# Cardano Product Committee — Product Research Grants: Evaluation Report **Grant cycle:** 2026 · **Total budget:** 373,000 ADA · **Proposals received:** 20 (19 substantive; 1 ineligible) --- ## Overview The Cardano Product Committee (CPC) issued nine Request for Proposals (RFPs) covering strategic research areas aligned with the Cardano 2030 roadmap. Submissions were evaluated by an independent panel of five reviewers using multiple scoring frameworks, then normalized to a common scale for cross-proposal comparison. This report summarises the evaluation process, scores, decisions, and conditions for each proposal. Individual reviewer identities are not disclosed. --- ## RFPs Issued | RFP | Research Area | |-----|---------------| | 01 | Customer & Market Segmentation | | 02 | Win/Loss & Competitive Analysis | | 03 | Stablecoin & DeFi Ecosystem Readiness | | 04 | Brand Perception & Messaging | | 05 | Jurisdictional Market Entry Strategy | | 06 | Enterprise & RWA Production Readiness | | 07 | L2 & Interoperability Demand | | 08 | Enterprise Delivery Partner Landscape | | 09 | AI & Emerging Technology Positioning | --- ## Evaluation Process **Panel:** Five independent reviewers evaluated all submissions. Each reviewer used a structured scoring framework; scores were then normalized to a common FTPC scale (max 5.0) for cross-portfolio comparison. **Scoring frameworks used:** - **FTPC** (Fit × 0.4 + Team × 0.25 + Proposal Quality × 0.2 + Cost Efficiency × 0.15, max 5.0) - **5-criterion rubric** (Credibility, 2030 Fit, Additionality, Track Record, Learning Value, each 1–5, max 25 — normalized to FTPC for comparison) - **L1/L2 two-layer rubric** (Strategic Fit, Problem Clarity, Solution Quality, KPI/Measurability, Budget Confidence, Delivery Risk; plus Strategic Lens layer — normalized to FTPC for comparison) **Normalization:** All scores converted to the FTPC /5.0 scale before averaging. The table below reports the panel average of these normalized scores. **Due diligence:** All team credential claims, GitHub activity, institutional affiliations, and verifiable track records were independently checked prior to scoring. Claims that could not be independently verified are flagged in the notes below. **Conflicts of interest (COI):** Where panel members identified a COI for a proposal, those members recused from the relevant evaluation. Where proposers themselves had disclosed or identifiable COIs, these are noted in the relevant proposal entries. --- ## Summary Results *Panel average = mean of five normalized FTPC scores (all frameworks converted to the common /5.0 scale). F, T, P, C columns show the panel average for each component. Score range = min to max across reviewers. Recommendation reflects panel consensus.* *Note on C averages: two of five reviewers used frameworks with no cost criterion; their C was anchored to a third reviewer's cost score, so C reflects fewer fully independent data points than F, T, and P.* | Rank | Proposal | RFPs | Budget (ADA) | F (×0.40) | T (×0.25) | P (×0.20) | C (×0.15) | Panel Avg (/5.0) | Score Range | Recommendation | |------|----------|------|-------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------------|-------------|----------------| | 1 | IEI / Tokenfrastructure | 09 | 76,000 | 4.7 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 3.9 | **4.34** | 3.65–4.75 | ✅ Fund | | 2 | ELK Consortium (rfp02-05) | 02–05 | 110,000 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.6 | **4.33** | 3.15–5.00 | ✅ Fund | | 3 | UNDP AltFinLab | 05 | 41,400 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 4.7 | **4.06** | 3.55–4.49 | ✅ Fund | | 4 | Wada Global | 04 | 22,500 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 4.7 | **3.98** | 3.73–4.15 | ✅ Fund | | 5 | Blockdevs Consulting | 01+02 | 145,400 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 2.6 | **3.61** | 2.77–4.26 | ⚠️ Conditional (over budget) | | 6 | PRISMA | 05 | 58,000 | 3.9 | 2.5 | 4.1 | 3.9 | **3.59** | 