Assemble is a peer-to-peer crowdfunding tool aimed at supporting web3 projects. Entirely open source, Assemble connects a growing community of passionate project creators with funders from around the world.

Blockchain technology and the entire web3 ecosystem have taken massive strides over the past year. The number of developers building DApps on Ethereum has grown to over 200,360*. The number of projects working on low level protocols has increased drastically. And there are now at least 8 teams dedicated to the R&D of Ethereum 2.0.

This is due in large part to the ethos of the technology itself. Developers and enthusiasts from all over the world can rally around a common vision of a secure and private internet.

This progress is also due in part to funding made available to projects who share this vision. Token sales gave rise to crowdsourced funding (not without their complications). Established funds in the space such as The ECF have pushed development forward. And grants programs set up by established organizations including the Ethereum Foundation Grants, Aragon Nest, and Gitcoin Grants, to name a few, have supported numerous projects.

However, to stay in line with the vision of web3 - we need to find more open, fair, and safe ways to crowdfund the projects we are most passionate about. We cannot rely solely on grants programs to power web3 into fruition. We need a means of enabling everyday people to contribute what they can, to projects they need, in a reliable and secure way. Assemble enables crowdfunding for projects of all shapes and sizes to kickstart their work in a truly decentralized manner.

Assemble can power both global initiatives at a large scale, as well as local projects designed for specific communities.

What is Assemble?

You can think of Assemble as a decentralized Kickstarter, with additional features and transparency made possible by the blockchain. Assemble is designed as a crowdfunding platform for everyone, anywhere in the world. If Kickstarter’s goal is “to bring creative projects to life”, Assemble’s mission is “to bring web3 projects to life”

The platform is pretty straight forward in that it consists of:

  • Project Creators - Developers, teams, and individuals with ideas they need funding to produce.
  • Project Proposals - Projects or ideas submitted for community funding.
  • Project Funders - Organizations, evangelists, and individuals who support projects they are passionate about.
  • Cryptocurrencies - Project creators can select the currency they wish to receive and funders can pay in any token they wish (so long as it is available on Kyber Network).

Although still in Beta, this simple, straightforward, and familiar design can help propel adoption of the tool. Project set-up is simple and enables creators to select the tokens they wish to receive funding in. Creators can also add pertinent project details, media, and set a funding goal which gets stored via IPFS.

Funding a project is also simple and only requires an ethereum wallet and some tokens to pledge. Funders can choose to fund projects in the tokens of their choosing. The tokens will be swapped via Kyber Network into the token the Creator has selected during proposal set up.

At the moment, project creators can withdraw funds from their campaign at any time.

More than Funding

Assemble was born out of a desire and need by the Status Network, and the contracts have been deployed by a member of our community. Status has always had the vision of becoming a DAO and removing single points of failure in decision making, knowledge, development, and funding. Decentralization is after all one of the core principles of Status.

The Status Network needs a mechanism for distributing funds to trusted delegates for further distribution, all while maintaining visibility into how these funds are allocated. We also need some sort of veto power should the funds be used irresponsibly or in direct opposition of the Status Principles.

Fortunately enough, Jordi Baylina of Giveth introduced the liquid pledging contract, in his 2017 Devcon3 presentation; calling it “where liquid democracy meets fund management.”

In his talk, he outlines exactly the type of functionality that would enable The Status Network to distribute fund management while retaining enough control to ensure financial stability of the organization.

Engineer Barry Gitarts made these concepts core to the way he architected and built Assemble. Although, many of the delegate and fund management features are hidden from the Beta UI for now while we create a more seamless UX. Stay tuned for details on these features.

The Status Vision

The Status Network will use Assemble to support projects that contribute to the overall mission of creating sovereign, open communities. We will fund the infrastructure, tools, products, DApps, and community groups that share our vision, principles and want to contribute to the mission.

So if you are working on a project that can help local communities further their economic and social sustainability, The Status Network may in fact fund your proposal.

We have reserved $50,000 to support projects that share our mission. Donation amounts will be capped at $1,000 max per recipient while Assemble is still in beta.

Check out the exciting project proposals already in Assemble now.

Get Involved, Fund your Work

Assemble is owned and operated by the community with the code and smart contracts deployed by a community contributor. And as a community driven initiative, we look forward to seeing new proposals and what ends get funded by the community. We also look forward to seeing how the tool evolves.

This is only the first version of Assemble. As we begin to see submissions and gather feedback from around the ecosystem, we will continue to revise Assemble to fit the needs of the community. So please share your feedback and help shape Assemble.

Whether you are looking to build a piece of crucial infrastructure to the web3 stack or a new DApp for your local community, Assemble can help you push your work forward. Likewise, if you are planning a promotional campaign for a DApp launch or want to host an Ethereum Meetup in your area, Assemble can help you raise the funds you need.

Fund your work or support the projects that mean the most to you with Assemble. Help us bring web3 projects to life. http://assemble.fund/

Have questions or feedback about Assemble? Join the public forum discussion here