About ESP
We provide support to free and open-source projects that strengthen Ethereum's foundations, with a particular focus on builder tools, infrastructure, research, and public goods.
Overview
ESP is an ecosystem development cluster within the EF comprising two teams: Grant Management and Funding Coordination.
Together, we focus on strengthening Ethereum's foundations, supporting teams across the ecosystem, and enabling future builders. The work we support is free, open-source, non-commercial, and designed to create positive sum outcomes for the community.
Learn more about each of our teams below!
Grant Management
The Grant Management team focuses on allocating resources to the projects and initiatives that are most critical to Ethereum's resilience and usability.
This involves coordinating grant-making across EF teams to ensure that support is aligned and impactful. In addition, we support grantees throughout their journey by offering guidance, fostering connections across the ecosystem, and drawing insights from outcomes to guide future efforts.
Funding Coordination
The Funding Coordination team aims to make it simpler and faster for impactful projects to secure funding. Our work is organized around four pillars: facilitating co-funding for EF grantees, securing co-funding for EF initiatives, improving access to funding opportunities throughout the ecosystem, and expanding the overall pool of available funding.
We execute this vision in various ways, including:
- Working with Octant, Gitcoin, ENS DAO, and others to co-curate funding domains and align co-funding opportunities for EF grantees
- Providing coordination and resource support for EF-led initiatives such as the Proximity Prize, Noir Acceleration, and proactive grants rounds
- Improving access to information and processes for builders and projects to secure funding from existing grant sources
- Working with TradFi and compliant DeFi entities to explore crypto-native mechanisms for funding public-interest projects on Ethereum
