Sponsorship for active devs and community members during Polkadot Symbiosis in Buenos Aires

We share this proposal to Forum to receive feedback from the community before present the proposal onchain.

This proposal aims to fund a sponsorship for 40 builders, developers and active members of the Polkadot ecosystem to attend The Polkadot Sub0 Symbiosis Conference in Buenos Aires. This is mainly to cover the transport and accommodation costs.

Link to proposal

Context of the proposal

During 2022 and 2023 the Web3 Foundation sponsored active and reputable ambassadors or community members to participate in Decoded and Sub0.

In June 2024 for Decoded the community team sponsored 38 active members: 18 people based in Europe, 2 in Africa and 18 in Asia and Americas. The initiative was supported by the community.

Now, the community team is focused on sponsoring active builders, developers and active members of the Polkadot ecosystem to attend The Polkadot Sub0 Symbiosis Conference in Buenos Aires: 12 members based in Americas, 6 in Asia, 6 in Africa and 10 in Europe.

Problem statement

Polkadot Sub0 Symbiosis Conference is where the two most important events in the ecosystem, Decoded and Sub0, come together but some talented and active people of Polkadot and members of active projects in the ecosystem can’t attend this event without a sponsorship to cover the high cost of the travel and the hotel.

The Polkadot Sub0 Symbiosis Conference is an opportunity to have many developers and community members in the same place working together.

To have global representation at this technical and non technical event represents an opportunity for the development and growth of the network. And to increase:

1.- Interchange of ideas and knowledge

Sub0 as a global event represents a space where people from different cultures, backgrounds and experiences come together to share their ideas, knowledge and insights about the network.

2. Increase opportunities for developers to collaboration:

Collaboration between people from different regions is critical to the development of innovative projects and the growth of the network .

3. Increase the technical adoption of Polkadot and PolkaVM:

Extending the reach of this technology to different regions is crucial in order to create solutions that are adapted to the problems of each space, thus collectively driving innovation and creating new opportunities for all.

4. Building a Sense of Belonging

Events and Activities: These kinds of activities strengthen the sense of belonging within the community.
User Stories and Feedback: Give community members space to share experiences, successes, and feedback. This not only adds value to the community but helps build a narrative around the project.

The goal of the proposal

This sponsorship seeks to help, support, facilitate the access to the event and networking opportunities in the Polkadot ecosystem, giving members and developers, regardless of their resources, the opportunity to participate in this first class event. Achieving this way to foster a more inclusive, motivated and prepared community to promote their ideas in Polkadot.

In addition, this proposal also seeks to enhance the development of projects in Polkadot by giving teams of builders the opportunity to immerse themselves in the ecosystem, meet experts in the field and discover the tools and resources needed to bring their ideas to the ecosystem, all while allowing them the opportunity to attend Sub0.

Proposed solution

We set up a team to coordinate the welcoming, networking and incentivization of active developers and community members, using a transparent method of selection, guided by the community.

Team:

Lorena Blockya from Latam team, Adrian from Mythos, Patricia from OpenGuild, Bekka from Polkadot Africa and Michael from Scytale.

Selection process

How to make the sponsorship application

To be eligible it is required to write a post on the Polkadot Forum https://forum.polkadot.network/ (as a reply to this post).
The post needs to include:
- Name or nickname.
- Country and region.
- A summary of the last six months of activities as an active developer/community member (including github) where mention and demonstrate compliance with the following selection parameters and process. Repositories or personal github links to check the contributions in the last year.
- A paragraph explaining why the applicant would like to benefit from sponsorship.
Post the application by September 25, 2025 at 23:59 UTC.
Due to limited time and necessity for people to handle their visa, hotel and flight bookings, we will begin the selection process before the decision deadline.
Should the proposal not pass, all applicants will be notified that sponsorship is not possible.
If anyone does any bookings before confirmation of approval, we can not be held liable for any financial repercussions.

The selection parameters and process:

The criteria parameters:

Each developer or community member will receive points:

1.- Representatives of projects that are building on Polkadot/Kusama or have demonstrated a public and notorious interest in wanting to build on PolkaVM or to migrate their existing project to Polkadot. (15 points)

2.- Creation of technical content focused on Polkadot or any Polkadot parachain during the 3 months prior to Sub0 (5 points. Depending on the number and quality of the content).

