Non-dilutive funding for crypto startups: 7 sources
Updated 7 min readBy the web3grant editors
Non-dilutive funding for crypto startups is money that takes no equity or tokens and does not have to be repaid. There are seven main sources: foundation and company grants, DAO treasury proposals, retroactive rewards, quadratic funding rounds, audit subsidies, fellowships and residencies, and bounties or RFPs. In web3grant's directory of 99 programs, the median published grant ceiling is $50,000.
Key takeaways
- As of 2026-10-31, web3grant's directory lists 99 grant programs, and 78 of them accept applications year-round.
- Audit subsidies can cut a smart contract audit bill by up to 30% (Ethereum Audit Subsidy Program) or up to 75% (Ava Labs), and are paid to the audit firm, not to you.
- Treasury proposals have the highest ceilings, up to 10,000,000 DOT on Polkadot's largest track, but each request needs a deposit and a public vote.
- All three quadratic funding programs in the directory are between rounds as of October 2026, so plan for them rather than count on them this quarter.
- Some funding sold as non-dilutive has strings: convertible terms, revenue shares, token lockups or fee-sharing agreements.
The 7 sources at a glance
| Source | Typical size | Decision time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation and company grants | Median ceiling $50K | About 4 weeks | Building on one chain or product |
| DAO treasury proposals | Small tips to millions | 4 to 12 weeks | Public projects with community support |
| Retroactive rewards | Varies, often monthly | After impact | Live products with on-chain usage |
| Quadratic funding rounds | Ceilings of $27.6K to $86K | Per round | Open-source public goods |
| Audit subsidies | 30% to 75% of an audit | 2 to 4 weeks | Contracts close to launch |
| Fellowships and residencies | $500 to $10K a month | Per cohort | Individual founders and developers |
| Bounties and RFPs | $1.5K tasks to six-figure RFPs | Fast to moderate | Teams that can build to a spec |
Decision times are web3grant estimates from each program's process; most programs do not publish them.
1. Foundation and company grants
Foundation and company grants are the core of non-dilutive funding: you apply with a scoped plan, and the funder pays in milestones as you deliver. As of 2026-10-31, the median published ceiling is $50,000, with the middle half of programs between $25,000 and $100,000.
Foundations fund what grows their chain, and companies fund what uses their product. The Solana Foundation pays for open-source work and steers mainly commercial projects to convertible grants; Aptos Ecosystem Grants pay $5,000 to $50,000 to teams with a live product; Circle pays USDC to teams building on Arc. Some foundations also pay for growth once you have launched: SDF Marketing Grants cover up to $500,000 of user acquisition for live products on Stellar.
2. DAO treasury proposals
A treasury proposal asks a DAO or chain treasury for money directly, and token holders or an elected committee vote on it. These have the highest ceilings of any source, and the most public process.
On the Polkadot OpenGov Treasury, anyone can submit a referendum on one of six tracks, from 250 DOT to 10,000,000 DOT, with a decision deposit of 1 to 1,000 DOT. The Cardano Treasury needs a 100,000 ada deposit, refunded after the vote. RootstockCollective Grants pay up to $35,000 in USDRIF in three tiers, and since September 2026 hold back about 30% until a post-completion impact review. Draft in public first: votes go badly for requests that appear on-chain without forum discussion. The guide to writing a DAO funding proposal covers how.
3. Retroactive funding and usage rewards
Retroactive funding pays after you show impact, so it suits startups that already have a live product. Instead of a proposal, you register and get scored on what happened on-chain.
Ronin Proof of Distribution pays RON every 30-day season from a pool of 410,958 RON, based on a Builder Score built from volume, gas spend and paying users. Algorand's xGov pays 5,000 to 400,000 ALGO for open-source tools already in use, although payouts currently wait on a top-up of its treasury and a newly elected Council. Polymarket pays weekly USDC rewards to apps based on the trading volume they send. Optimism Retro Funding, the largest retro program, has been paused since January 2026. More in retroactive public goods funding.
4. Quadratic funding rounds
Quadratic funding rounds match community donations from a shared pool, weighting the number of donors over the size of each gift. They fund open-source public goods well and commercial products poorly.
