Horizen Builder Ecosystem Fund
Horizen FoundationHorizenAlways open
Up to $150K per project, paid in USDC by milestone, for privacy-first DeFi apps on Horizen, an EVM chain built on Base.
Time left to apply
Anytime
Rolling: reviewed as applications arrive
Apply to Horizen Builder Ecosystem Fund
Applications go through tally.so. Expect a decision in about 4 weeks.
Grant stats
- Grant size
- Up to $150K
- Largest grant
- $150,000
- Paid in
- USDC
- Payout
- In milestones
- Funding model
- Rolling
- Apply any time. Reviewed as applications arrive.
- Typical decision
- 4 weeks
- From submission to an answer
- Ecosystem
- Horizen
Checked Oct 1 against 2 sources. Confirm amounts and dates on horizen.io before you apply.
About Horizen Builder Ecosystem Fund
Horizen is an EVM-native ecosystem for private onchain finance, built on Base. Season 2 of its builder fund backs apps where privacy is a working feature, with a pool of over 100K ZEN and up to $150,000 for select projects. It favors teams that use Horizen's Vela confidential compute layer (TEE) or zkVerify (ZK proofs) and that add utility for the ZEN token.
There are three lanes. Core apps answer Horizen's RFPs, starting with private agentic trading vaults and a private borrow-lend protocol, for up to $150,000. Complementary apps and projects migrating from other chains get mid-size grants. New projects, public goods and wildcards get smaller grants, including audit funding and go-to-market support.
Funding is paid in USDC against milestones: 10% at approval, 20% when you prove your core privacy capability, and the rest split between a security audit (half before, half after passing) and real mainnet usage. Most funded projects also agree to join the ZEN staking rewards pool, for example by sharing protocol fees.
Resources
Categories
What they fund
- Private agentic trading vaults (RFP)
- Private borrow-lend protocol (RFP)
- Privacy-forward finance apps and projects migrating to Horizen
- Public goods, security audits and go-to-market support for promising products
Who can apply
Tick what applies to you. Saved on this device only.
How applying works
- 1
Apply
Submit one application via the Tally form, choosing the RFP, migrator or wildcard path.
- 2
Review and diligence
The team assesses demand, team capability and fit, and may ask direct questions.
- 3
Agree terms
Milestones, deadlines, payouts and staking pool participation are negotiated and signed.
- 4
Build and get paid
10% unlocks at approval and the rest is paid in USDC as milestones are met.
Similar programs
More in DeFiFAQ
- When does Horizen Builder Ecosystem Fund close?
- Horizen Builder Ecosystem Fund has no deadline. Applications are reviewed as they arrive, so you can apply whenever your proposal is ready.
- How much can I get?
- Up to $150K per grant, paid in USDC in milestone tranches.
- 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, tally.so. 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 horizen.io before you apply.