Description
inTheory Research Funding
Update Since GR15 (View GR15 grant page here)
A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR GR15 SUPPORTERS!! With your help, we raised over $12,000 that went directly towards building and launching our beta platform!
THIS PROJECT IS STILL FULLY BOOTSTRAPPED AND NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT YOU!
Here are the objectives that were stated in our GR15 grant:
- Connect back-end and smart contract logic to the current UI on EVM-compatible testnet (Mumbai and/or Alfajores) ✅COMPLETED
- Perform proof-of-concept and feasibility testing of transfer of ownership workflows ✅COMPLETED
- Complete demo research project flow with dummy project ✅COMPLETED
- Finalize parameters in tokenomics model using Machinations.io and/or tokenSPICE ✅COMPLETED
Other achievements since GR15:
- Our platform beta is live to the public on Polygon Mumbai and Celo Alfajores testnets! Check it out here and view the GitHub repo here
- We completed the Celo Camp incubator program and won the Celo Camp Innovation Award for our work on inTheory (link)
- We were one of three teams to win the AngelBlock Start-Up Grant, which enables us to raise project funds from a decentralized network of users starting this Fall (link)
- We have added an advisory team of PhD researchers and a Senior PM at Coinbase (more info in Team section below)
- Based on user feedback, we have slightly pivoted to focus more on gamification strategies and metaverse integrations for science funding contributions conducted through inTheory (more info below)
Problem Statement
Funding science through current processes can be a headache for researchers and a bureaucratic mess.
There is a 16 TRILLION dollar global research funding gap
Traditional funding sources can't keep up with the accelerating pace of human innovation. Scientists can spend more than 50% of their time looking for new funding sources and 85% of funding proposals go unfunded every year. Scientists and researchers must tap into new markets for funding and sharing their work. Science needs an interactive and engaging platform for funding scientific research.
Source: US Congressional Research Service 2022 Report
Traditional centralized funding mechanisms heavily favor incumbents
Traditional research funding sources can often be limited to established researchers, which can make it difficult for new and emerging researchers to secure funding for their work. This can create a barrier to entry for individuals from diverse backgrounds or those with innovative ideas that challenge existing paradigms. Additionally, traditional funding sources often prioritize short-term results over long-term research and may be subject to political or commercial interests, which can limit the potential for groundbreaking discoveries and breakthroughs or lead to biased or skewed research outcomes. Traditional funding sources can be highly competitive and can create an environment that favors individuals with strong networks or those who are more adept at navigating the bureaucracy of the funding process.
Non-scientists are increasingly affected by but hardly involved in the current scientific process
Government funded research is the largest source of global research funding, with the United States leading the way. Unfortunately, however, only a small group of individuals has any say over which projects get selected for funding and the broader community has no ability to capitalize on the returns of their “investment” (if you want to consider taxes an investment). Once these research projects are complete, the results are often locked behind paywalls that are owned by centralized publishers and never make it to the public eye. In the United States, this extractive process has contributed to an outsized expenditure on research for military applications, instead of research that can directly benefit communities (sustainability, clean energy, cognitive medicine, the list goes on…).
Imagine if instead you could select the research that your contributions support and transparently track the progress of the projects you’re passionate about in an engaging and interactive way.
Sources: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Science.org
The Solution
inTheory is gamifying the process of funding scientific research. By leveraging exportable 3D avatars, composable PFPs, and digital trophies/NFTs, inTheory connects researchers to gamers and science enthusiasts and provides them with a novel method for sharing and funding their work. inTheory is taking science to the next level.
inTheory provides researchers and science DAOs with a low-touch tool for earning supplementary funding by tapping into the multi-billion dollar gaming and avatar markets. inTheory is globally accessible to researchers of all types and can provide early-career or underrepresented researchers with much needed support.
inTheory users can showcase their support for science across the metaverse and gaming platforms that they're already using. Each funding contribution earns new accessories, poses, backgrounds, and trophies that can be exported in industry-standard file types for use in Unity, Blender, Unreal Engine, and more. Each collectible exists as a digital NFT, meaning that it can be traded, sold, and publicly verified on the blockchain.
inTheory connects players and science enthusiasts to the research community and builds a community-governed foundation for the creator economy for scientists. It's time for science to level up.
Composable avatars and PFPs that reflect contributions towards science
- Create a 3D avatar of your likeness using text-to-3D generative AI
- Unlock new accessories, poses, and backgrounds in the form of tradeable NFT collectibles by funding scientific research
- Export your avatar as a PFP or 3D character to use across social profiles or the metaverse
Project-inspired generative artworks that commemorate funding contributions
- Collect project-inspired generative artworks with every funding contribution
- Display your artworks in your digital trophy room or trade them as NFTs
- Order physical prints to showcase in your home, lab, office, or classroom
Community-driven gamification of research funding
- Compete in funding tournaments and earn 1 of 1 cosmetic rewards for winning
- Unlock new achievements for learning about and supporting research
- Climb the leaderboards to prove your support for science
Interoperability across web2/web3 GameFi and social platforms
Funding science is cool – show it off to your friends and network with:
- Composable PFPs
- Digital and IRL artworks
- Exportable 3D characters for use in games and partner platforms
Value Added
inTheory can generate significant value for researchers and users:
🧬 Researchers and Science DAOs
Researchers benefit from:
- An entirely new source of funding and exposure
- A simple, fast, and low-touch onboarding and application process
- No relinquishment of ownership or IP required
- A globally accessible platform to researchers of all types
🧑💻 Users
Users and community members benefit from:
- Science-backed digital status symbols that can be traded or collected as NFTs
- An opportunity to influence the future of human scientific development
- Educational and engaging learning experiences
- Participation in platform governance through DAO participation, governed by the IFXT token
- An early source of scientific research market alpha
New Market Opportunities for Scientists
In order to close the global research funding gap, science must tap into entirely new markets for sourcing funding contributions. inTheory allows scientists to secure decentralized funding for their work by tapping into markets that have been traditionally inaccessible to them:
The $73 billion digital avatar and PFP market
The global 3D Avatar Solution Market is expected to reach USD 544.6 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 33.2% from 2021. The market covers sectors such as healthcare, fashion, media and entertainment, and others. The pandemic, remote work, and app-based entertainment fueled the market's expansion, while the adoption of smartphones, high internet penetration, and the popularity of social media platforms also contribute to the market's growth.
