We are thrilled to open registrations for the Mode Yield Accelerator. This accelerator is designed to further the growth of native projects within the Mode ecosystem, with a particular focus on projects building around Yield and DeFi primitives.

To further our mission to build the leading DeFi L2 in crypto, we are extremely excited to partner with some of the most groundbreaking projects in the space. In no particular order:

EigenLayer, Circle, Optimism, Renzo, Balancer, EtherFi, Velodrome, Redacted, Ethena, Ondo, LayerZero, thirdweb, Pyth and Goldsky.

Yield is at the core of a thriving ecosystem. With that in mind, we are looking for builders and projects who are embedding yield into their product or utilising other DeFi primitives provided by our esteemed partners.

The Details

Mode Yield Accelerator will run until the end of June 2024. To be eligible for the program, projects must be able to deploy to Mode mainnet in that time. However, we welcome projects who can deploy sooner in April or May.

Eligible projects can apply through this Application Form

Eligibility

We firmly believe that as the crypto ecosystem expands, DeFi will remain the linchpin of our crypto economy. In the past 12 months, we have witnessed a surge of novel and innovative DeFi applications such as LRT, alongside the emergence of new DeFi primitives like Ethena and the rise of projects like Pendle and Velodrome. Our inaugural accelerator program is designed to address the diverse verticals within DeFi on Mode. We encourage entrepreneurs to bring forth their groundbreaking DeFi concepts to our ecosystem, facilitating the growth and evolution of DeFi on our platform.

Apart from DeFi, Restaking, SocialFi, CultureFi, AI, Infra- anything else that brings unique utility to Mode are welcome. While we encourage everyone to apply, innovative native apps are strongly preferred.

The competition is stage agnostic. All stages of development are welcome to apply from ideation, prototype, testnet, to nearing mainnet launch. However, the preferred stage of the applicants is from working prototype to nearing mainnet launch. If you already have launched on mainnet Mode, you are unfortunately ineligible.

Dapps must launch on Mode network to receive rewards and be put forward for funding.

Six Core Categories and Some Initial Ideas:

1. DeFi: Yield Aggregators, Leveraged Yield Strategies, Rehypothecation / CDPs, Derivatives (Perps, Options, and other innovative DeFi primitives like impermanent gain products), Structured Products (e.g., delta-neutral LRTs), Sinks (i.e. LP incentivization, gauge systems, general liquidity pools for perp markets), RWA with smart mechanism and solves the last mile off-chain dependency

2. Restaking: Crosschain restaking asset utilization, leverage products, restaking indices, L2-focused AVSs, L3 LRT native yield bridges, Superchain first LRT protocols

3. CultureFi: SocialFi, MemeFi, improved on-chain social engagement (e.g., friend tech, district one, prediction), generative music and art.

4. AI: leveraging the lower cost of networking onchain to create new decentralized networks. Examples include grass.io, AI networks with utility for data sharing, labeling, model building, and data verification.

5. Infrastructure: Account Abstraction SDK, on-chain oracle, intent-based interfacing, liquidity optimization, governance platform, API, staking infrastructure, private key management

6. Surprise us!

The winning cohort will be submitted on a rolling basis.The projects that will receive the cash prizes will be announced at the end of April, along with admission to our accelerator program from the end of April to June. Participation in the accelerator program does not require any share or token commitments. Within this program, a dedicated team will guide you through every step of your launch journey.

Mentors participating in the accelerator are from EigenLayer, Optimism, EtherFi, Renzo, Circle, Velodrome, Olympus, Pyth and many more. Application Form

Snapshot of Incentives for applying:

• $10mil in funding from Mode Angel Network

• $100K USDC prize money for the April cohort, split over 6 categories.

• Mode DevDrop 1 – 5% of the Total Token Supply, distributed monthly to projects based on various successful onchain metrics – Total Value Locked (TVL), TX fee generated, volume, users and other multipliers such as Superchain alignment or Mode Native projects.

• Exposure to Mode's ecosystem partners and all-star mentors who can assist your venture in taking off

• Direct line of communication with the Mode core team through a dedicated venture manager

• Bootstrap thousands of users and millions in TVL through Mode DevDrop and Mode Airdrop

• Co-marketing/brand exposure initiatives

• Sequencer fee sharing

• Credits from technology partners (Goldsky, Pyth, thirdweb)

• Subsidized smart contract audits (via Optimism)

Evaluation

The evaluation committee will assess teams based on various factors, with particular emphasis on the novelty of the application, readiness for mainnet launch, compatibility with Mode (not deployed on other chains), and the thoughtfulness of the incentive design. The prize money aims to expedite the development and deployment of the product.

Application Form:

Here is the link to apply for the Mode Accelerator: Application Form

In the application, you'll be prompted with a series of questions to help us understand your team and product better. Additionally, we’d prefer if you upload your pitch deck or a demo video, no longer than 90 seconds, to walk us through your product.

All submissions will be thoroughly reviewed by the Mode core team. Admission decisions will be made on a rolling basis, so the sooner you apply, the sooner you'll receive a response!

More information see landing page

More questions please reach out to amber@mode.network