Our data puts the ceiling at about $86,000 for Giveth's QF rounds and $27,600 for Octant, the latter based on past awards; Octant's Epoch 13 matched from a 100 ETH pool. Octant excludes pre-launch projects and counts funds raised above $1M in the past 12 months against you, which rules out many venture-backed startups. As of 2026-10-31 all three programs are between rounds: Gitcoin has not run one since October 2025, Octant's Epoch 14 has no date and Giveth has announced no next round. See quadratic funding for how matching works.
- Giveth QF roundsGivethApplications for the Stellar round closed on Aug 28. Donations run until Oct 4, 2026, and no next round is announced.Up to $86KClosed
- Octant funding epochsOctantEpoch 13 applications have closed. Community allocation for its 100 ETH pool runs Oct 14 to Oct 21, 2026, and Epoch 14 has no date yet.$500–$27.6KClosed
- Gitcoin GrantsGitcoinNo round since GG24 in October 2025, and none is announced. As of October 2026 Gitcoin is folding quadratic funding into a local-money pilot targeted for November, with a wider launch in mid-December; there is no application for builders yet.Up to $10.9KClosed
5. Audit subsidies
An audit subsidy pays part of a smart contract audit directly to the audit firm. For a DeFi startup about to launch, it is often the most valuable non-dilutive money available, because audits are a large, unavoidable cost.
The Ethereum Audit Subsidy Program covers up to 30% of an audit for Ethereum mainnet projects from a $1M pool, booked through Areta Market's 20+ vetted firms; the Areta Market FAQ is the official reference for the program. The Ava Labs Security Audit Program collects quotes from 18 vetted firms and can subsidize up to 75% for Avalanche projects. The Arbitrum Security Program, open since September 28, 2026, has a 12-month budget of 1.76M USDC and 25M ARB (about $7.8M) and pays approved auditors. Your code has to be audit-ready before you apply. Smart contract audit subsidies compares them.
6. Fellowships and residencies
Fellowships and residencies pay a person, not a company, which makes them useful for founders who need to cover living costs while they build. They usually come with mentors and a cohort.
World One pays solo builders $10,000 a month for three months ($30,000 in total) to ship on World ID in San Francisco; you must be authorized to work in the US. The Ethereum Protocol Fellowship runs about five months with stipends for selected fellows, and Cohort 8 dates have not been announced. Brink's one-year fellowship in London pays a salary to engineers new to Bitcoin protocol work. Web3 fellowships lists more.
- World OneWorld FoundationThis is an in-person residency in San Francisco for solo builders who can work in the US.$30KAnytime
- Ethereum Protocol FellowshipEthereum FoundationCohort 7 runs until November 2026. Cohort 8 dates have not been announced.UndisclosedClosed
- Brink Grants and FellowshipBrinkUndisclosedAnytime
7. Bounties and RFPs
Bounties and RFPs (requests for proposals) pay for a task the funder has already defined. You trade freedom of scope for a faster decision and a clear payout.
Tether pays $1,500 to $5,000 in USDT or bitcoin for defined tasks on its open stack. TheDAO Security Fund's Round Two, open until January 31, 2027, co-funds Ethereum security initiatives as RFPs or grants and requires at least a third of each budget to sit on adoption milestones. The Horizen Builder Ecosystem Fund pays up to $150,000 in USDC for its RFPs, such as private agentic trading vaults. More in Web3 RFP grants.
Check the strings before you call it non-dilutive
Some funding is marketed as a grant but carries terms an investor will care about. Read the agreement for these:
- Convertible terms. Solana Foundation convertible grants turn into an investment if you hit set milestones, such as raising a priced round.
- Revenue shares. 1inch DAO's Aqua Revenue Stream Incubator pays up to $50,000 for 10% to 50% of a defined revenue base.
- Fee or token commitments. Most Horizen-funded projects agree to join the ZEN staking rewards pool, for example by sharing protocol fees.
- Token lockups. Conflux bars selling granted CFX for a year unless agreed otherwise.
- Credits instead of cash. Some chain programs pay in gas sponsorship or infrastructure credits; web3grant leaves those out of the directory.
