Basic Details
Project name: Carbon
Author name and contact info (please provide a reliable point of contact for the project.):
Name: Nobrac
Email: hi[at]carbon.website
Telegram: @mrnobrac
L2 recipient address:
0x48d1731dDebAA332031EE48cE11c719F509119A1
Which Voting Cycle are you applying for?: Cycle 11
I confirm that I have read the landing pages for the Builders 18 Sub-Committees and that I have determined my proposal is best suited to be reviewed by the Growth Experiments Sub-Committee: Yes
I understand that Growth Experiments grants are subject to a “no sale rule,” as explained in [this post], and I have read the terms of the rule: Yes
Project Details
What are you building?: A Fast Private Web3 Browser
Why do you believe what you are building is going to succeed?:
The Carbon Browser is a privacy-focused browser that protects users from data collection and tracking. Carbon Browser blocks ads, cookies, and other tracking technologies, and it also encrypts data that is sent and received. The browser also has a built-in dVPN that allows users to browse the web anonymously.
Carbon offers users a unique combination of DApps, custom bookmarks, faster speeds, rewards, privacy, ad blocking and more.
Carbon Browser started in 2016 and has been focused on providing a faster, more secure browser. With over 5.7M downloads and 45k daily active users Carbon is quickly becoming a favourite for a growing number of people who are seeking privacy and faster browsing online.
How many users does your project have currently? Please include how you arrived at this estimate:
Currently Carbon has approx 45,000 DAU (daily active users) and 1.4M+ MAU (monthly users). These metrics are pulled from Google PlayStore.
How will receiving a grant enable you to further the mission of maximizing the number of users interacting with Optimism? Please include a step-by-step flow of how you imagine this grant can lead to a greater number of user interactions with Optimism:
We plan to develop and integrate the Optimism L2 chain within our integrated browser wallet to onboard and maximize the number of users interacting with OP while they surf the web3 interacting with their favourite DApps and protocols.
Below is a step-by-step flow
Step 1. Develop and integrate the Optimism L2 chain within the Carbon browser wallet.
Step 2. Allow sending, receiving, storing and staking of supported Optimism L2 chain tokens.
Step 3. Allow minting, sending and receiving of Optimism L2 chain NFTs within the Carbon browser.
Step 4. Integrate, feature, and whitelist the top 10 Optimism DApps and Protocols within Carbon browser. We’ll determine the top 10 OP DApps each month by combined number of users, TVL and/or volume to provide handy and easier onboarding for new users to OP and to maximise the number of users interacting with Optimism within Carbon.
Step 5: Make Optimism L2 chain the default chain within our wallet when navigating within Carbon DApps supporting the Optimism L2 chain with an aim to bypass the module wallet pop-up.
Step 6. After 12 months post grant approval, Carbon will distribute 60% of the grant tokens to the team who committed time on the above integration with the remaining 40% distributed to users who interacted with the integrated OP wallet and made a tx within Carbon browser time stapped within the first 12 months once the integration is live and also distributed 12 months post grant approval.
Step 7. Our narrative and branding is Carbons speed and fast browsing amplified by OPs fast L2 tx speed.
Tell us about the users you plan to target with this grant. Include any defining characteristics that will help you identify and target them.:
We plan to target web3 browser users with a specific interest in fast private browsing which will be amplified thanks to our OP L2 chain integration (faster tx speeds when using our integrated wallet with an OP supported DApp). Web3 browsers are currently used by 420 million users and Carbon plans to penetrate 1% of this market in the next 12 months (4.2M MAUs). Currently Carbon has 1.4M MAUs. We will achieve this by pushing Carbon as the native OP Web3 Browser.
We will target the above users by increasing our presence in the playstore via ASO and increasing our ranks for keywords like ‘fast browser’ and ‘web3 browser’. Currently we’re ranked #3 for these KWs. We also plan to target these users via twitter and telegram marketing by raising awareness of our benefits and differentials to other browsers. Currently we have 115k followers and 30k telegram members.
