Exploring Three Grant Programs for Mina Developers

In the rapidly expanding landscape of blockchain technology, zero knowledge (ZK) proofs have emerged as a powerful new primitive. Developers seeking to explore ZK’s unique scalability and privacy properties and build production-ready applications are choosing Mina for its lightweight, recursive design and intuitive developer experience. 

The following grant programs are designed to empower developers and entrepreneurs to learn and build their ideas on Mina Protocol. 

Navigator Grants

Navigators is an ongoing developer program for new builders to get started building on Mina Protocol. 

Through hackathons, curriculum, and learn-to-earn technical challenges, Navigators accelerate their understanding of ZK tech and Mina and are rewarded for their participation with monthly grants. At the end of the program, Navigators have a chance to showcase their contributions and win grand prize grants. 

To date, 37 developers have been awarded Navigator badges to participate in learn-to-earn technical challenges. Badges will be continuously awarded through hackathons so sign up to be notified about the next opening.

Learn more about Mina Navigator grants → 

zkIgnite Grants

zkIgnite is a cohort-based, community-governed innovation fund for experienced ZK builders and entrepreneurs in the Mina ecosystem. 

The program is designed to support developers with key resources and grants to turn their ideas and passion projects into full-fledged businesses. The allocation of funding is determined by a team of electors from the Mina community. 

To date, zkIgnite has funded 50 ZK applications and developer tooling projects pushing the boundaries of what is possible on Mina Protocol through Cohort 1 and Cohort 2. Cohort 3 is accepting proposals until January 31, 2024. 

Learn more about Mina zkIgnite grants → 

Core Grants

Core is a grant program to fund public goods and address current infrastructure needs on Mina Protocol through an RFP (Request for Proposals) process. 

Core grants are allocated on a rolling basis and are specific in scope. They focus on supporting high-priority development areas, including, among other things, token standards, zkOracles, Data Availability layers, new development features, and more. 

Learn more about Mina Core grants →

With a major upgrade of Mina Protocol coming soon, plus bridges and other critical tooling in progress, now is the time to get started building. Mina’s TypeScript framework for zkApps makes it easy, and provides unique recursion properties that make your smart contracts composable and efficient. 

Here’s what Mina builders are saying. But don’t take their word for it, read the Docs to see for yourself. 

Mina also supports two key features that many other ZK platforms do not support:

1. You can write zk circuits in Javascript!! Super easy to write, and very compatible with @PaimaStudios

Build your onchain game / autonomous world, including the ZK circuits, all in JS! 😍 pic.twitter.com/SyZmFxKL9E

— Sebastien Guillemot (@SebastienGllmt) July 26, 2023

Milestone Alert! 🚀
In just 1 month since its launched, #zkDatabase has soared to new heights of 600+ downloads, boasting 170-180 weekly 🎉

Your trust fuels our commitment to revolutionizing provable data @MinaProtocol ♥️https://t.co/tcH8vwDzs4 pic.twitter.com/cYRJO88anH

— Orochi Network (@OrochiNetwork) September 5, 2023