SCF Build

Updated 01/17/2025

The Stellar Community Fund Build track supports teams in developing and launching their Stellar project, and consists of the SCF Build Award and the Stellar LaunchKit.

• SCF Build Award (or “Build Awards”) is a one-time award of up to $150,000 in XLM* distributed to eligible teams who are building meaningful products, services, and resources on Stellar (each, a “Project”). SCF Build Awards are intended to cover (up to ~6 months of) development costs until the Project launches on Stellar mainnet, or are otherwise available to their target audience (in the case of tooling, and similar project categories).

• Approval for the Build Award also unlocks access to the Stellar LaunchKit, which can support projects with audit credits, infrastructure offers, as well as connections to accelerators and other SDF funding mechanisms.

The SCF Build Award is for Projects which have significant (user) traction OR teams that are experienced in the Stellar ecosystem and have identified a validated need, both with a well thought out plan and architecture to be ready to build upon receiving the SCF Build Award.

Founders that are still refining their idea and/or haven’t found validated product market fit yet are encouraged to submit tor SCF Kickstart. After completing an SCF Kickstart Cohort, projects can apply for a Kickstart Award of up US$15,000 worth of XLM*. After receiving an SCF Kickstart Award, projects should work on getting user validation for their idea. Once they have sufficiently validated their idea and successfully passed the Kickstart Validation Review, projects are eligible to submit for an SCF Build Award.

Structure & Timeline - SCF Build Award

SCF Build Awards are distributed in tranches, with the total budget broken down into 3 equal payments. Receipt of subsequent tranches is contingent on the completion of each tranche's requirements. Submission deadlines for SCF Build Awards are approximately every six weeks. Submissions go through a specific selection and review process.

1️⃣ | Project Idea Submission

All projects interested in SCF Build need to start by submitting their project idea. This Project form will allow the SCF team to assess the best SCF program for your project. Please note that successfully passing the eligibility review of the project submission does not guarantee acceptance into any of the subsequent SCF programs.

If your Submission passes the Prescreen Process, you will be notified of the decision by email, If your project idea submission passes eligibility review and you’re invited to submit for the Build Award, you will be notified of the decision by email, and you will receive the respective submission form. You will have 2 weeks to submit the complete submission form.

If your your project idea submission does not pass eligibility review, you will be notified of the decision by email. Please keep in mind that we are unable to provide detailed feedback to these projects.

2️⃣ | Submission

If your project idea submission passes eligibility review and you’re invited to submit for the Build Award, you will receive the submission form via email. Take a close look at the Participant and Submission Eligibility Guidelines, as well as the Category Specific Submission Criteria before submitting your Project for an SCF Build Award. Each Participant will only be able to make one (1) Submission at a time.

To submit a Project for a Build Award, fill out all the required fields on the SCF Awards Submission Form hosted on communityfund.stellar.org. You will need to create an account first, and you can save progress before you submit the form, so you don’t have to complete it all at once.

3️⃣ | Pre-screen (1 week)

After the submission deadline, your Build Award Submission will first go through the Pre-screen Process. In this process, SCF team members will review your Submission on a high level to ensure the Pre-screen Criteria are met.

If your Submission passes the Prescreen Process, you will be notified of the decision by email, and your Submission will be moved on to step 4 (Community Vote).

If your Submission does not pass the Pre-screen Process, you will be notified of the decision by email. Please keep in mind that we are unable to provide detailed feedback to projects that are pre-screened out.

4️⃣ | Community Vote (1 week)

Projects that pass the Pre-screen stage will then be presented to Verified Members for a Community Vote. Verified Members can either directly vote for Projects to be awarded the full budget amount as requested in their submission, or delegate their votes to a nominated delegate. Learn more about how voting works.

If your Project is selected for an Award by Community Vote (as applicable), move on to step (5).

If your Project is not selected for an Award by Community Vote, you may choose to make improvements to the Submission and return to step 1. Please note: projects that unsuccessfully submit to 3 consecutive rounds of SCF Build will be required to take a break from submitting for two rounds. After that time, they may submit again to SCF programs with a new submission.

