Project Catalyst Selects 12 Teams for Cardano Funding Pilot

Project Catalyst selected 12 teams from 117 applications for a Cardano pilot that ties most base grant payments to user activity after launch, testing whether new integrations gain traction.

The selection was announced Sept. 24. The proposals span payments, lending, tokenized assets and digital identity. Selection remains conditional on onboarding, and the program has not treated the full grant budget as money already paid to the teams.

Project Catalyst set a budget of 2.5 million in Cardano’s native token, ADA. Of that amount, 2 million ADA is allocated to base grants, 400,000 ADA to performance bonuses and 100,000 ADA to ecosystem support. Individual base grants range from 50,000 to 200,000 ADA.

A team can receive the first 40% of its base grant after onboarding. Up to another 40% depends on adoption measured against its target through qualifying Cardano network fees generated by external users. The final 20% depends on activity continuing after the adoption period.

The rules set three bonus places for a cohort of 12, though a tie at the cutoff can increase the number of winners. The top eligible performers may receive bonuses of up to 50% of their base grants, subject to the 400,000 ADA bonus pool and performance and integrity requirements.

SyncAI proposes QR-based stablecoin payments for merchants. Liqwid Labs plans to integrate signed Pyth price data into lending transactions, while Aline Health proposes medical-travel credentials that can be checked without placing patient records on the blockchain. Those products remain proposed integrations, rather than completed launches.

The pilot also changes how Project Catalyst chooses recipients. Fifty-two community curators narrowed 117 applications to 31 proposals at the decision stage. Thirty-five panelists participated overall, with 11 to 19 assessing each proposal. Business assessments carried 70 points and technical assessments 30.

The Cardano Foundation assumed responsibility for Project Catalyst in 2026. The pilot draws on ADA left undistributed from earlier rounds, which used ADA-holder voting. Its current selection process combines community curation with a decision panel, while its payment rules make use after launch a separate test.

The selected teams have up to three months to launch their integrations on Cardano mainnet. Qualifying network activity after launch will determine how much of their adoption-linked grant funding they earn.