Early Builders Program | Neonfoundation.io

Get Involved & Build on Neon

The Neon Foundation is launching the Early Builders Program with the goal of accelerating the rapid growth of the Neon Ecosystem, increasing usability of the platform, generating value for users and driving economic activity in the Neon Network

Who is eligible this program

We encourage projects of any size and origin to apply. That includes individuals, independent teams, governments, nonprofits, companies, universities, and academics. Projects should fulfill the criterion as below:

Early stage and established projects with the ability to contribute value to the Neon Ecosystem through demonstrating strong use cases.

Projects that are actively creating tools to enable other types of projects built on top of Neon EVM.

Clear strategy on use of funds with defined milestones and deliverables.

Being an advocate of open source. Research and community projects should embrace decentralization.

Teams with the right skill set and mindset to get things done and the ability to execute

Projects with robust existing communities and users demonstrating strong growth in weekly active users, TVL, or active wallets

The current grant offerings cover the following project areas:

Developer Tooling: enhance Neon EVM functionalities and improve builder experience

dApps: Novel DeFi platforms, launchpads, DAO & NFT tooling with growing user base and community

Infrastructure: Wallets, oracles, and indexers

How Tokens Will Be Released

Participants in the program will receive funding in NEON as they reach specific milestones in their projects. Funding will be released in four stages as participants progress through their milestones. The milestones will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and must be completed in the order specified below.

Successfully deploy your dApp to Neon EVM Devnet.

Engage in marketing efforts and outreach campaigns.

Successfully deploy your dApp to Neon EVM Mainnet.

Reach or exceed the user activity target(s) set for your dApp.

Be a part of the Early Builders Program

NEON tokens allocated to participants in the Early Builders Program will be locked for a six-month vesting period.

Support and Resources from the Neon Foundation

The Early Builders Program offers three tracks — Technical, Community, and Ecosystem — to help project teams not only overcome technical challenges, but also build vibrant communities and forge strong partnerships.

Technical

Dedicated chat support with builders
Regular office hours with the program’s tech support lead
Launch support with materials
Regular individual check-ins

Community

Collaboration on events, meetups, webinars, and AMA sessions
Guidance on community-building
Connecting with the wider Solana community

Ecosystem

Introductions to relevant ecosystem players (dApps, users, partners, and more)
Joint announcements and non-technical chat room
The Neon Foundation will also be launching a separate grants program

FAQ

How are EVM upgrades handled?

Where is the EVM deployed?

Does NeonPass act as a bridge between Neon and Solana?

Does proxy act as a bridge between Ethereum and Solana?

Is Neon EVM an independent Blockchain? Is this a layer2 for Solana?

Is the source code for Neon proxy open-source?

What is the difference between Neon proxy and EVM?

What utilities does NEON token provide? Can NEON tokens be staked?

What is the network's governance structure, and how can stakeholders influence its direction and development? How is it decentralised and how secure it is?

Where can I learn more about product architecture?