Cardano PRIME
AlphaGrowthCardanoAlways open
Milestone-based grants from a 120M ADA Cardano treasury program for teams building missing DeFi primitives on Cardano.
Time left to apply
Anytime
Rolling: reviewed as applications arrive
Apply to Cardano PRIME
Applications go through alphagrowth.typeform.com. Expect a decision in about 4 weeks.
Grant stats
- Grant size
- Undisclosed
- Largest grant
- Not published
- Paid in
- USD or ADA
- Payout
- In milestones
- Funding model
- Rolling
- Apply any time. Reviewed as applications arrive.
- Typical decision
- 4 weeks
- From submission to an answer
- Round budget
- Cardano PRIME ecosystem grants: $5.6M (of a 120M ADA program)
- Ecosystem
- Cardano
Checked Oct 1 against 3 sources. Confirm amounts and dates on cardano.org before you apply.
About Cardano PRIME
Cardano PRIME is a 12-month program paid for by the Cardano treasury and run by AlphaGrowth to grow DeFi on Cardano. Its target is $200 million in net-new, non-circular TVL. After an audit and gap-analysis phase it offers milestone-based grants, liquidity provider incentives and marketing support to qualifying protocols.
The grants fund teams shipping the DeFi building blocks Cardano is missing. The application lists RFP categories including wallets, bridging, vault and executor standards, curated lending, concentrated and automated liquidity, CDPs, yield-bearing stablecoins, oracles, perps, RWAs and on-chain credit, insurance, launchpads and agent infrastructure.
Both Cardano-native teams and teams moving from other chains can apply. AlphaGrowth says it looks for TVL that is verifiably new rather than recycled, sound architecture with a realistic audit plan, and a budget that fits the KPIs you commit to.
Resources
Categories
What they fund
- Lending, CDPs and yield-bearing stablecoins
- Liquidity infrastructure such as concentrated and automated liquidity management
- Perps, oracles and bridging
- RWAs and on-chain credit
- Wallets, launchpads and agent infrastructure for DeFi
Who can apply
Tick what applies to you. Saved on this device only.
How applying works
- 1
Apply
Fill in the Cardano PRIME Typeform, choosing an RFP category and stating how you will grow TVL or activity.
- 2
Rolling review
AlphaGrowth reviews applications as they arrive.
- 3
Scoping call
Shortlisted teams have a short call on scope, KPIs, amount and milestones.
- 4
Milestone funding
The build is funded in milestones, with help distributing into Cardano wallets, DEXs and lending markets.
Similar programs
More in DeFiFAQ
- When does Cardano PRIME close?
- Cardano PRIME has no deadline. Applications are reviewed as they arrive, so you can apply whenever your proposal is ready.
- How much can I get?
- The program doesn't publish a range; amounts are set per proposal.
- How long until I hear back?
- About 4 weeks from submission to a decision, going by the program's own process or past rounds.
- Where do I apply?
- On the official site, alphagrowth.typeform.com. web3grant links there directly and never takes applications itself.
Sources
Checked on Oct 1 against these pages. Programs change often, so confirm the details on cardano.org before you apply.