Ink!ubator 2.0 - Final report

Introduction

ink!ubator 2.0 officially launched in February 2025. Building on the lessons of the first cohort, the second edition streamlined its operations by focusing on a single ecosystem‑grant track. The aim remained the same: to accelerate the adoption of the ink! smart‑contract language within the Polkadot ecosystem by funding and mentoring promising open‑source projects. This global report summarises activities and achievements from February 2025 through February 2026.

This report covers the full program lifecycle (February 2025 – February 2026), including activities, grants, financial decisions, and the broader ecosystem context.

The program ran in three phases. In Phase 1 (Feb-Jun 2025), over 60 applications were reviewed and the first projects selected. By April, ink!athon v2 and Verifiable Offchain Computing were accepted, alongside a simplified application process. In Phase 2 (Jul–Oct 2025), the program reached 7 funded projects, co-organised an ink! track at Web3 Summit Berlin, and closed applications after reaching 100 submissions. Three projects completed milestones. Phase 3 (Nov 2025 - Jan 2026) took place under challenging conditions. ink! v6 remained in beta, and the ink! Alliance operated without funding while three treasury proposals were rejected. Unfortunately, in January 2026, following discussions with the Web3 Foundation and Parity Technologies, support for ink! was declined, and development was officially discontinued on 27 January 2026. For the full account of this decision, see the official announcement: Discontinuation of ink!: Rust smart contract language.

Despite this, ink!ubator 2.0 delivered tangible ecosystem value: 7 funded projects, 100 applications, and $309,000 in grants. All financial records remain publicly available on-chain.

Mission

The mission of ink!ubator 2.0 is to support projects that build with ink! smart contracts and help grow the Polkadot ecosystem. According to the program’s own guidelines, the Ecosystem Grants track funds projects that are dedicated to ink! ecosystem growth and emphasises strong technical ideas that contribute to developer infrastructure and showcase ink!’s potential. The second cohort therefore prioritised ecosystem grants because they were found to be the most efficient way to nurture impactful work.

Each grant provides up to US $50k in funding along with feedback during application and evaluation, introductions to relevant teams, and co‑promotion opportunities. Grant funding is awarded on a milestone basis and includes mentorship from experienced curators. To clarify its priorities for applicants, the team published a request for proposals (RFP) describing specific ideas - such as Ethernaut‑inspired learning games, token‑streaming mechanisms and dApp templates - that would particularly benefit the ecosystem. By funding toolkits, developer resources and real‑world dApps, ink!ubator 2.0 aimed to broaden the ink! ecosystem and make it easier for builders to bring their ideas to life.

Program overview

• Applications: The application pipeline was opened on multiple channels, including a Typeform form, direct GitHub submissions, F6S listings and an ink! hackathon hosted on DoraHacks. This multi‑channel approach attracted dozens of proposals - significantly more than in the first cohort - and broadened the range of teams applying.
• Accepted projects: 7 projects were selected for ecosystem grants: ink!athon v2, Verifiable Offchain Computing, Dedot & Typink, **Ink! Step‑Debugger, monsters_ink, InkCtf** and **Treasury Flow,**
• Committed funding: Each accepted project is eligible for milestone‑based grants of up to US $50 k. With 7 projects in the cohort, the program committed nearly US $309 k in total funding.
• Milestone outcomes: By the close of the program, the delivery record was as follows:
  • ink!athon v2 - all milestones completed and paid
  • Dedot & Typink - all milestones (M1, M2, M3) completed and paid
  • Verifiable Offchain Computing - all milestones (M1, M2, M3, final milestone) completed and paid
  • Monster's Ink - all milestones (M1, M2, M3) completed and paid
  • InkCTF - all milestones (M1, M2, M3) completed and paid
  • Ink! Step‑Debugger - completed milestone 1 and paid
  • Treasury Flow - the team formally withdrew from the program, citing the broader situation in Polkadot, as they mentioned in the post. No milestone payments were due.
• From October 2025, the application intake was closed as all available funding had been allocated to the 7 active grantees. No further applications were accepted for the remainder of the program.

Curators and the facilitator

Ink!ubator 2.0 introduced a revised curatorial panel to improve diversity and alignment with the ink! ecosystem. Curators were selected for their technical expertise in ink!, chain development and Polkadot governance. They met regularly to review applications, conduct interviews and approve milestones. The panel comprised:

The facilitator ensured that curatorial decisions were documented and that payment requests and progress reports were submitted in a timely manner.