tl;dr

• Thala and Aptos Foundation are collaborating to launch The Thala Foundry, a $1M grant fund to stand up new DeFi protocols.

• Thala plans to scale the initiative to $5M as protocols launch with additional grant funding and resources from Aptos Foundation.

With a focus on creating unique strategies and use cases powered by the Aptos L1 blockchain, Thala has cemented its position as a leader and champion of DeFi innovation. But that’s not all. Thala's commitment to the DeFi ecosystem now includes The Thala Foundry, a $1 million DeFi Fund with support from the Aptos Foundation, set to nurture innovation and bring at least 5 new Aptos-native DeFi protocols to life.

The Mission

Thala, in collaboration with Aptos Foundation, will identify, fund, and incubate at least 5 promising DeFi protocols over the next year. In addition to providing grant funding, they will also guide projects from the concept phase through product launch. As new projects find their place in the DeFi ecosystem and begin to scale, The Thala Foundry will expand up to $5 million in continued grant support from Thala and the Aptos Foundation.

“Thala is a shining example of a DeFi leader committed to the success of the broader ecosystem. Their team remains focused on enabling the global shift toward decentralization that will lead to financial inclusion on a worldwide scale,” said Bashar Lazaar, Head of Grants & Ecosystem at Aptos Foundation. “I’m confident The Thala Foundry, along with the DeFi protocols that it helps launch on Aptos, will actively contribute to that noble mission.”

The Details

The Thala Foundry will offer up to $250,000 per project, ensuring support for projects of various sizes and go-to-market strategies. While the focus is on helping teams build and launch their products from scratch, Thala also looks forward to providing tailored support to projects that may have more advanced MVPs. Thala's incubation support includes:

• Engineering: Commitment of 2 full-stack engineers, providing up to 60 hours/month of pre-launch assistance.

• Infrastructure: Introductions and full setup support from Thala on Node and Indexing service implementation, as well as Google Cloud Platform integration.

• Oracle Integration: End-to-end support via Pyth and Switchboard for seamless oracle integration.

• GTM Advisory: Advisory from Thala’s founders and core contributors to fine-tune go-to-market strategies.

• Integration: Integration support on Thala, Parliament, and future Thala products.

• Protocol-to-Protocol Matching: Emphasis on incubated protocol-to-protocol synergies, including support from Thala's suite of products.

The Collab

Thala, with its deep expertise in DeFi and building on Aptos, is committed to incubating both established DeFi primitives and novel ideas that will leverage The Thala Foundry to grow the Aptos global ecosystem. Aptos Foundation’s steadfast commitment to supporting the success and scaling of protocols, projects, and dApps on Aptos will ensure The Thala Foundry is not just another grant program; but an impactful testament to nurturing the Aptos ecosystem for a brighter decentralized future. 

Interested in joining the Thala x Aptos Foundation DeFi ecosystem? Apply here.