5️⃣ | Participant Eligibility Check (1 week)

If your Project is selected for an SCF Build Award, and you have not yet completed KYC within the last 2 years, you will receive a form to collect certain compliance and tax information required to receive an XLM award. Please complete and return the form within four (4) days of receiving the email.

In order to comply with US regulations, SDF asks that Award recipients meet Participant Eligibility Requirements and complete a Know Your Customer (KYC) check. The KYC information that will be collected can be at the following form: stellar.org/bd-kyc

If applying as a team of individuals, each individual on the team should complete the form. Please refer to the SDF Privacy Policy for more information on how SDF uses and retains data.

If your Project passes the required eligibility and compliance checks, move on to step 5.

If your Project does not pass the required eligibility and compliance checks by the specified deadlines, your Project is no longer eligible to receive an Award in that round and may be disqualified from consideration in future SCF Rounds.

6️⃣ | Initial Award Distribution

If you already have a whitelisted Stellar address and have successfully completed all the preceding steps, SDF will be able to send the first ⅓ of your SCF Build Award quickly. If you don’t have a whitelisted Stellar address yet, then:

1. SDF will send a test transaction to the Stellar address (and memo) you provided in step (5) and will notify you when the test transaction is sent.

2. You will need to check the test transaction and report back the amount to SDF.

3. Once SDF has confirmed that the reported transaction amount matches the test transaction, SDF will send the first payment of your SCF Build Award in XLM*, equivalent to ⅓ of the total requested budget in your SCF Build Award Submission.

After awards are distributed, the SCF team will list your Project as an Award Recipient on communityfund.stellar.org/projects.

7️⃣ | Subsequent Payment Submission

In order to receive the second and third tranches of the payments for your SCF Build Award, you will need to reach certain tranche requirements. Submission of evidence of completion of these requirements will unlock the subsequent tranches.

• MVP: Upon submitting proof of your Project’s Minimum Viable Product (of your Stellar Integration), a member from the Category Delegate Panel will check to see if the deliverables for the MVP stated in the Submission are complete, and if so an additional ⅓ of the SCF Build Award will be distributed.

• Testnet: Upon submitting proof your Project has launched on Testnet (or equivalent), Projects are requested to share a testable version of their project with the community on Discord. This tranche does not unlock a monetary award, but unlocks access to the Stellar LaunchKit (sent by email), which includes the potential to request audits, claim offers for infrastructure, and access other resources supporting a successful launch.

• Mainnet: Upon submitting proof your Project has launched on Mainnet or reached Mainnet compatibility, a member from the Category Delegate Panel will check to see if all deliverables for the Submissions are complete. If complete, Projects receive the final ⅓ of their total Award.

To submit for your subsequent funding tranches, fill out the Subsequent Payments form found both in email as well as in the tasks section of the SCF Dashboard. Please ensure you use the same account as the one you submitted your initial submission with, or alert us if that’s not possible. The submission will also ask you to submit a short, 3-5 minute video showing the work you have done since your previous payment in order to provide SCF with evidence that you have met the requirements for the next funding tranche.

8️⃣ | Panel Review

The Category Delegate Panel will review your Subsequent Payment Submission.

If your project sufficiently demonstrates completion of the requirements, move on to step 9.

If your project does not sufficiently demonstrate completion of tranche requirements, you will be notified by email, and may resubmit for the next stage of your funding after completing the requirements.

9️⃣ | Subsequent Award Distribution

If the Category Delegate Panel determines you have successfully completed the requirements for the next tranche of funding, the SCF team will notify you via email and check for changes related to your Stellar address or your previously provided KYC and tax information (with the exception of the Testnet tranche). If there are changes, you will need to submit changes for further verification by SDF. After we confirm that all relevant info is up to date, SDF will send the next Award amount (equal to ⅓ of your total budget request).

If this is the final payment of your Build Award, congratulations! Find helpful resources to support your launch in the Stellar LaunchKit that was sent to you by email.

If this was not your final payment, go back to step 7.