None of these make a program bad. They make it a different deal. Web3 grants vs venture capital explains how grants and investment fit together, and what Web3 grants are covers the basics.
How to combine non-dilutive sources
The sources work best in sequence. A typical path for a crypto startup:
- A small grant or bounty to build a working prototype.
- A larger foundation grant to reach mainnet, paid in milestones.
- An audit subsidy before launch, if you hold user funds.
- Retroactive or usage rewards once people use the product.
- Treasury or marketing funding to grow, when you have numbers to show.
Disclose every grant to every funder, and never bill two funders for the same milestone. To find programs by chain and status, use the grant directory, and check windows on the deadline calendar.
FAQ
What is the difference between non-dilutive and dilutive funding?
Non-dilutive funding gives a crypto startup money without taking equity, tokens or a claim on future revenue, so the founders' ownership stays the same. Dilutive funding, such as venture capital, a SAFE or a token sale, pays for a share of the company or its tokens. Grants, bounties, audit subsidies and retroactive rewards are non-dilutive unless their agreement adds convertible or revenue-share terms.
Can a venture-backed crypto startup still get grants?
A venture-backed crypto startup can still get many grants, but some programs weigh outside capital. Octant counts funds raised above $1M in the past 12 months against applicants, while VeBetter allows other funding if disclosed. Audit subsidies, company grants and chain go-to-market programs are usually open to funded teams. Always disclose investors and other grants in the application.
How much non-dilutive funding can a crypto startup raise?
The median published grant ceiling in web3grant's directory is $50,000, and three in four published ceilings are $100,000 or less. A crypto startup can raise more by combining sources, such as a foundation grant, an audit subsidy and later usage rewards. The largest single amounts come from on-chain treasury votes, where Polkadot's largest track allows up to 10,000,000 DOT.
Is non-dilutive funding for crypto startups taxable?
Non-dilutive funding for crypto startups is often taxable, because many countries treat grants received by a company as income, and tokens are often valued when received. Audit subsidies paid directly to an auditor may be treated differently from cash grants. The answer depends on your country and entity, so ask a tax professional before you accept the first payment.
Programs in this guide
Where each one stands today, soonest deadline first.
- TheDAO Security FundTheDAO Security FundUp to $640K91 days
- Arbitrum Security ProgramArbitrum FoundationUndisclosedAnytime
- Ava Labs Security Audit ProgramAva LabsUndisclosedAnytime
- Ethereum Audit Subsidy ProgramEthereum FoundationUndisclosedAnytime
- Polkadot OpenGov TreasuryPolkadot OpenGovUp to $12MAnytime
- Ronin Proof of DistributionRonin NetworkUndisclosedAnytime
- RootstockCollective GrantsRootstockCollectiveUp to $35KAnytime
- SDF Marketing GrantsStellar Development FoundationUp to $500KAnytime
- Solana Foundation grantsSolana FoundationUndisclosedAnytime
- Tether Grants and BountiesTether$1.5K–$5KAnytime
- World OneWorld FoundationThis is an in-person residency in San Francisco for solo builders who can work in the US.$30KAnytime
- Octant funding epochsOctantEpoch 13 applications have closed. Community allocation for its 100 ETH pool runs Oct 14 to Oct 21, 2026, and Epoch 14 has no date yet.$500–$27.6KClosed
Related guides
- What are Web3 grants? How crypto grant funding worksWhat are Web3 grants? Who pays them, 8 funding models, typical sizes (median ceiling $50,000) and how payouts work, from a directory of 99 programs.
- Why do blockchains give grants? What funders want backWhy do blockchains give grants? Six motives, from developer adoption to treasury mandates, how each shapes funding, and the 2026 shift to RFPs and investment.
- Can you apply for multiple grants at once in Web3?Yes, you can usually apply for multiple grants at once if each pays for different work. How to split scope, disclose other funding and avoid double-funding.
- Crypto wallet grants: funding for wallets and consumer appsCrypto wallet grants in 2026: 27 programs in our directory name wallets as a focus, from Zcash and BDK to Solana Mobile and Tether, plus what is dormant.