Introducing the Samsung NEXT Stack Zero Grant

A peer just pointed me at this. Seems a good fit.

https://samsungnext.com/whats-next/introducing-the-samsung-next-stack-zero-grant/

Here is it copy pasted:

From operating systems to security platforms, the foundations of our current Internet were built by volunteers and researchers. Today, developers from all over the world are helping drive a paradigm shift that will impact not just computing infrastructure, but also ownership of data, communication patterns, and business models.

As users demand more privacy and security and strive to move their data away from corporate silos, they are looking to solutions being created by developers who often continue to build without any compensation.

It behooves us to support these trailblazers.

At Samsung NEXT we believe in helping innovators succeed. We are excited to announce the Samsung NEXT Stack Zero Grant: a non-equity grant program that aims to support early-stage teams building decentralized technologies with funding, expertise, and access to the Samsung NEXT network.

Run out of our European headquarters in Berlin, we encourage individuals and teams from around the world to submit applications around areas including:

Peer-to-peer web
Distributed applications
Federated platforms
Personal data management
Blockchain technology
Development tools and libraries
Security, research, and educational initiatives
We are offering selected projects funding between $25,000 and $70,000. If the projects think they can benefit from our expertise, we will also be happy to provide mentorship by Samsung NEXT’s venture and platform teams on scaling, distribution, consumer market insights, product management and hardware adoption. Depending on availability, there will be the opportunity to work from Samsung NEXT’s offices in New York, Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv and Berlin.

There are no strings attached. We realize a lot of you are working on these initiatives as side projects, after hours, or funding the development yourselves. We just want you to keep doing the work you have been doing up until now.

We do have a few criteria for the grant, though.

First, we expect the teams to be working on non-commercial projects or projects that aren’t investable yet. If you are working on a commercial system, do reach out to our investment team!

We expect that the teams or individuals are developing their projects in the open, for instance as open source or published research. Our goal is to help the ecosystem as a whole, so open access is fundamental.

Finally, we expect you to be working in the decentralization space. It can be federation, distributed applications, research on protocols, blockchain or edge computing, as long as your work is furthering decentralization.

We have assembled a world-class committee to help us review your submissions. It includes:

Leonid Beder, Head of Blockchain Engineering & Security at Orbs
Lisa Chai, Managing Partner and Bluemont Partners
Meltem Demirors, Co-founder at CoinShares
Ouriel Ohayon, Co-founder of Kzen Networks
Samuli Pöyhtäri, Founder of Haja Networks
Santiago Siri, Co-founder of Democracy.Earth
Teemu Paivinen, Co-founder Compound.vc
We also have an internal panel with members from our international team, including Gus Warren (New York), Raymond Liao (San Francisco), Ricardo J. Méndez (Berlin) and Royi Benyossef (Tel Aviv).

You can read the terms and conditions here and apply through our form. If you have any questions, or would like to discuss further, shoot me an e-mail to ricardo -at- samsungnext dot com.

cc: grants-team: @zelf @alanna @mu

tags: #handshake-council #ssbc-grants #money

@andrestaltz I think this would also be a good fit for #manyVerse

@peg @kieran @kieran-two @alanna @mix I also think this might be a good fit for #darkcrystal .

We could always make three applications: manyVerse, SSB and darkcrystal - they might even fund all three! ;)

@rabble thanks for the context. I think Dark Crystal team will put in an application using some of our exisiting content.

If you could let them know there are grant applications incoming that might be a nice thing to pop us on the synaptic mycelial brain radar :-D

This initiative is 100% non-profit. No equity, no strings attached.
Deadline for applications: November 30, 2018.

Samsung NEXT Stack Zero Grant

https://samsungnexteurope.typeform.com/to/DtpcWw

1. First, tell us your project's name.
2. Give us your high-level pitch and tell us what problem you're trying to solve
3. Which fields or areas does your technology impact the most? Feel free to use comma-separated tags.
4. Do you have a website? A public code repository would do.
5. Where is the team based? If distributed, give us a general idea.
6. If accepted, how will you utilize the grant?
7. Tell us your story: how long have you been working on this project, how is the community involved, or any other detail you want.
8. What is the most groundbreaking thing about your solution?
9. How does your solution further decentralization?
10. Where can we find you online (social media, Gitlab, Github, etc.)?
11. Do you agree to our terms and conditions?
    • https://samsungnext.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/stackzero-grant-2018-terms.pdf

maybe worth mentioning, another of the reasons behind the Sunrise Choir ( #sunrise-choir ) is to improve our ability to receive grant funding, namely by having a clear roadmap with a clear team. if people who had energy to pursue these grants wanted to pitch on behalf of the Sunrise Choir, that'd be really awesome, as we could scale our work to more people over a longer time period.

This is great! Would fit like a glove. I actually heard it first from @Teemu, who's on the committee. I definitely think we should put a Manyverse application. @zelf I feel like writing this one myself but I'll ask you for feedback in private, is that ok? :)

https://twitter.com/dan_mi_sun/status/1060063093969960960

@ArgesRic there is a deadline for submission of applications but I can't find a timeline for when decisions will be made? can you give any insight? thanks for organising such an awesome opportunity.

His response:

Hi Dan! On the T&Cs we mention we expect to notify by end of December 2018, but pleas bear with us if it slips.

Glad you like the program!

@zelf given that Andre is steering the manyVerse application, the dark crystal one is already done, SSB we can likely pull from previous application, could you help with applying for the Rusty Choir? I'd be willing to help, but TBH I think it looks like alot of the ground work has been laid out by @dinosaur .

I filled in the form for Dark Crystal so I can see that many of the questions they ask have been answered within dinosaurs intro to the Rusty Choir.

@zelf given that Andre is steering the manyVerse application, the dark crystal one is already done, SSB we can likely pull from previous application, could you help with applying for the Rusty Choir? I'd be willing to help, but TBH I think it looks like alot of the ground work has been laid out by @dinosaur .

I filled in the form for Dark Crystal so I can see that many of the questions they ask have been answered within dinosaurs intro to the Rusty Choir.

Actually it was another peer here who passed to me but I am not sure if they want attribution! I was a mere messenger :)

@andrestaltz I am also happy to read over and copy edit if that is helpful.

@zelf: my only cypherlink is %SZxDRwf..., i'm not sure what ground work i laid out other than the Choir's announcement post.