The Starknet Foundation: Meet the Committees

In late November 2022, the launch of Starknet Foundation was announced. The Foundation is an independent organization dedicated to realizing Starknet’s vision of becoming a thriving, decentralized and permissionless Layer 2 (L2) Validity Rollup (a.k.a. ZK-Rollup). 

With a strong interdisciplinary board at the helm, the Starknet Foundation is well positioned to pursue its goal of fostering and expanding the Starknet community, overseeing the continued development of the network, developing permissionless governance mechanisms, and carrying out the full decentralization of the Starknet ecosystem. 

Today, the Foundation is excited to publicly announce the appointment of five committees, each entrusted with a specific mandate that aligns with Starknet’s mission and priorities. Each committee’s mandate is not set in stone and will undergo routine evaluations, with adjustments and amendments made as necessary.

The committees are:

• Provisions Committee
• Early Adopter Grants Committee
• Developer Partnerships Committee
• Governance Committee
• Ecosystem Onboarding Committee

Below, we will share more details on the committees, including their mandate, operations and initial members.

Introducing the Starknet Foundation Committees 

Provisions Committee

The Provisions Committee is responsible for planning, overseeing and executing the provision of the Starknet ecosystem token – STRK. STRK will be used as the staking token for participation in Starknet’s consensus mechanism. It will also serve as the network’s governance token and as the gas token for the payment of the network’s transaction fees. 

The Provisions Committee is critical to ensuring the fair, decentralized and transparent distribution of the token that will power the Starknet ecosystem. The committee oversees the provisioning of users with STRK tokens which are required to pay fees for using Starknet. The committee will assess and provide recommendations to the Starknet Foundation for qualifying groups based on the objectives of fairness, transparency and decentralization. These plans will be announced once ready.

The Provisions Committee can be contacted at: provisions@starknetfoundation.org.

Early Adopter Grants Committee

The Early Adopter Grants (EAG) Committee is committed to fostering the growth of the Starknet ecosystem by providing grants to innovative teams building on-chain applications on Starknet. 

The EAG Committee’s purpose is to facilitate the expansion and vitality of the ecosystem through on-chain deployments. The committee will make an announcement soon to set out the criteria for their first round of applications which will retroactively focus on teams that have already begun building on Starknet. 

The Early Adopter Grants Committee is committed to transparency and will make all grant sums public.

The Early Adopter Grants Committee can be contacted at: earlyadoptergrants@starknetfoundation.org.

Developer Partnerships Committee

The Developer Partnerships Committee plays a vital role in the Starknet ecosystem by fostering and overseeing new strategic developer partnerships to be brought into the Starknet ecosystem. In particular, strategic developer partnerships are considered to be collaborations on key pieces of infrastructure critical to Starknet's success.

The committee’s main responsibilities include streamlining the submission process for developer partnerships, conducting thorough due diligence and approving submitted proposals. 

The committee is crucial for fostering a robust ecosystem by identifying and supporting developer teams who have built or are actively building the network's core layer of infrastructure. Their efforts ensure that teams building to secure and expand the infrastructural rails of Starknet are awarded in a decentralized and transparent manner. 

The Developer Partnerships Committee can be contacted at: developerpartnerships@starknetfoundation.org.

Governance Committee

The Governance Committee is tasked with a critical role in the ongoing decentralization of the Starknet ecosystem. The committee is responsible for researching, planning, and executing the initial phases of Starknet governance. 

With a focus on decentralization and striking the balance between community participation and active ongoing development; the committee aims to create, implement and oversee the initial pillars for Starknet governance. 

The Governance Committee will develop and put in place core mechanisms that maintain a transparent, fair, and decentralized structure that fosters community involvement and ensures continued growth and decentralized participation in the ecosystem. To achieve these goals, the committee will define resolutions to be voted on and approved by the Starknet community and establish due process for the discussion and implementation of governance votes. 

The committee has already launched the first phase of Starknet’s governance. For any enquiries related to the first vote, please contact: firstvote@starknetfoundation.org. The Governance Committee can also be contacted at: governance@starknetfoundation.org. 

To learn more about the governance committee’s work and roadmap, please refer to this page.

Ecosystem Onboarding Committee

The Ecosystem Onboarding Committee is responsible for empowering and integrating new developers and community members into the Starknet ecosystem. This includes identifying, empowering and supporting Starknet ambassadors, awarding grants to ecosystem contributors and talent pools, and organizing and sponsoring a general cadence of events and educational partnerships that further the community’s participation in Starknet’s ecosystem. 

Ambassadors will be respected and established members of the Starknet community that are committed to organizing, attending, and speaking at events, fostering community development, creating content, seeking mutually beneficial sponsorships, and persuading promising individuals and teams to build on Starknet.

The Ecosystem Onboarding Committee has a different primary focus from the Early Adopter Grants Committee. While the EAG Committee aims to bootstrap and award the initial adopters of Starknet, the Ecosystem Onboarding Committee emphasizes the continued and sustained growth and development of the ecosystem at the grassroots level. 

The Ecosystem Onboarding Committee can be contacted at: onboarding@starknetfoundation.org.

Upcoming Milestones

With the appointment of these committees, the Starknet Foundation is poised for an exciting journey ahead. Each committee is dedicated to furthering a specific aspect of the ecosystem and together, alongside the Foundation, will work towards a thriving, decentralized and permissionless Layer 2 ecosystem.  

Here is what’s coming next: 

• the First Governance Vote will take place on 21 March 2023;
• the EAG Committee’s first announcement and details for the first round of applications will be published on the StarkNet Foundation's blog on 21 March 2023.

Keep an eye on the StarkNet Foundation's blog and social media channels for the latest updates and opportunities.

For all additional Starknet Foundation information, updates, and proposals, follow Starknet on Twitter, join our Discord, and read the Community Forum.