Sia - Grants
Sia

The Sia Foundation welcomes contributors from all over the world to come and build on Sia through our Grants program. Our goal for this program is to fund research, development, developer tools, and anything else that will support and further our mission of user-owned data while enriching the Sia ecosystem.

The following section outlines the proposal requirements, the proposal process, and evaluation criteria for the Sia grant program. Read on to get started on your own grant application.

Proposal Requirements
  1. Name of organization or individual and project name.

  2. Purpose of the grant: who benefits and how the project will serve the Foundation’s mission of user-owned data.

  3. Code contributions must be open source.

  4. Timeline with measurable objectives and goals.

  5. Any potential risks that will affect the outcome of the project.

  6. Budget and justification.

  7. Reporting requirements: Progress reports to the foundation/committee and to the community.

Proposal Process
  1. Create a proposal with the above requirements in mind.

  2. Open discussion will ensue in the comment section from the community.

  3. The Grant Committee convenes every two weeks to review the following:

    1. New proposals, to accept, reject, or request more info.

    2. Existing grants, to assess their progress.

    3. Newly completed grants, to review their outcomes.

Scoring Rubric

All proposals are reviewed by the Grant Committee. When evaluating a grant proposal, the Committee considers the following factors while utilizing a scoring matrix to ensure a thorough vetting process.

  1. In line with Foundation’s mission: Does the proposal address a recognized need in the decentralized cloud storage community? Is the need consistent with The Sia Foundation’s mission of user-owned data?

  2. Community Impact: Will the project provide a meaningful volume of services and/or people served in the decentralized cloud storage community (in particular the Sia community)?

  3. Goals, Objectives & Outcome: Are there clear goals and objectives written? Are measurable outcomes evident?

  4. Deliverable: How well does the individual/organization demonstrate the ability to deliver and measure proposed outcomes?

  5. Risks and Technical Feasibility: Is the risk reasonable for the timeline provided? Please be thoughtful if the risk is high enough to impact the outcome of the project.

  6. Budget Justification: How well does the applicant justify the budget?

Grant Committee
  1. Luke (Sia Foundation)

  2. Nate (Sia Foundation)

  3. Chris (Sia Foundation)

  4. Manasi (Sia community)

  5. Mike76 (Sia community)

  6. Redsolver (Sia community)

Sia is a thriving ecosystem of data storage enthusiasts, open source software, and commercial data storage platforms. Apply for a Sia grant and start contributing.

Vup

Private and decentralized cloud storage app with encrypted file sharing and media streaming support.

Learn more about Vup
vup.app
Siastats

Charts, metrics, and explorer for the Sia network.

Learn more about Siastats
siastats.info
SiaCentral - Host Manager

User-friendly desktop app for Sia hosts. Provides easy configuration, better financials, and smart alerts to make hosting simpler.

Learn more about SiaCentral - Host Manager
siacentral.com
Decentralizer

Sia companion app that provides renters with more granular controls over hosts and contracts.

Learn more about Decentralizer
keops.cc
SiaCentral - Host Dashboard

A powerful web based monitoring dashboard for Sia hosts.

Learn more about SiaCentral - Host Dashboard
github.com
TrySia

Give Sia a spin with this Docker image that includes a fully-synced node and ready-to-use file contracts.

Learn more about TrySia
trysia.tech
Get started on your grant proposal

The Sia Foundation looks forward to funding your open source research and development projects.

Create a proposal

Your path to a Sia Foundation grant starts with a proposal. Among other things, your proposal outlines what you want to do, how it will benefit the Sia ecosystem, and how much money you’ll need. Our committee then makes a determination to approve, conditionally approve, or reject, with your next steps provided to you as a response to your proposal.

You can apply for a grant by making a new post in our forum here, under the Grants category. You can refer to this post for proposal requirements.

You can join the Sia Foundation Discord and ask questions in #grants-program.

Our goal for this program is to fund research, development, developer tools, and anything else that will support and further our mission of user-owned data while enriching the Sia ecosystem.

Approved grant funds can cover all costs associated with your project. Common project fees include development, operations, services, and more.

Grants are reviewed and accepted by the Sia Grants Committee and in parallel approved by the Sia Foundation Board of Directors.

  • Foundation employees: Luke Champine, Nate Maninger, Chris Schinnerl

  • Community members: Redsolver, Mike76, Manasi Vora

They meet every 2 weeks.

One week before the meeting, to ensure committee members and other users have time to review the proposal and ask you questions about the proposal. Not to worry, the committee will review your proposal at the next meeting!

  1. In line with Foundation’s mission: Does the proposal address a recognized need in the decentralized cloud storage community? Is the need consistent with The Sia Foundation’s mission of user-owned data?

  2. Community Impact: Will the project provide a meaningful volume of services and/or people served in the decentralized cloud storage community (in particular the Sia community)?

  3. Goals, Objectives & Outcome: Are there clear goals and objectives written? Are measurable outcomes evident?

  4. Deliverables: How well does the individual/organization demonstrate the ability to deliver and measure proposed outcomes?

  5. Risks & Technical Feasibility: Is the risk reasonable for the timeline provided? Be thoughtful if the risk is high enough to impact the outcome of the project.

  6. Budget Justification: How well does the applicant justify the budget?

Grant committee support will post feedback and/or approval on the forum in your proposal post.

If approved, you’re all set! You’ll then move on to our Post Approval process, which includes communicating with our operations team to complete the paperwork associated with your grant in compliance with United States Law.

If conditionally approved, you’re good to go as long as you commit to making our recommended changes. The committee will communicate further with you during the Post Approval process.

If rejected, it’s not the end of the road. We’ll provide feedback on where your proposal was lacking so you can fix it up and re-apply.

Simply add a new comment to your proposal with the new application and ensure that it aligns with the criteria provided above while also taking into consideration why your previous application was rejected.

Grants are only offered in SC and USD/other fiat at this time.

If approved, you’re all set! You’ll then move on to our Post Approval process, which includes communicating with our operations team to complete the paperwork associated with your grant in compliance with United States Law.

If conditionally approved, you’re good to go as long as you commit to making our recommended changes. The committee will communicate further with you during the Post Approval process.

Grants are only offered in SC and USD/other fiat at this time. For grants with a timeline of 1 or more years, payments will be made quarterly. For grants with a timeline of less than 1 year, payments will be made monthly. Grant payments are made the 15th of every month. Please note that it may take a few days for payments to be received.

When are they due?

  • Monthly reports are due the 2nd of every month after your grant has been approved.

What do I need to put in the report?

  • The report should state a summary of your progress over the past month. Please also include links to code if there are any.

Where do I submit the progress?

  • On the forum where your proposal was submitted, just add a comment.

I need more money to complete my grant, what do I do?

If you’re still within your original grant period but funds have run dry, you can request additional funds. The committee will review this request and recommend approval or rejection.

If you’ve completed your project and wish to continue working under a grant, you can submit a new proposal for committee review.

If you’re interested but have questions or need help submitting your grant feel free to join the discord server and hop in the #grants-program channel to chat with Kino, Frances, and the committee members. This channel provides a space to ask questions, discuss the grant program, share ideas, provide feedback, and collaborate with community members.