3.26–3.96 | ✅ Fund (conditional) | | 7 | ASISA / Odufuwa | 05 | 32,500 | 3.8 | 2.3 | 3.8 | 4.5 | **3.53** | 2.64–4.16 | ⚠️ Fund (split — 3 fund, 2 don't fund) | | 8 | NexTrium Global RFP05 | 05 | 35,000 | 3.8 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 4.6 | **3.51** | 3.09–3.99 | ⚠️ Conditional | | 9 | NexTrium Global RFP07 | 07 | 25,000 | 3.7 | 2.2 | 3.9 | 4.5 | **3.49** | 3.35–3.55 | ✅ Fund (conditional) | | 10 | ELK Enterprise Mapping | 08 | ~66,000 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.2 | **3.46** | 3.00–4.06 | ⚠️ Conditional (reserve) | | 11 | Sam Lambert / zenGate | 05 | 80,000 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 2.3 | **3.23** | 2.85–3.90 | ❌ Deduplicate — not eligible | | 12 | Magenta Labs | 03+06+07+08 | 160,000 | 4.0 | 2.2 | 3.3 | 3.0 | **3.21** | 2.81–3.69 | ⚠️ Conditional (over budget) | | 13 | Folaranmi / AirChain | 06 | 36,000 | 3.2 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 3.9 | **3.08** | 2.80–3.59 | ❌ Do not fund | | 14 | Jose Velazquez | 06 | 48,000 | 3.2 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 2.0 | **2.96** | 2.49–3.26 | ❌ Do not fund (COI) | | 15 | Goma Hub | 05 | 60,000 | 3.3 | 2.8 | 2.0 | 3.0 | **2.84** | ~2.40–3.20 | ⚠️ Invite revised brief | | 16 | STORM Partners | 05+06 | 105,000 | 3.0 | 2.1 | 3.2 | 2.3 | **2.62** | 1.55–3.35 | ❌ Do not fund | | 17 | Nyiragongo Hub | 05 | — | 2.7 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 2.5 | **2.44** | 1.96–3.00 | ❌ Ineligible | | 18 | Ayomi Shuga | 04 | 60,000 | 2.6 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 1.5 | **2.29** | 2.00–2.90 | ❌ Do not fund (as submitted) | | 19 | David Tacuri | 05 | 76,136 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 1.6 | **2.29** | 2.00–2.91 | ❌ Do not fund | | 20 | MIBT / Prof. Nonde | 05 | 75,000 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 0.8 | **1.62** | 1.35–2.15 | ❌ Do not fund | --- ## Funded Portfolio *Greedy selection by panel-average score within the 373,000 ADA budget.* | # | Proposal | Budget (ADA) | Cumulative | Conditions | |---|----------|-------------|-----------|------------| | 1 | IEI / Tokenfrastructure | 76,000 | 76,000 | Fund core scope only; do not pre-commit to add-on package | | 2 | ELK Consortium (rfp02-05) | 110,000 | 186,000 | Yoram Ben Zvi (ELK, CPC member) recused from evaluation | | 3 | UNDP AltFinLab | 41,400 | 227,400 | Verify 6 GBA countries are actively engaged before contract | | 4 | Wada Global | 22,500 | 249,900 | Mercy Fordwoo recusal from any Intersect Board decisions touching this award | | 5 | PRISMA | 58,000 | 307,900 | Resolve Abdulbasit Adigun Abdulrahman dual-role if NexTrium RFP07 also funded; verify Alfred Itodole as genuine contributor | | 6 | ASISA / Odufuwa | 32,500 | 340,400 | Prof. Halimah Sani Sambo named as co-PI on contract; clarify canonical email submission | | 7 | NexTrium RFP07 | 25,000 | 365,400 | Community reference check and GitHub activity verification required before contract; Samir Idris (CPC member, Technical Advisor) recuses from evaluation | **Total funded: 365,400 ADA · Unallocated: 7,600 ADA** **Reserve (if NexTrium RFP07 fails reference check):** PRISMA remains; ELK Enterprise Mapping (RFP08, ~66,000 ADA) becomes eligible if budget permits. --- ## Per-Proposal Evaluation Notes --- ### IEI / Tokenfrastructure — RFP 09 — 76,000 ADA core **Team:** Zakaryae Boudi PhD (formal-methods lead), Jiulin Teng PhD (institutional research), Sara Kawas (market research) **Scope:** Tests whether Cardano has a defensible commercial position in institutional-grade agent integrity — the identity, authorization, auditability, and settlement layer for autonomous agents. Frames the 2026 agent-payments protocol competition (Google, Coinbase, Visa, OpenAI-Stripe, Mastercard) as the contested arena where Cardano's eUTXO properties are testable. Masumi (Serviceplan Group, NMKR, Cardano Foundation) cited as the live beachhead. **Panel consensus:** Highest-confidence