Applications for the Foundation Grant Program can be submitted across the sub-categories defined in the **📚Current Phase Categories**. Future phases of the Foundation Grant Program will encourage applications from different parts of the community with different strategic priorities.
While grants across the current Phases’ sub-categories can be submitted, submissions that include ANY of the following characteristics will not be approved:
| ❌ Gambling, drugs, or firearm |
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| ❌ Illicit trade, money laundering, or any criminal activity |
| ❌ “Virtual Asset Services,” including public token launches and holding/selling/issuing virtual assets on behalf of others |
| ❌ Projects focused on token or securities issues (including token distributions, creating a new token, making investments and generating returns, buyback or dividend features, exchange listings for $ARB or other tokens, etc.) |
| ❌ Projects focused on token or securities issues (including token distributions, creating a new token, making investments and generating returns, buyback or dividend features, exchange listings for $ARB or other tokens, etc.) |
| ❌ Any provision of funds (direct or indirect) to sanctioned persons or projects involving such persons |
| ❌ Requests involving endorsement from the Arbitrum Foundation |
| ❌ Projects or team is based in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, Ukraine, or other prohibited jurisdictions based on OFAC-sanctioned countries |
<aside> <img src="/icons/info-alternate_blue.svg" alt="/icons/info-alternate_blue.svg" width="40px" /> The Arbitrum Foundation reserves the right to deny any application for any reason. Due to legal restrictions across the entire spectrum of countries contributing to the Arbitrum ecosystem, applications submitted as legal in one jurisdiction may be denied based on standards held in others.
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Your project will have a much better chance of being accepted into the Foundation Grant Program if it has the following:
| Your project |
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| Show Arbitrum alignment |
| Implement growth-based milestones and KPIs |
| Show timeline of mainnet launch within 3 months of application (if not achieved already) |
| Demonstrate a competitive edge that differentiates it from other projects in the ecosystem |
| Demonstrate uniqueness and growth potential |
| Demonstrate a proven track record of success |
| Ensure your project’s public profile is appropriate for your current stage of development (ie: a pre-alpha project may not have a website yet, but a finished project about to launch likely should) |
| Open-source projects are considered favourably |
| Your application |
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| Is well-defined and the proposed milestones follow the **Milestones Guidance** |
| Is elaborate with links to external support (ie: websites, blog posts, news articles, Twitter threads, etc.) where appropriate |
| Is well written - you don’t need to be Stephen King, but ensuring your application is properly spelling/grammar checked, uses complete sentences with a professional tone, and provides direct answers to the questions being asked will all contribute to a higher rate of success with your submission |
<aside> 💡 Tips and best practices should be viewed as suggestions and not requirements. Projects that cannot provide all the information noted can still be successful applicants to the Foundation Grant Program.
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<aside> <img src="/icons/info-alternate_blue.svg" alt="/icons/info-alternate_blue.svg" width="40px" /> For any questions about the grant program, email us at [email protected], and we will do our best to respond promptly.
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Next page: Milestones Guidance to write milestones correctly