3.- Proof of work, including github activity. Repositories or personal github links to check the contributions in the last year. (5 to 10 points).

4.- Proposals made in OpenGov in the Polkadot ecosystem focused on building a project/tool in Polkadot or a parachain. (5 points + 1 point for the other proposals in parachains).

5.- W3F Grant (5 points).

6.- Alumni PBA (5 points).

In the event of a tie among participants, the proposals with the most support among the community will be evaluated as a tie-breaker.

Active Polkadot Community:

1.- Active and continuous participation in the community during the 2024 and 2025 period. (5 points).

2.- Having held positions of responsibility within the community: Discord/Telegram Moderator on official Polkadot channels, Event Organizer, Workshop Mentor, Meetup Organization, Participation in Spaces/Lives (5 - 10 Points).

3.- Participation as a Speaker at important sector-specific technology events. Note: Business/Professional Web2/Web3 events. (10 - 15 Points).

4.- Content creation on X/YouTube (5 - 10 Points).

5.- Artists within the ecosystem (5 - 8 Points).

6.- Polkadot Community Leaders and Core Contributors: This area focuses on individuals who contribute to regional Polkadot grassroots communities. ( 5 points).

The selection Process

The Team sponsorship will follow the criteria parameters per region, and decide who can benefit from the sponsorship based on:

1.- Criteria parameters
2.- Motivation to go to The Polkadot Symbiosis 2025 and activities during the event (if the candidate is a speaker, MD etc).

3.- The overall activities in the last 6 months.
4.- No other funding is available for these people to travel to the event.

The Team sponsorship will be in charge of evaluating the information provided by the participants. It will be the sole and exclusive responsibility of the participants to be able to present in their application all relevant data that matches and supports the evaluation parameters. Any information that is not provided by the participants cannot be evaluated by the Team sponsorship.

The team sponsorship will try as much as possible to offer sponsorship for people from different countries within one region, in order to ensure a global participation of the entire community. The maximum to reimburse is 10 for Europe, 12 Americas, 6 Asia and 6 Africa.

If there is not reached the cap for a region, the Team sponsorship will select nominees from other regions. The budget will be spent in its entirety, yet should some USDC remain, it will be returned to the treasury.

Results

On October 17, a post will be published by the Team sponsorship to announce the people who will benefit from sponsorship to attend The Polkadot Flagship Conference.

Timeline

Submissions on Polkadot Forum.
- Deadline: September 25 2025 at 23:59 UTC.
Selection by the Team sponsorship.
- Deadline: October 17 2025 at 23:59 UTC.
Sponsorships announced in the Polkadot Forum.
- October 17 2025.
Receipts to be sent by November 20, 2025.
Reimbursements payable in USDC by December 2, 2025.

Budget

Due to the variation in flight costs, we have classified the maximum amount to be subsidized differently according to the different geographic regions and their respective travel costs.
The amounts shown below are the maximum amounts that can be requested according to the region in which the applicant is located. The subsidy is paid retroactively against receipts, without ever exceeding the maximum indicated here.
Region: Americas maximum 800 USD
Region: Asia maximum 2500 USD
Region: Africa maximum 2000 USD
Region: Europe maximum 1000 USD

We aim to spend the entire budget. So, if there are not enough applicants from a certain region, we will use the funds to cover more applicants per region.
Should there be any amount remaining after this team’s objectives for the Polkadot community have been met, these can be returned to the Polkadot Treasury.

Success metrics

Fairness:
Transparency:
Efficiency:
Coordinated action
Impact
- All non-funded participants support the selected participants.
- The signatories of this proposal are not eligible to participate and get funded.
- Each participant who submits their reports and receipts, agrees that these documents will be shared in a publicly visible folder.
- Any unused will be return the treasury
- All questions are posted and answered out in the open.
- Each selected participant who submits their report and receipts in time, will get their funding before the deadline.
- Everyone has a positive experience: feedback, on average, is at least 8 out of 10.
- Participants arrange at least one common get-together or action during the event.
- All funded participants represent Polkadot before, during and after the event, and briefly outline what their positive impact has been.
- All the funded participants will act actively in social media with posts about Sub0 and their experience.
- This initiative serves as an example for decentralized volunteer coordination, by the community for the community.
- Create a sense of belonging among the participants, so that they have a greater commitment at the time of building in Polkadot.