proposal in the portfolio. Unanimous fund vote (5–0). The thesis is sharp and falsifiable — the team explicitly states that "do not compete" is a valid outcome, rejecting all-positive-scenario research. Formal verification background is independently verified. Four workstreams with a go/no-go framework. Strongest execution plan in the portfolio. **Key concern:** Tokenfrastructure GROUP is ~4 months old at submission; documented track record resides in a predecessor entity (FeverTokens) no longer controlled by the lead. Credentials are real; institutional relationship continuity to the new entity is unverified. **Decision:** ✅ Fund — top priority for RFP 09. Contract with Tokenfrastructure GROUP. Do not pre-commit to optional add-on scope. --- ### ELK Consortium — RFPs 02+05 — 110,000 ADA **Team:** ELK (framework lead), zenGate / Sam Lambert (supply chain & emerging markets), Sundial Protocol / Sheldon Hunt (Bitcoin DeFi & cross-chain), Precision Outreach / Jess Fields (governance research) — 4 distinct organisations **Scope:** Universal Vertical-to-KPI Impact Framework applied across Governance, Agricultural Supply Chain, and Bitcoin DeFi verticals. Deliverables include a reusable KPI Impact Template, Adoption Measurement Model, Vertical KPI Taxonomy, 2030 KPI Scorecard, and a Cross-Vertical KPI Contribution Matrix — outputs not replicable by four separate single-RFP commissions. **Panel consensus:** 4–1 fund. Three reviewers using different frameworks independently rated this the top or joint-top proposal. The multi-entity coalition structure — four verified organisations each covering distinct domain expertise with no coverage gaps — is the structural key. The framework-first architecture means vertical reports cannot be produced until the methodology is validated. Per-RFP cost of 27,500 ADA is the best value for a cross-vertical synthesis output. **Key concern:** One reviewer applied a per-RFP individual-deliverable scoring approach rather than evaluating the coalition as a unified submission; under that methodology, the proposal scored below the fund threshold. The other four reviewers all evaluated it as a unified cross-RFP structure. **COI:** Yoram Ben Zvi (ELK) is a current Intersect Product Committee member. Recused from evaluation. Sam Lambert is co-signatory on this proposal and on the Sam Lambert / zenGate standalone RFP05 proposal — those two are mutually exclusive; only one can be funded. **Decision:** ✅ Fund. COI: Yoram Ben Zvi recused. --- ### UNDP AltFinLab — RFP 05 — 41,400 ADA **Team:** Burcu Mavis (Government Blockchain Academy Lead), Teodor Petricevic (Digital Partnerships Lead), Ben Thompson Coon (Accelerator Lead), Chiara Laffi (Data Analyst) — UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub **Scope:** Leverages the UNDP Government Blockchain Academy (active in 6 countries: Malaysia, El Salvador, Türkiye, Dominican Republic, Uzbekistan, Argentina) and SDG Blockchain Accelerator (23 Cardano-related use cases, 12 real-world implementation tests). Six-phase methodology: country mapping → government interviews → use-case assessment → regulatory/infrastructure → comparative adoption strategy → recommendations. **Panel consensus:** Unanimous fund (5–0). The strongest institutional adoption pathway in the portfolio. 170 Country Offices with active ministry relationships represent access no ecosystem-originated team can match. 