Source: BrandEssence Research
The $91 billion MMO game market
Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) games are a major use case for 3D avatars, and the MMO market is expected to reach USD 91 billion by 2027. The increasing trend towards composability is enabling cross-platform integrations and the use of a single 3D avatar across a range of games and platforms. inTheory is capitalizing on this growth by creating composable 3D avatars that reflect a user's real-world impact and contributions.
Source: MarketWatch
The continued rise of digital status symbols
Over 60% of Gen Z and Millenials prioritize their online presence over their real-life presence. This trend has fueled the market for digital status symbols like NFTs and play-to-earn models have been especially successful, generating USD 776 million in Q3 of 2021 alone.
Sources: Squarespace, Emergen Research
Core Team
inTheory is being developed by the team at Impact Finance (IF), which includes:
Brett Cornick (full-time, unpaid): Brett is a software developer and digital designer that has seen first-hand the difficulties that researchers can have funding their work. He is also an avid gamer and sees its potential for driving funding towards high-impact causes in the real world. Brett has spent time in leadership roles at early-stage tech start-ups, and as a research contributor at universities and national laboratories. Brett holds a MS in Computational Materials Science from UCLA and a BS in Chemical Engineering from USC.
Twitter | LinkedIn | Telegram: @Brett_DeSci | ENS: cornperson.eth
Cameron Nili (part-time, unpaid): Cameron is passionate about creating new methods of capital distribution to change-makers and activists around the world. He sees inTheory as a future-forward tool to enable that. He brings 7 years of experience designing and implementing AI- and blockchain-based systems for Fortune 500 companies. He consults TradFi institutions on adopting DeFi products by creating new operating models that capture new market value, transform operations, and manage risk. Cam holds a BS in Business Administration from USC.
Twitter | LinkedIn | Telegram: @kam102
Advisors
Terrisa Duenas, PhD: Current Founder and CEO at ESTE Leverage | LinkedIn
Eric Muckley, PhD: Current Director of Emerging Technology at M Corp | LinkedIn
Alexander Sosnowski: Current Senior PM at Coinbase Cloud | LinkedIn
Current Status & Roadmap
Live Beta
Our beta platform is currently live on testnet here! The beta platform serves as a foundation for the larger inTheory vision and allows users to support research projects by creating project-inspired generative artworks. Funding contributions are conducted on the Polygon or Celo blockchain networks using USD-pegged stablecoins. The platform was entirely designed, built, and tested by our core team. If you would like to participate in beta testing the platform, check out our beta testing program here.
Waitlist
We currently have over 500 unique sign-ups to our waitlist for our mainnet launch, with global interest from universities, DAOs, and private research organizations. This was achieved with a $0 marketing budget.
Roadmap
Our 2-year roadmap can be seen in the image below:
Plans for Funding from this Grant Round
- Researcher onboarding: We are currently in the process of onboarding our first cohort of research projects to be a part of our mainnet launch planned for end of May 2023. The exposure gained from a successful Gitcoin grant can help us identify new research groups and DAOs that would like to join our platform.
- Smart contract audit: We have thoroughly tested our smart contracts using Truffle and Mocha but have not yet completed a third-party audit from an industry leader like Certik or Hacken. Grant funding would help us ensure that our platform is secure prior to our mainnet launch.
- Integration of Hypercerts: We have been closely following the developments of the Hypercerts protocol and would love to integrate their new SDK into our platform, allowing us to distribute Hypercerts for each contribution to a project on inTheory.
- Mainnet launch: It's planned for May 2023, help spread the word!
- Social media marketing to reach first 5000 users: Grant funding will help us launch our first marketing campaign, with a goal of reaching our first 5000 users by this fall.
- Creation of community Discord server: We need to build out a Discord server that will allow our first users to communicate with researchers, get platform support, and show off their trophies and artworks.
- IFXT token launch and DAO formation: The first step in our move towards community governance is the launch of the IFXT token. This will also allow the project to raise funding via AngelBlock's decentralized funding platform as part of their start-up grant program.
Other Grants and Awards
The inTheory project and the Impact Finance team are still fully bootstrapped and have not raised any external capital.
inTheory has received the following grants that have supported our development:
- Gitcoin GR15: ~$12k
- Celo Camp Innovation Award: $3k
- AngelBlock Start-Up Grant: $30k
Additional Resources
- Full slide deck
- Beta platform demo video
- inTheory avatar previewer
- inTheory beta platform GitHub repo
Connect With Us
We would love to answer any of your questions! Reach out through any of the platforms below:
- IF website
- inTheory landing page
- Email us at info@impact-finance.io
- Twitter: @DeSci_Impact
- LinkedIn: Impact Finance
THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!