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The Interledger Foundation is seeking to increase its vision through the new Ambassadorship Call for Proposal. The Ambassadorship program will help us by broadening, identifying, and lessening obstacles to entry and potential adoption of ILP.  The Ambassador's role is to work towards decreasing those divides, By nurturing an ecosystem specific to each Ambassador. 

The Interledger Foundation is seeking qualified individuals who have experience in one of the specified areas: 

  • Research 
  • Open-Source
  •  Accessibility
  •  Community

To further our shared vision, and to catalyze growth in the Interledger network the Ambassadorship call for proposals will open from June, 21st till November, 21st 2023. 

This grant opportunity will award up to 5 Ambassadors for a six-month project timeline. For their dedication to this program, each ambassador will be awarded with $30,000 USD and a stipend of $10,000 USD to implement their proposal.

All proposals must articulate,

  • A compelling work plan, detailing the applicant's knowledge and experience of the  Interledger Protocol, and Open Payments, and other ILF initiatives.
  • Understanding how to increase participation through organic activations beyond the existing ILF network.
  • Willingness to increase the current ecosystems knowledge through sharing of expertise and or research done.
  • Commitment to designing, building, and implementing open-source technologies as a contribution to the emerging greater ecosystem.
  • Designing and implementing new strategies, and or technology to increase awareness in Open Payments and ILP network.


We want to ensure that ILF innovations and projects reach users outside the typical locales and demographics. Our Ambassadors seek to support communities that have – and continue to be – systemically and deliberately excluded from financial access and empowerment opportunities. For this CFP, we will increase the scoring of the following criteria in our judging process:

  • Projects located in and serving geographical locations outside North America and Western Europe
  • Ambassadors is a person of color or represents a diverse group of people.
  • The output of the Proposals benefits communities that have been historically underrepresented.
  • Funds are explicitly budgeted to address the increasing participation or advancement of historically marginalized and underrepresented communities and to increase the awareness of the Interledger Foundation, Interledger Protocol, and Open Payment. 

Interledger Foundation will require a complete application via the Submittable platform, Incomplete applications that do not include all of the required documentation or attachments specified will be returned to the applicant without further review.

At its discretion, the Interledger Foundation may request supplemental materials from applicants, and those must be received within 7 working days of the requested date

Additional information on the submission,

  • Supporting documentation (Budget, Timeline, and if required a technical work plan)
  • Resume
  • Letter of recommendation
  • Any additional information you would like to share to strengthen the proposal.


Application Timing and Process

The Ambassadorship Program is a yearly program of the Interledger Foundation, Applications for this grant will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is fulfilled. 


The Interledger Foundation (ILF) supports ideas and people that use the Interledger Protocol (ILP)to contribute to an open payments network built on equitable access through the Internet. In an effort to enable communities that are building pathways to financial access and opportunity across the world, the Interledger Foundation launches its  ILP-enabled Financial Services Call for Proposal which seeks to fund programs that will catalyze more financial service nodes in the Interledger network.
Through this grant opportunity, Interledger seeks to support the development of consumer-facing services that will activate as ILP nodes; some of these include digital wallets, mobile money providers, banks, and neo-banks.
In this regard, the Research and Development (Phase 1) grant opportunity seeks  projects focused on building one of the following services:
 

  • Digital Wallet Service 
  • Online Bank
  • ILP-enabled Software

All project plans will need to consider:
 

  • How they will enable money to be transferred on the ILP network
  • Planning to issue and house accounts for individuals and organizations
  • Knowledge about the Electronic Money Institution or similar regulatory frameworks for the region, community, or use case projects will serve
  • Plan for interoperability across systems and currencies
  • Commitment to open-source knowledge sharing as a contribution to the emerging ecosystem

The 2023 Call for Proposals will offer applicants a two-track option to select the best timeline needed to execute their research and produce a dynamic business plan for becoming a node in the Interledger Network. The timelines are as follows:
3 months: A fast-track option for entities already working on a financial service but require a financial boost to conduct research to enable its ability to move to prototype.
 

  • The firm already has a use case for and can demonstrate ongoing work in producing an ILP-enabled financial service and understanding of the financial requirements and policies governing the proposed service in the respective jurisprudence.

6 months: A slower approach that will give applicants the time to develop and conduct a full research project looking at many aspects of a potential solution.
 

  • The firm seeks to launch research to develop a compelling case to develop an ILP-enabled financial service. The focus of this opportunity will center around gathering information on the path forward on the financial regulatory policies and rules your service will exist in.

All awardees can request funding in the amount of up to $75,000 USD. The deadline to submit your application is November 21, 2023, at 11:59 pm (EST). Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.
This is the first phase of a three-phase program and awardees will potentially have an opportunity to apply to the Prototyping Phase. The goal of this first round will allow successful applicants to produce a dynamic business plan for becoming a node in the Interledger Network.
All proposals will need to articulate:
 

  • A compelling use case for an ILP-enabled financial service that understands the problems and opportunities it aspires to solve
  • An understanding and path forward on the financial regulatory policies and rules your service will exist in
  • A technology plan on how your project will use the Interledger Protocol
  • A practical work plan for producing a prototype including key collaborators
  • A preliminary budget for the cost of a prototype phase

We need new voices and ideas in the Interledger Network

We want to ensure that these financial innovations are coming from and created outside the typical locales and demographics. We seek to support communities that have – and continue to be – systemically and deliberately excluded from financial access and empowerment opportunities. For this CFP, we will increase the scoring of the following criteria in our judging process:
 

  • Projects located in and serving geographical locations outside North America and Western Europe
  • Projects, where a lead applicant is a person of color or the team, represents a diverse group of people
  • The output of the team benefits communities that have been historically underrepresented.
  • Funds are explicitly budgeted to address the increasing participation of historically marginalized and underrepresented communities.

We will hold several information sessions on a monthly basis, at varying time zones, where we will walk through the application, share useful tips for applying, and answer questions. You may attend any or all at your convenience. You may watch the recording for the first Info Session held in June which features a presentation on the overview of the grant opportunity. We will convene several Q & A sessions, where you can meet with the Program Team to ask your questions on the requirements and applications. You may sign up here to join us


All are welcome to the Interledger Slack and join the #cfp-financial-services channel or reach out to us at programteam@interledger.org if you have any questions about this opportunity.

Thank you for your interest in becoming a Technology Ambassador for the Interledger ecosystem. We are excited to have you join our program team. Our work together will help expand, strengthen and diversify the technology stack for creating Open Payments APIs.

This application will represent your Scope of Work that will guide us during your six-month Ambassadorship. We know that aspects will change, but it is still good to be detailed, specific, and precise in this document. While key people have reviewed your draft before inviting this application, this is still an excellent time to make edits, take in feedback, and otherwise submit a final draft of your plan.