23 Cardano-adjacent accelerator projects provide an evidence base grounded in real deployments rather than hypothetical scenarios. **Key concern:** Several specific team role claims are slightly ahead of what is publicly verifiable. The six GBA countries must be confirmed as active engagements (not aspirational) before contract. **Decision:** ✅ Fund — top priority for RFP 05. Verify GBA country engagement status pre-contract. --- ### Wada Global — RFP 04 — 22,500 ADA **Team:** Nana Safo (Governance Lead), Samuel Kobi, Mercy Fordwoo, Megan Hess; coordinator networks across Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana **Scope:** Brand perception baseline across Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana; 30 qualitative interviews (10 per hub); active message-testing sandbox; segmentation across developer, enterprise, and capital allocator audiences. **Panel consensus:** Unanimous fund (5–0). Most cost-efficient proposal in the entire portfolio. Pre-existing regional coordinator networks make this research achievable at a price no external agency could match. Mercy Fordwoo (elected Intersect Board of Directors September 2025, Interim Constitutional Committee member, helped draft the Cardano Constitution) and Nana Safo (Pioneer DRep, 80+ on-chain votes since Fund 3) are the most credentialed Africa team in the portfolio. **COI:** Mercy Fordwoo holds an active Intersect Board role. Required to recuse from any Board decisions touching this award. **Decision:** ✅ Fund. --- ### PRISMA / Tobias Fechner — RFP 05 — 58,000 ADA core **Team:** Tobias Fechner (Infrastructure Lead), Mercy Fordwoo (Sub-Saharan Africa network — via Wada), Delfina Terrado Kaehler (LATAM), Alfred Itodole (regulatory), Abdulbasit Adigun Abdulrahman (ecosystem research) — multi-person coalition **Scope:** Regional Adoption Readiness Framework (RARF, 10-dimension scoring) and Cardano Adoption Signal Standard (CASS, 4-tier classification). 30–45 primary research interactions. Hub network access through CATS26 (5-nation summit, February 2026, Nairobi — confirmed and verified). **Panel consensus:** Unanimous conditional (5–0). PRISMA's grassroots Africa/LATAM access genuinely complements UNDP's top-down government approach. The RARF and CASS frameworks are reusable ecosystem tools that would compound value beyond this grant cycle. **Key concerns:** (1) Tobias Fechner has no independently verifiable professional profile. (2) Abdulbasit Adigun Abdulrahman appears simultaneously on both this PRISMA team and as lead researcher on the NexTrium RFP07 submission — a dual-role that must be resolved if both proposals are funded. (3) Alfred Itodole appears on both PRISMA and NexTrium submissions with no independently verifiable professional presence. **Decision:** ✅ Fund — conditional on resolving Abdulbasit dual-role if NexTrium RFP07 also funded; verify Alfred Itodole as a genuine contributor. --- ### ASISA / Odufuwa — RFP 05 — 32,500 ADA core **Team:** Odufuwa Oluwakayode (project lead, ASISA President); Prof. Halimah Sani Sambo (academic supervisor — first female Professor of Actuarial Science in Nigeria, 2025, verified Google Scholar profile); Dr. Opeyemi Oladunni (Leadway Assurance, industry advisor); supervised student researchers **Scope:** Nigeria-only, insurance vertical (microinsurance, agricultural parametric, claims verification, identity-linked); 25–35 interviews; multi-language (Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Pidgin). Embedded position within Nigeria's insurance regulatory ecosystem (NAICOM, NIA, CIIN, NCRIB). **Panel consensus:** 3–2 split. Three reviewers fund; two do not. Supporters cite exceptional institutional access, the supervisory academic structure, and the explicit no-go framing as adding rigour. Dissenters cite insufficient clarity on delivery, audit difficulty, and the lead applicant's zero verifiable digital presence. **Note on dual submission:** The same proposal was submitted from two email addresses (mayorcrypt007 and mayorofweb3). Treated as a single submission; one contract maximum. **Key concerns:** Lead applicant (Odufuwa) has no findable digital presence under either email handle — no LinkedIn, no Cardano Forum history, no social accounts. Prof. Sambo's credentials are independently verified and provide genuine quality assurance. Contract must be structured to place accountability on the verifiable supervisory layer. **Decision:** ✅ Fund (majority vote) — with Prof. Sambo named as co-PI on the contract and submission identity clarified