The venture capital arm of Block.One, EOS VC, has opened applications for a new program that will award grants worth $50,000 to projects seeking to improve the EOS ecosystem.
EOS VC said Tuesday there will be no predefined criteria for a successful offer. Projects from a wide range of industries and sectors are welcome to apply, and there are no requirements for applicants to be of a certain size. Projects can be existing EOS community members or ones with plans to build on the protocol.
“Project size is not a barrier; we welcome world conquerors and local heroes,” EOS VC said in its announcement.
Separate from EOS VC’s investment initiatives, the aim of the grant program is to improve and expand the EOS ecosystem as well as provide another funding avenue for “promising” projects.
Applicants will be judged on a case-by-case basis, said EOS VC, with staffers assessing a project’s business viability and how it could promote and improve the overall EOS ecosystem. EOS is currently the seventh-largest blockchain by market capitalization, according to CoinMarketCap.
“We believe this is a way to accelerate meaningful blockchain projects that will have a lasting impact on the community,” EOS VC said.
Grants can be awarded in fiat currencies other than the U.S. dollar, but it is unclear whether they can also be made in cryptocurrencies.
Block.One closed a record-setting $4 billion token sale in May 2018, even though its blockchain wasn’t yet live. In September, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fined the startup $24 million for conducting an unregistered securities sale, although that sum was considered a mere slap on the wrist.
EOS VC, which is headquartered in Hong Kong, was established with a mandate to invest more than $1 billion into a diversified portfolio of companies and projects that use the EOS protocol. Michael Alexander, who was previously head of Jefferies’ Group Asia, was appointed CEO of EOS VC in July 2018.