO = 100x tip boost

We also trialed a ‘Proof-of-Regen Quadratic Multiplier’, which aimed to give donors up to double the matching power of their contributions based on their Proof of Regen score. This utlizes a mechanism developed by the Token Engineering Commons (TEC) known as ‘Tunable Quadratic Funding (TQF)’. However, after careful review, we decided not to use this mechanism in the final results due to technical challenges and the lack of desired impact of the multiplier on overall results. Nonetheless, this experiment provided valuable learnings for future rounds and we are in conversation with TEC regarding the build of a self-serve tool that would allow more control and customizability for future TQF experiments.

$BUILD Rewards

In addition to Regen Tips, we have also partnered with $BUILD to further reward Real World Builders on Celo. The $BUILD team has committed 1 billion $BUILD tokens to recognize and reward these impactful projects. Projects who participated in GG21 will receive instructions on how to claim their $BUILD.

CeloPG Signal Boosting

During GG21, Celo Public Goods provided funds to seven CeloPG stewards, each receiving 500 cUSD to distribute across both rounds. Projects that demonstrated a strong alignment towards boosting key Celo ecosystem metrics—such as TVL, transactions, and volume—received higher support from the stewards, which in turn amplified their matching and donations.

Guidelines for Stewards:

• Max $250 donated per round
• Max $50 donation per project
• Avoid donations to projects with direct affiliations

QF vs COCM Matching

One of the key innovations in GG21 was Gitcoin’s improved Connection-oriented cluster-matching (COCM) model. While traditional quadratic funding assumes independent decisions from contributors, COCM quantifies the level of coordination among supporters. This helps ensure a fairer distribution of funds by rewarding projects backed by more independent agents while reducing matching funds for those supported by coordinated groups.

Overall, we believe the COCM model to have worked well in both rounds, effectively balancing the results and reducing the impact of coordinated single-project donors.

You can explore more detailed COCM analysis of the rounds here:

• Real World Builders
• Regen Coordi-Nation

Passport Model Detection System

To protect against sybil attacks and airdrop farmers, we utilized Gitcoin’s passport model-based detection system. This system automatically analyzed users’ on-chain history to determine their matching eligibility. Results from the round were as follows:

• Real World Builders: 160 donors (26.3%) received full matching power; 59 users (9.7%) received partial matching.
• Regen Coordi-Nation: 95 donors (34.4%) received full matching power; 38 users (13.8%) received partial matching.

While this system worked well to prevent sybil attacks, one drawback was that legitimate donors without a robust Web3 history will receive lower matching rates or none at all. Still, we recognize the tradeoffs and commend Gitcoin for their ongoing innovation in sybil protection strategies.

Building Momentum for a Regenerative Future

The launch of the Gitcoin Grants Stack on Celo through GG21 was a major milestone. The Real World Builders and Regen Coordi-Nation rounds highlighted the potential of Web3 technology to solve real-world problems, while also providing valuable lessons for future improvements. We’re excited to see how the partnerships and innovations from these rounds will continue to grow and shape the future of Celo’s mission of financial inclusion and regenerative finance.

Stay tuned for more updates on Celo’s public goods initiatives and future opportunities within the Celo ecosystem by visiting the Celo Public Goods website or follow us on Twitter (X) and Warpcast.

‍