Author: Zen, PANews

For Ethereum ecosystem projects, receiving funding from the foundation is undoubtedly a recognition and endorsement of the project. Since launching the Ethereum Foundation (EF) funding program in 2018, EF has been providing financial support for open-source projects, educational initiatives, and developer tools within the Ethereum ecosystem through mechanisms such as the "Ecosystem Support Program (ESP)."

The early funding model primarily focused on open application grant programs, concentrating on areas such as developer tools, core infrastructure, research, community building, and open standards. During this phase, EF achieved significant results through open funding, with the number of funded projects reaching into the hundreds. In just 2024, ESP provided nearly $3 million in funding to 105 projects and initiatives through its open application platform. This initiative not only accelerated the development of key components of Ethereum but also nurtured and expanded the global Ethereum developer community. This influx of funds and talent has jointly driven the prosperity of the Ethereum ecosystem.

However, as the ecosystem expanded, this passive funding model of waiting for applications began to reveal its limitations. The EF funding team is understaffed, while the range of ecological needs is broad, making it difficult for the team to fully handle the surge in applications. This has led to most of EF's time, energy, and resources being consumed, limiting its ability to pursue strategic opportunities.

As the scale and complexity of the Ethereum ecosystem increased, the support methods also needed to evolve. Therefore, EF began to consider how to strategically plan resource allocation while continuing to support public goods.

ESP Transformation: Wishlist + RFP Dual-Drive

Entering 2025, these issues prompted the Ethereum Foundation to make significant adjustments to its funding strategy. At the end of August 2025, EF announced that its Ecosystem Support Program (ESP) would temporarily stop accepting public funding applications to reassess funding priorities and improve support methods.

This adjustment aims to shift focus toward strategic initiatives, moving from a passive response model to a more proactive approach, closely supporting key directions of the Ethereum ecosystem and aligning with the overall strategy of various EF internal teams. In simple terms, it means directing resources toward projects that are most important and impactful for the ecosystem.

After several months of preparation, on November 3, 2025, EF officially launched a new funding mechanism for ESP, centered around replacing the completely open application process with two pathways: "Wishlist" and "Request for Proposals (RFP)." In the new model, funding remains open for applications from everyone, but applications must correspond to the key areas or specific issues pre-listed by EF. Specifically:

The Wishlist describes important gaps or opportunity areas within the Ethereum ecosystem but does not limit specific implementation paths. The EF team proposes some high-priority broad directions or goals based on observations of the current state of the ecosystem, serving more as EF's "wishes" and guidance for the ecosystem. This model allows for considerable freedom, encouraging applicants to exercise creativity to meet these priority needs, enabling developers and teams to propose their independent ideas and solutions around these directions. What EF values is whether the proposed projects align with these broad directions and can positively impact the ecosystem.

The RFP model is more specific and targeted. EF will publish clear problem statements or opportunity descriptions, inviting applicants to submit solutions for those issues. This model emphasizes measurable deliverables and time constraints, suitable for urgent problems identified by EF that require targeted investment. Each RFP item typically includes predefined project scope, requirements, and expected outcomes, along with fixed application windows and project timelines. Just like EF setting "exam questions," the applying teams submit corresponding "answers," with only proposals that meet specific needs and complete deliverables within the deadline being selected.

The new Wishlist and RFP lists cover several key areas, including cryptography, privacy, application layer, security, and community growth, which essentially represent the current pain points and opportunities in Ethereum's development.

Founders Lab: A Founder Support Program Focused on Execution

As the funding mechanism shifts toward proactive planning, EF launched a new initiative in 2025 focused on enhancing project execution capabilities—Founders Lab. This is a mentorship-based acceleration program for founders of Ethereum ecosystem startups, with the core idea being that turning excellent ideas into reality requires strong execution and resource integration capabilities.

From November 17 to 22, 2025, Devconnect Argentina will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, officially positioned as the first Ethereum World’s Fair. During this period, Founders Lab will debut on November 18-19, providing 1:1 guidance to selected Ethereum startup teams.

The first batch of mentors includes well-known entrepreneurs such as Jesse Pollak, head of Coinbase L2 network Base, and Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon. Teams participating in Founders Lab will have the opportunity to consult directly with these "unicorn" mentors, avoiding pitfalls in strategy, technology, and operations.

According to EF's official introduction and the mentors' backgrounds, the mentoring content of Founders Lab mainly revolves around the following key themes:

• GTM (Go-To-Market): Founders Lab emphasizes helping teams clarify product positioning and market strategies, including how to identify target users, develop promotional plans, and establish competitive advantages.
• Fundraising: The Founders Lab mentor group includes entrepreneurs who have successfully raised funds and operated large projects, thus providing valuable fundraising guidance to new teams, such as how to refine business plans, approach investors, and seize funding opportunities and terms.
• Product and Scaling: Founders Lab teaches methods for product refinement, user experience optimization, expanding user bases, and technical scaling through mentorship.
• Network Resources and Industry Insights: "Connections are resources." Whether startup teams can access the right partners and community resources often determines project success. Founders Lab will leverage EF's extensive ecosystem network to connect new founders. Mentors not only provide experience but may also help teams connect with potential partners, user communities, and even investment institutions through their networks.

Through these empowerment aspects, Founders Lab aims to address the shortcomings of EF's previous support model: while EF previously focused more on providing financial support or a platform for showcasing, it now goes further by increasing method transfer, expanding networks, and focusing on results. This shift signifies that EF is beginning to view the execution capabilities of founders themselves as a "public good" worth investing in. As emphasized in EF's announcement of the new funding program, in addition to funding, EF will provide strong ongoing support to grantees.

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