We're nearing the conclusion of our Encode Club x Polkadot initiative, having successfully implemented several milestones with the support of previous funding tranches. The initial proposal was split across five funding tranches, each focused on different aspects of the programme as agreed by Treasury in our initial proposal here. This report provides an overview of our progress on the online Polkadot ink! Hackathon, the Encode x Polkadot Accelerator and the final online Polkadot Hackathon. 

For our final tranche 5 request, we are seeking the remaining £10k in DOT (1,678.37 based on the Subscan 30 day MA of 7.549) to allocate as prizes for the upcoming Encode x Polkadot Hackathon in February 2024. 

Polkadot ink! Hackathon powered by Encode Club in 2023

Another online hackathon we ran was a four-week programme focused on the ink! smart contract language from the Polkadot ecosystem, for a detailed summary click here. This was a 4-week online hackathon with the following leading sponsors: Aleph Zero, Astar, Zeitgeist, GetBlock, and AZERO.ID. Throughout the hackathon, participants benefited from 1–1 mentoring sessions and several technical workshops, all designed to further educate and engage developers on ink!. Below is a list of the hackathon events, including the launch, all the technical workshops and the finale.

- Launch event

- Safe and robust smart contracts in Ink!: A working programmer’s guide to the crypto industry

- A deep dive into the storage of Ink! smart contracts

- Scaffold your dApp with ink!athon

- Different testing strategies for ink! smart contracts

- Integrate AZERO.ID in your dApp

- Interaction between the ink! smart contract and its execution environment

Encode x Polkadot 2023 Accelerator

The Encode x Polkadot Spring 2023 Hackathon and the Polkadot ink! Hackathon powered by Encode Club led up to the Encode x Polkadot 2023 Accelerator. This accelerator, which began at the end of November 2023, is an eight-week programme aimed at transforming the most promising early-stage projects into fully-fledged startups. Specifically tailored for Polkadot projects aspiring to become startups, the programme includes weekly workshops and one-on-one sessions. These workshops cover a wide range of topics, from technical building and design to product testing and fundraising. Participants receive guidance from experienced mentors, leading investors, and entrepreneurs in the field. Post-acceleration, we assist these projects in transitioning to full-time operations and securing funding. 

Eight notable projects have joined us for this accelerator. Key partners contributing to the workshops include Talisman, Astar, Aleph Zero, and Moonbeam.

Here is the workshop curriculum the participants followed:

- Fundraising (planned for January 16th 2024)

- Partnerships and Sales (planned for January 23rd 2024)

- Pitch Practice (planned for January 30th 2024)

- Pitch Day (planned for February 6th 2024)

Encode x Polkadot Hackathon, launching in February 2024

We're excited to announce the upcoming Encode x Polkadot Hackathon in Q1 of 2024, a dynamic event designed to build on the success of our previous collaborations with Polkadot. This 4-week online hackathon, starting on February 13th 2024 aims to bring together partners and innovators within the Polkadot ecosystem. Whether you're a seasoned developer or a newcomer to the Polkadot scene, this hackathon promises to be a valuable platform for everyone involved to contribute, grow, and potentially shape the future of the Polkadot ecosystem.

A rough outline of the timeline of this hackathon can be found below: 

- Hackathon Launch Event — Tuesday, 13th February at 5:30pm GMT

- Technical Workshops — Mid-February

- Submissions Due — 10th March at 23:59 in your time zone

- Finale and Prizegiving — Wednesday, March 27th at 5:30pm GMT