pre-contract. --- ### NexTrium Global — RFP 07 — 25,000 ADA core **Team:** Abdulbasit Adigun Abdulrahman (founder, NexTrium / Zivana Protocol), Yuguda Muhammad (research coordinator), Samir Idris (Technical Advisor — elected CPC member; recused from evaluation) **Scope:** L2 Adoption and Interoperability Demand in African Informal Economy. Evidence base starts from six documented Zivana Protocol validation cases (Aiken, Midnight ZK, Identus, Orcfax, Fetch.ai, Celo MiniPay). VAL-006 finding — covenant distribution routed to Celo MiniPay because Cardano lacks an equivalent last-mile stablecoin rail — is an honest, important engineering observation. 30–44 respondents targeting African builder population. **Panel consensus:** 4 conditional, 1 do-not-fund. Research has genuine merit and the VAL-006 finding demonstrates willingness to document unfavourable results. At 25,000 ADA with Africa-specific builder focus, cost is among the best in the pool. **Key concerns:** NexTrium Global was registered in 2026. Zivana Protocol GitHub shows 11 repositories all created April–May 2026, each with a single initialization commit and no substantive code. Two prior Catalyst proposals submitted under a different entity name were rejected. Yuguda Muhammad (research coordinator) has zero verifiable digital presence in any public source — must be confirmed as a real, contactable contributor before contract. **COI:** Samir Idris is a newly elected CPC member and is recused from this proposal's evaluation (same standard applied as Yoram Ben Zvi on ELK proposals). Abdulbasit also appears on the PRISMA RFP05 submission — dual-role flag if both proposals are funded. **Decision:** ✅ Fund (conditional) — community reference check, GitHub activity verification, and Yuguda Muhammad identity confirmation required before contract. --- ### NexTrium Global — RFP 05 — 35,000 ADA **Team:** Abdulbasit Adigun Abdulrahman (founder), Alfred Itodole, Nathaniel Dwamena **Scope:** Nigeria + Ghana — identity/DID credit reputation, stablecoin payments, agricultural supply chain; named counterparties across both markets. **Panel consensus:** Mostly conditional, with one reviewer ranking it a reserve. Same organisational maturity concerns apply as RFP07. Nathaniel Dwamena (YAFO Institute, Atlas Network affiliate, 2024 Think Tank competition winner) is the only team member with independently verifiable credentials matching claimed role. Alfred Itodole appears on both this submission and PRISMA. **Budget constraint:** At 35,000 ADA, this proposal falls 2,400 ADA over the remaining budget after the funded portfolio is assembled. It does not fit in the 373,000 ADA allocation. **Decision:** ⚠️ Not funded in this round (budget exhausted). Reserve: eligible if budget increases or if another funded proposal withdraws. --- ### ELK Enterprise Ecosystem Mapping — RFP 08 — ~66,000 ADA **Team:** Benjamin Ben Zvi (ELK, ecosystem mapping), Sam Lambert (zenGate) **Scope:** Enterprise delivery partner landscape for Cardano. Desk research + 20–25 structured interviews across Cardano-native delivery firms, non-Cardano blockchain implementation firms, regional SIs, and enterprise buyers. Deliverables: Airtable partner database, Kumu interactive map, capability taxonomy, peer ecosystem benchmarks, gap analysis, certification framework recommendation. **Panel consensus:** All five reviewers consider this conditionally fundable. The scope is focused and the Airtable/Kumu deliverable is practical and permanently reusable. **Key concerns:** Benjamin Ben Zvi is a student with no prior independent research deliverables. Sam Lambert is concurrently named on two other proposals in this round, raising capacity questions. Yoram Ben Zvi (ELK, CPC member) is recused — raising the question of whether Benjamin can execute 20–25 senior enterprise interviews without Yoram's direct involvement. **Budget constraint:** Does not fit within the 373,000 ADA allocation at this ranking. **Decision:** ⚠️ Reserve — eligible if NexTrium RFP07 fails its reference check and budget becomes available. --- ### Blockdevs Consulting — RFPs 01+02 — ~145,400 ADA **Team:** Robert Hever (solo), Blockdevs Consulting **Scope:** Combined RFP01 + RFP02 via Predictable Revenue / JTBD methodology; ~50 interviews; win/loss register (22–25 cases) with negative cases (operators who left Cardano) built in. **Panel consensus:** Strong conditional — the most rigorous standalone methodology in the pool. Access to founders and operators who have left Cardano (negative cases) is rare and valuable. However, solo researcher covering two RFPs at ~72,700 ADA per RFP is the highest per-RFP cost in the portfolio. **Key concern:** Charli3 (Robert Hever's co-founded oracle project) entered an operational pause in May 2025 — status must be clarified before contract. No prior blockchain research deliverables. **Budget constraint:** 145,400 ADA exceeds the remaining budget at this rank. Does not fit in the current portfolio. **Decision:** ⚠️ Not funded in this round (budget exhausted). First reserve for RFP01 and RFP02 if budget increases. --- ### Magenta Labs — RFPs 03+06+07+08 — 160,000 ADA **Team:** Marco Moshi (co-founder/COO), John Goldschmidt; DeFi/Interop lead unnamed **Scope:** Integrated adoption-readiness and capital productivity framework across stablecoins, enterprise/RWA, L2/interop, and delivery partners; ~24 interviews across 4 RFPs. **Panel consensus:** All five reviewers find the integrated cross-RFP framing conceptually sound but flag the unnamed DeFi/Interop lead (covering the most technically demanding scope) as a blocking concern. The 8-week timeline across 4 RFPs is not credible. Zero Cardano deliverables — all documented track record is in the Polkadot ecosystem. **COI:** Magenta Labs holds active Intersect Budget 2026 proposals overlapping with RFP 03 (stablecoin/DeFi domain). Marco Moshi is a Cardano DRep and Intersect GMC member. Active firewall controls would be required. **Budget constraint:** 160,000 ADA exceeds remaining budget at this rank. **Decision:** ⚠️ Not funded in this round. Blocking condition for any future consideration: unnamed DeFi/Interop lead must be identified and approved before any contract. --- ### Sam Lambert / Scott Poynton (zenGate / Pond Foundation) — RFP 05 — 80,000 ADA **Team:** Sam Lambert (zenGate co-founder), Scott Poynton (Pond Foundation) **Scope:** "Entry Readiness Lens" — market pull + Cardano ecosystem readiness + partner pathway. Corridor-based analysis. **Panel consensus:** Unanimous decision not to fund as a standalone. Sam Lambert is co-signatory on the ELK rfp02-05 proposal, which covers RFP05 scope and was funded. These two proposals are mutually exclusive — the same lead cannot hold concurrent primary PI roles on both. **Decision:** ❌ Not eligible for standalone funding — deduplicated against rfp02-05-elk. RFP05 scope is covered in the funded portfolio. --- ### Folaranmi / AirChain — RFP 06 — 36,000 ADA **Team:** Abdulazeez Folaranmi (Technical Lead, AirChain Sensing Technologies), Yasin Okino, Quyum Hammed **Scope:** West Africa / Nigeria supply-chain and cross-border trade RWA production-readiness assessment. **Panel consensus:** 3 do not fund, 2 conditional. The majority position: the team's actual domain is IoT air quality monitoring (confirmed via AirChain's Catalyst Fund 15 funded project). The pivot to supply chain trade finance is unexplained throughout the proposal. Two of three team members are not independently verifiable. **Decision:** ❌ Do not fund as submitted. A revised submission explaining the domain pivot with evidence of supply chain domain knowledge or partnerships would be worth reconsidering. --- ### Jose Velazquez — RFP 06 — 48,000 ADA **Team:** Jose Ramon Velazquez Caceres (PI, Rutgers / Valoris), team otherwise unnamed **Scope:** LATAM RWA tokenisation production-readiness assessment; Paraguay operations (cattle, real estate); 12 decision gates, 18 deliverables. **Panel consensus:** Unanimous do not fund (4–1 at minimum, majority do not fund). The proposal quality is genuine. The disqualifying issue is a double COI: 1. PI operates **Valoris**, a Cardano-based RWA tokenisation platform separately seeking Cardano ecosystem funding — research findings on RWA readiness would directly affect Valoris's commercial prospects. 