Arbitrum D.A.O. (Domain Allocator Offerings) Grant Program - Season 3

TLDR

• Previously known as Questbook grant program, we are seeking renewal for a third season
• This third iteration will last 1 year
• The vote is about renewing the program with the 4 historical domain (New protocols and ideas, Dev Tooling, Gaming, Education+Events) and adding a 5th domain (Orbit)
• Funding will be $1,500,000 for each of the 4 domains for a total of $6,000,000 excluding opex, plus a further $750,000 for the Orbit domain (half budget due to being experimental)
• JoJo will be the PM, Questbook will be the technological partner, and the elected DAs have been CastleCapital for New Protocols and Ideas, SeedGOV for Education, Community Growth, and Events, Juandi for Dev Tooling on One and Stylus and Flook for Gaming, plus MaxLomu for the Orbit track.

Abstract

The Arbitrum Domain Allocator Offerings Grant Program (D.A.O.) has operated for one year across two six-month seasons. The program has evolved and improved based on previous results, growing from its first season, which allocated $250,000 across four domains, to a second season with funding of $1,000,000 per domain.

We are now proposing a third season that would run for a full year, encompassing the existing four domains (Protocols, Education/Community and Events, Dev Tooling, and Gaming) with the addition of a fifth domain (Orbit), as per the snapshot vote. The vision is to create a modular program where new domains can be integrated over time based on DAO requirements and perceived needs. This new season will also improve tracking of grantee progress after funding and facilitate fast-tracking of exceptional projects into other DAO initiatives, such as Arbitrum Foundation programs and the GCP.

Questbook will serve as the technical partner of the program, offering their services through the Questbook.app portal.

Season 1 and 2 recap

Season 1 of the Grant Program was initiated through an RFC in April 2023, designed to serve four distinct domains: New Protocols and Ideas, Dev Tooling, Education/Community/Events, and Gaming. Following a successful snapshot and tally vote along with elections for the four DAs, the program officially launched in October 2023. The team consisted of JoJo, SEEDGov, Flook and Juandi as Domain Allocators, with Srijith serving as Program Manager.

The first season operated for six months with a budget of $250,000 per domain, totaling $1 million in funding, and implemented a soft cap of $25,000 per project. In April 2024, the program was renewed for Season 2 with the same team but expanded funding to $1,000,000 per domain. The soft cap was increased to $50,000, with proposals exceeding $25,000 requiring evaluation from two Domain Allocators.

Season 2 has now completed its fund allocation phase and will continue operating at reduced capacity for the next six months to oversee milestone completion and grant disbursement. Bear in mind that Season 2 results are partial from the first 6 months, and it will have its natural end in May 2025.

The following are the numbers so far achieved:

• Season 1
  • Amount of projects approved: 67
    • Amount of completed projects: 49 / 73%
    • Amount of uncompleted projects: 8 / 12%
    • Amount of abandoned projects: 6 / 9%
    • Amount of withdrawn projects: 4 / 6%
  • Amount of milestones approved: 207
    • Amount of completed milestones 178 / 86%
    • Amount of uncompleted milestones 23 / 11%
  • Amount of funds approved: $997,793
    • Amount of fund disbursed: $852,781 / 86%
    • Amount of funds leftover: $87,512 / 8.5%

Note: Uncompleted projects are those currently active but were either unable to complete their proposals within the last six months or pivoted to a different idea. Abandoned projects are from teams that weren't able to operate in the market. Withdrawn projects are those that were approved but decided not to proceed with their grant.

While there was no specific timeline set, we feel Season 1 has come to its natural end, and we are in the process of informing teams and withdrawing remaining funds.

• Season 2
  • Amount of projects approved: 140
    • Amount of completed projects: 66 / 47%
    • Amount of uncompleted projects: 71 / 51%
    • Amount of abandoned projects: 2 / 1.5%
    • Amount of withdrawn projects: 1 / 0.5%
  • Amount of milestones approved: 506
    • Amount of completed milestones 357 / 71%
    • Amount of uncompleted milestones 149 / 29%
  • Amount of funds approved: $2,841,027 / 92%
    • Amount of fund disbursed: $2,067,492 / 67%
    • Amount of funds leftover: $773,535 / 25%

More details on the results can be found here.

Season 3: overview

In the last year, and potentially for the next year, the D.A.O. Grant Program has brought and will continue to bring the following value to the DAO:

1. Introductory Grant Program: It fills the gap of Arbitrum Foundation grants (usually starting at $50,000, up to $150,000), serving as an entry-level program in our ecosystem.
2. Transparency: All applications and judgments are available for everyone to read in the portal. Additionally, discussions with protocols are typically maintained in a public Discord with open access.
3. Targeted Approach: The program has specialized in four specific verticals deemed key by the DAO
4. High submission amount: between Season 1 and 2 we managed more than 700 proposals, approving around 200.

While these points have always been advocated and envisioned as the natural shape of the program, below is a non-comprehensive list of value propositions that has been provided so far through in the last two seasons of the program:

• Enable new teams and small builders to bootstrap their projects
• Enable mid and big team to prioritize certain deployment in Arbitrum
• Support Hackathon and Event winners
• Provide an alternative funding route alongside the Arbitrum Foundation or direct DAO proposals
• Support projects building upon targeted DAO initiatives
• Ensure builder diversity, enlarging indirectly Arbitrum mindshare for local builders.

A few specific examples of what we think can be defined as success stories:

• Season 2 has supported both the winner and[ runner-up](https://arbitrum.questbook.app/dashboard/?grantId=662f30eb1c1eb9145098a15e\&chainId=10\&role=community\&proposalId=66bbd4ee8868f5130a6ffe57\&isRenderingProposalBod

... please visit link below to view full proposal

https://tally.xyz/gov/arbitrum/proposal/47215139570733026393508270943324710379923699871435188004224569883226292800465