Gitcoin Sunsets Its Grants Lab Business Unit to Focus on Core Grants Program

By May 2025, Gitcoin said it will retire its Grants Lab business unit and Grants Stack technology. This tough choice comes after months of internal examination

Gitcoin, a leading platform for decentralized public goods funding, has announced the difficult decision to retire its Grants Lab business unit and Grants Stack technology by May 2024.

After months of internal deliberation and in response to the changing market landscape, Gitcoin’s leadership has made this tough choice to preserve the organization’s viability in the long term. The focus will now be on continuing and innovating upon Gitcoin’s established core: the Gitcoin Grants Program.

“We’re sad to announce that we'll be shutting down Grants Lab and winding down Grants Stack by May 2024,” the statement begins.

This signals a turning point for Gitcoin, having previously stated in early 2024 that its main goal would be to concentrate largely on grants. However, with the persistent market downturn and an unworkable financial model, the leaders had to make difficult decisions.

While running expenses exceed $3 million annually with around $1 million in revenue, a major part of this financial burn has been Grants Lab. In today’s challenging crypto environment, with persistent bearish conditions and a small donor base, scaling revenue to cover such expenses has proven infeasible. Funding a unit that wasn't economically self-sustaining would compromise Gitcoin’s overall financial viability.

Gitcoin is working closely with partners to oversee active donations, transfer some initiatives to capable allies, and ensure contributors are supported throughout the wind-down phase.

Despite the closure, Grants Lab’s contributions to the Web3 ecosystem have been significant. Over the past year, Grants Lab:

Moreover, Grants Lab played a crucial role in developing Gitcoin Passport (now part of human.tech) and Allo Capital, two spin-offs that have successfully become independent entities. These achievements, despite the sunsetting of the business unit, highlight Gitcoin’s impact in shaping the future of public goods funding.

Specifically highlighting the lab's key contributions, the post mentions:

The team's mission to “empower anyone in the EVM ecosystem to create, manage, and grow successful grants programs” has left a lasting impact. While the financial model proved unsustainable, the network effects generated by Grants Lab will continue to benefit Gitcoin's ecosystem and its partners.

Gitcoin has also outlined specific measures to manage the transition responsibly:

For the broader Gitcoin community, the message is clear: Gitcoin Grants are not shutting down. In fact, this move doubles down on the Grants Program's importance. Upcoming initiatives like GG24 will continue, enabling the community to support and fund impactful projects.

Focusing on Gitcoin’s Future

Gitcoin leadership is now turning its attention to restoring the organization’s fundamental functions. The organization plans to prioritize innovating on the Gitcoin Grants Program by improving donor and grantee experiences and experimenting with new funding models.

While acknowledging the emotional difficulty of this choice, Gitcoin leaders emphasize that this decision ultimately serves the best interest of the organization and its community in the long term.