2. PI is a **current voting member of the Intersect Budget Committee** — the governance layer that allocates Cardano treasury funds. Confirmed by public election records (October 2025). A Budget Committee voting member researching a domain where their own commercial platform has a financial stake creates a structural conflict that no management controls can fix. **Decision:** ❌ Do not fund. --- ### Goma Hub — RFP 05 — ~60,000 ADA **Team:** Gentil Samvura, Boaz Bandu, Paul Mpenda, Martin Musagara, others — multiple verified Cardano contributors based in Goma, DRC **Scope:** DRC, Rwanda, Uganda — cross-border payments, community savings, agricultural supply chain, educational credentials, humanitarian, digital identity. **Panel consensus:** Mixed / conditional invite. The team's geographic positioning and Cardano presence are genuine and unique — no other proposal covers DRC, Rwanda, or Uganda. However, the submission (~1,790 lines) is heavily padded with copy-paste framework language repeated across every phase and use case with no applied regional intelligence, no named counterparties, and no evidence the team has identified which use cases are actually viable in specific countries. **Decision:** ⚠️ Not funded as submitted. Invited to submit a revised brief (8 pages) naming specific counterparties already engaged, identifying which 2–3 use cases the team considers strongest by country, and explaining why each is viable in DRC specifically vs. Rwanda or Uganda. --- ### STORM Partners — RFPs 05+06 — 105,000 ADA **Team:** Sheraz Ahmed / Tomas Garro, STORM Partners Sàrl (Geneva) — 1 entity **Scope:** RFP05 jurisdictional market entry (LATAM/Africa/East Asia + Switzerland benchmark) + RFP06 enterprise/RWA production-readiness; 16–22 structured interviews. **Panel consensus:** 4–1 do not fund. Two independent reasons, each raised by multiple reviewers: 1. **Prior output quality:** The enterprise interview deliverables STORM produced for the CPC previously consisted of single-page bullet-point meeting summaries — four builder calls condensed to approximately one sentence each, with a generic conclusion. No analytical framework, no hypothesis tested, no cross-builder comparison. This is the documented baseline for STORM's research delivery. 2. **Structural COI:** STORM was contracted to design the Product Research Initiatives Definition Grant — the process and criteria that produced these very RFPs — and is now bidding into a process they were paid to design. Both issues are noted independently by multiple reviewers. Three reviewers treat the structural COI as near-disqualifying. One reviewer accepted the COI and voted to fund. The treasury value comparison with the ELK coalition (similar budget, single entity vs. four entities, two RFPs vs. four RFPs) was cited as a further negative signal by multiple reviewers. **Decision:** ❌ Do not fund. --- ### Ayomi Shuga — RFP 04 — 60,000 ADA **Team:** Ayomide Osemene (Ayomi Shuga), unincorporated group **Scope:** Behavioral bounty testing via "Cardano Boundaries" platform; A/B narrative testing; 30–50 qualitative exit interviews. **Panel consensus:** Panel voted do not fund or defer. The research concept (behavioral evidence vs. stated preference) is genuinely interesting. The central problem: "Cardano Boundaries" — the platform the entire methodology depends on — has no public existence. No GitHub repository, no website, no forum post, no prototype was found under any search. **Decision:** ❌ Do not fund as submitted. Require verifiable evidence of Cardano Boundaries external developer activity before any funding commitment. --- ### David