Request Network, a Y-Combinator startup that raised 100,000 ETH last year (over $100 million at today’s valuation), has announced the creation of a new grant program that will distribute $30 million over the next five years to fuel innovation around the Request protocol.
The company has stated that it will allocate between $20k to $100k per project, paid out when pre-defined milestones are reached, and grants might increase for highly successful projects.
Request Network is creating a decentralized blockchain platform that, in its essence, allows users and businesses to request and receive payments using cryptocurrencies. The company recently released the demo of their platform on the Ethereum test network.
Examples of the types of applications that can be built on Request include:
- Mobile apps to create, detect, and pay requests
- Invoicing apps
- Point of Sale
- P2P payment apps
- Crowdfunding apps
- Online payments e-commerce plugins
- Payroll apps
- and more…
What is Request Network?
Request Network will allow for consumers, businesses, freelancers or anyone who sends and receives money for goods, services, or anything, to formally manage and request payments via a web and mobile portal. Fees on Request Network will be between 0.1 – 0.005%, a fraction of banks and money transfer services.
Request Network acts like a formal central management hub for sending money, managing payment requests and handling formal invoices, with everything stored on an immutable blockchain ledger to allow for formal accounting and auditing. This opens cryptocurrency invoicing and payments to be used more easily in a business setting. Request Network also works with every global currency.
The initial platform will enable requests and payments in Ether, the native currency of Ethereum, with future versions allowing payments in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The company has plans to integrate their payment platform to allow for online payments (without storing a credit card) and eventually with IoT infrastructure to allow objects, machines & artificial intelligence automatically negotiate and pay each other.
Find more information in the Request Network whitepaper.