On December 4 & 5, the leadership team at Gitcoin met to conduct 2025 planning sessions, setting goals and strategy for the following year. You can find recaps below and the deck linked.
Deck: Share_Gitcoin 2025 Planning - Google Slides
Highlights:
- Gitcoin aims to distribute $30M in funding in 2025, up from ~$11M in 2024, requiring significant growth
- Product strategy focuses on verifiable impact, AI integrations, and new funding mechanisms
- Go-to-market strategy emphasizes top accounts, brand leadership, and exploring partnerships
- Team is cautiously optimistic but recognizes ambitious targets will require focused execution
- Gitcoin is pivoting to a multi-mechanism approach beyond just quadratic funding, with plans to innovate on capital allocation mechanisms
- There’s a renewed focus on builder engagement, retention and supporting projects at different stages
- The organization is restructuring into Grants Lab (enterprise-focused) and ALLO Lab (innovation-focused) to better serve different needs
- Gitcoin Grants (GG) program is evolving to include retro funding, futarchy, and other mechanisms beyond quadratic funding
Topics
2024 Review
- Achieved ~$11M in GMV vs $15M goal, with growth accelerating in H2
- Closed 15 partner deals worth $7.2M in committed value
- Shifted from primarily Gitcoin Grants to more partner/client rounds
- Quadratic funding was 75% of GMV, but only 11% of current pipeline
2025 Goals
- $30M in total funding distributed ($25M from Grants Lab)
- 50% of Grants Lab costs covered by revenue in 2025, aiming for 100% in 2026
- Maintain flat expenses while growing revenue significantly
- Focus on shipping quickly and demonstrating impact to partners
Organizational Structure
- Grants Lab focused on partner/client growth
- Gitcoin Grants program as showcase for mechanisms
- DAO focused on community and progressive decentralization
Financial Overview
- $25.3M current treasury, $17.8M post-2025 budget allocation
- Grants Lab aiming for 50% self-funding in 2025, near 100% by 2026
- Expenses remaining relatively flat, with revenue growth as key focus
Product Strategy
- Key focus areas: verifiable impact, AI integrations, new funding mechanisms
- Verifiable impact seen as major opportunity to establish thought leadership
- AI tools aimed at improving grant manager efficiency and experience
- Exploring new mechanisms like direct grants with verifiable impact integration
- Enterprise strategy to balance custom builds with scalable features
Go-to-Market Strategy
- Focus on top targets through account-based marketing and relationship building
- Strengthen brand leadership via thought leadership content and PR
- Explore partnerships to scale GMV without significant resource increases
- Land and expand approach, using services as lever for growth
- Ambitious pipeline targets requiring significant increase in opportunity generation
ALLO Strategy
- Shifting from protocol-first to product-first and category-first approach
- Creating “ALLO Lab” as a new business unit focused on innovation and category creation
- Goals include faster time-to-market, lower cost builds, and creating a network of builders
DAO and Governance
- Improving governance efficiency, transparency and participation
- Implementing a new steward council with high-caliber members who have skin in the game
- Focusing on global builder strategy and positioning Gitcoin as a leader
Gitcoin Grants (GG) Program Evolution
- Moving to 3 rounds per year with OSS focus every round
- Implementing multi-mechanism approach: QF for early stage, retro funding for mature projects
- Experimenting with futarchy and other mechanisms
- Increasing matching pool and working on donor/builder retention
