2024 Highlights: Our Biggest Achievements and Impact

Deep Funding starts 2025 stronger than ever, ready to support new AI projects and keep growing decentralized innovation. With more opportunities, collaborations, and community involvement ahead, this year could be a big step forward. But before looking at what’s next, let’s take a moment to remember 2024 a year full of growth, learning, and important achievements that built the path for the future.

“We’ve doubled the number of proposers in Round 4! This is a testament to the growing trust and enthusiasm for Deep Funding,” shared Rafael Presa, a core member of Deep Funding, in an X post. One of the biggest highlights was the massive increase in participation during Round 4, with over 200 proposals submitted. In 2024, Deep Funding grew a lot, holding two grant rounds: Round 4 Beta and Round 4 with over 300 proposals submitted in total, showing how much interest and participation have increased.

Last year, Deep Funding improved its voting systems. This initiative was partly in response to findings from the 2023 Round 3 analysis, which revealed instances of strategic voting. “What is especially noticeable is the large number of ‘1’ grades given (…) it is highly unlikely for any project to receive this score, unless there is something genuinely wrong about the project. The same argument may hold for ’10’ ratings (…) The conclusion from this (…) is that some wallets did engage in strategic voting behavior“ wrote Jan in the “DFR3 – Analysis of the results” article.

Thanks to new backend tools that improve efficiency and transparency in managing votes and reviewing proposals, Deep Funding builds trust and works toward a fairer voting system.

When it comes to funding, Deep Funding made a big impact last year, allocating a total of more than $1.8 million by the end of the year just on the two grants rounds. The program also expanded its global reach, receiving proposals from over 60 countries, proving just how inclusive and global Deep Funding has become. Some of the projects funded earlier in the year have already achieved more than 50% of milestones, showcasing measurable progress and real-world impact driven by Deep Funding’s strategic support.

Another big achievement was the success of Deep Funding Circles, a system that gives the community more control over decisions, making the process fairer and more transparent. The team grew a lot, going from just two full-time staff to over 30 part-time Circle members by mid-2024, showing how much the community is getting involved. By Q3 2024, there were eight Circles, run by more than 30 semi-volunteers, proving that Deep Funding keeps expanding and bringing in more people to help shape the future of it.

Circles did superb. Take the Marketing Circle as an example: it had a budget of $49,480 for the year. By September, it had spent less than half, leaving $9,106 in savings, which were set aside for community activities and events, as explained in the half year article report.

Deep Funding also formed new workgroups and collaborations. These initiatives brought together AI and blockchain experts to address important challenges and improve the funding process. One of these workgroups focused specifically on gathering feedback and improving the experience for Round 5, which is set to launch in February 2025. Stay tuned, exciting things are coming!

Another exciting step was the introduction of Requests for Proposals (RfPs), a new funding method that focuses on solving specific challenges in the SingularityNET and Deep Funding world. RfPs are set to become a key part of Deep Funding’s strategy. Make sure to stay in the loop. The goal is not only for Deep Funding, but also for more partners and key players in the Web3 ecosystem to be able to post their own RfPs, allowing both them and the Deep Funding community to benefit from a constantly growing decentralized pool of AI talent.

And to wrap up with some great news Deep Funding’s first hackathon was a global success! We’re excited to share the success of Deep Funding’s first-ever hackathon. From November 18th to 29th, talented developers from around the world came together to innovate, collaborate, and push the boundaries of AI development.

With 34 innovators from across Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe, including countries such as Nigeria, India, China, the USA, Brazil, and Sweden, the event brought together a diverse group of participants. Many demonstrated exceptional commitment by fully engaging with the challenge, reinforcing our mission to attract fresh talent, foster innovation, accelerate product development, and integrate new services into the ecosystem.

The competition was intense, with teams showcasing impressive creativity and technical expertise. A total prize pool of $10,000 in AGIX tokens was awarded to the top teams:

1st Place: Team Vistas – AIX Market Analyzer
2nd Place: Team Weather Sheaf
3rd Place: Team Polymaker
Best App: Team Ragoutouille

With so much progress in 2024, Deep Funding is heading into the next year stronger than ever. The program continues to grow, improve, and create new opportunities for innovators around the world. The future looks bright, and with Round 5 just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to be part of the Deep Funding journey.