Tacuri — RFP 05 — 76,136 ADA **Team:** David Tacuri (software developer, blockchain specialist), Soraya Ponce **Scope:** Ecuador public sector — traceability, electoral processes, public certifications, digital identity. **Panel consensus:** Unanimous do not fund (5–0). Ecuador-only scope cannot answer a multi-regional entry strategy. The proposal has missing sections. At 76,136 ADA, it is among the most expensive single-country proposals in the pool. Soraya Ponce — the team member whose government relationships are the central access claim — has zero verifiable presence in any public source. **Decision:** ❌ Do not fund in this round. Resubmission welcome with a stronger, verifiable team structure. --- ### MIBT / Prof. Nonde — RFP 05 — 75,000 ADA **Team:** Prof. Fredrick Ndalamani Nonde Jr. (MIBT Global Ecosystem), several advisors **Scope:** Africa (6 countries), LATAM (3 countries), East Asia (3 countries) — 12 countries across 3 continents. **Panel consensus:** Unanimous do not fund (5–0). The proposal self-describes as "preliminary" with elements "under development" at submission. 12 countries across 3 continents in 24 weeks for 75,000 ADA is not credible. The "Prof." title is self-styled — no university faculty page, no academic publications, and no professorial appointment was found in any verifiable source. MIBT's documented blockchain work is primarily in ICP, not Cardano. **Decision:** ❌ Do not fund. Resubmission welcome with single-country depth-first scope and evidence of prior research deliverables. --- ### Nyiragongo Hub / Baudouin Muvunga — RFP 05 **Submission received:** A CV/resume PDF. No formal research proposal was submitted. **Decision:** ❌ Ineligible as submitted. --- ## COI Policy — Panel Observations Five reviewers operated with differing COI tolerance thresholds. The panel identified three proposal categories: | COI type | Proposals | Panel treatment | |----------|-----------|-----------------| | CPC/governance member recusal (standard) | ELK rfp02-05 (Yoram Ben Zvi), NexTrium RFP07 (Samir Idris) | Managed — recusal declared, evaluation proceeds | | Disqualifying structural COI | STORM (designed the RFP process), Velazquez (Budget Committee member + RWA platform operator) | Majority: disqualifying. One reviewer: acceptable | | Managed domain overlap | Magenta Labs (active Budget proposals in same domain), Blockdevs (Charli3 CBDAO access) | Conditional — firewall controls required | The panel recommends the CPC formalise its COI policy in writing before the next grant cycle, specifically addressing whether designing the grant criteria you subsequently bid into constitutes categorical disqualification. --- ## Notes on Score Divergences **ELK rfp02-05:** The single most split proposal on individual scores (range 3.15–5.00) but with a clear majority (4–1 fund). The divergence is methodological: one reviewer scored each RFP independently against its individual deliverable requirements; four reviewers evaluated the coalition as a unified cross-RFP submission. The 4-way fund consensus across different frameworks (FTPC, 5-criterion rubric, L1/L2 rubric) is the strongest directional signal in the dataset. **ASISA / Odufuwa:** Genuine 3–2 split. The disagreement is substantive — single-country depth with exceptional institutional access (3 reviewers fund) vs. insufficient clarity and scope breadth for treasury standards (2 reviewers don't fund). Not a calibration error. **STORM Partners:** The wide score range (1.55–3.35) reflects a genuine policy question, not different interpretations of the same facts. The majority position rests on direct evidence of prior delivery quality and the structural RFP-design COI. --- *This report was prepared by the Cardano Product Committee evaluation panel. Individual reviewer identities are not disclosed. Scores reflect the panel average of normalized FTPC scores across five independent reviewers. For process questions, contact the CPC via Intersect MBO.*