How would these users interact with Optimism? For how long?:
As the Optimism L2 chain will be integrated within our browser by default, all of our 5.7M users will be exposed to the OP chain and ecosystem thanks to our browser featuring the OP DApps within our Web3 App store. These users will have a long term indefinite interaction with OP thanks to our interaction.
Provide us with links to any of the following for the project:
Website: https://carbon.website/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/trycarbonio
Discord/Discourse/Community: Telegram Group
Other relevant links (including any demos): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.browser.tssomas&hl=en_GB&gl=US
Do you have any metrics on the project currently? (TVL, transactions, volume, unique addresses, etc. Optimism metrics preferred; please link to public sources such as Dune Analytics, etc.):
- 45,000 DAUs
- 1.4M DAUs
- 5.7M Downloads to Date
- All metrics provided from Google PlayStore which will be shared
Who are your competitors, and are they on Optimism?:
Brave is the leading web3 browser and they are not on Optimism. Their loss is our gain!
Please link to code audits (if any):
Team
Who are your founders?:
Founders are former Google and Mozilla devs with experience at Microsoft, Dell and Marvel. They have over 10+ years in developing browsers and working in blockchain. More info can be found on our website on the about section https://carbon.website/about
What makes your team well-suited to carry out the project described in this proposal?
We are passionate about web3 browsers and supporting the web3 ecosystem by making it more efficient, faster and less costly to reach a wider audience. We are the creators of Carbon browser and are well-suited to ensure Carbon is the 1st OP integrated Web3 browser.
Is this your first Web3 project?:
Yes
Grant Request
What is the size of the grant request? (250k OP max): 100k OP
How do you justify the size of the grant?: Post 12 months grant approval, 60% of the OP grant tokens will be distributed to the team working on the above integration with the remaining 40% distributed to the community who utilize the integrated OP wallet and make a tx. We believe this combination will ensure maximum growth of users interacting with Optimism and ensure a seamless UX experience by rewarding our devs who are committed to a 12 month lock to allow time to test, upgrade and maintain the integration.
Roadmap and Distribution Plan
Describe in discrete steps how you will successfully implement your grant plan:
Step1. Devs will start work on chain integration into our browser wallet.
Step 2. Followed by OP NFT minting integration.
Step3. Then followed by featuring the top 10 OP DApps/Protocols on our Web3 Store and featuring some on our browser homepage.
How will the OP tokens be distributed? (please include % allocated to different initiatives such as user rewards/marketing/liquidity mining. Please also include a justification as to why each of these initiatives align with the problem statement this proposal is solving. Distribution should not include the sale of any tokens by the grantee or the use of tokens for compensation, protocol expenses, etc. See the [no sale rule here 1]:
As mentioned above: Post 12 months grant approval, 60% of the OP grant tokens will be distributed to the team working on the above integration with the remaining 40% distributed to the community who utilize the integrated OP wallet and make a tx. We believe this combination will ensure maximum growth of users interacting with Optimism and ensure a seamless UX experience by rewarding our devs who are committed to a 12 month lock to allow time to test, upgrade and maintain the integration.
Over what period of time will the tokens be distributed for each initiative?:
Post 12 months the OP grant tokens will be distributed following a strict vesting schedule over 6 months with block-by-block linear daily vesting to ensure a smooth distribution. This will be done via s amart contract vesting protocol.
Please provide benchmark milestones for this project. These milestones should guide the Optimism community on the progress of your project throughout your work on the project. Do not use distribution of the grant itself as a milestone:
Milestone 1: Wallet OP L2 Chain Integration
Milestone 2: OP L2 Chain NFT Integration
Milestone 3: Featuring top 10 OP Dapps on Web3 App store and updated monthly with top 3 featured on Browser homepage.
Please define critical milestones for this project. Critical milestones are meant to show good-faith efforts to accomplish the project. Non-completion of these milestones could lead to revocation of remaining grant rewards. Do not use distribution of the grant itself as a milestone:
Milestone 1: Sending/Receiving/Storing OP tokens within the Carbon wallet
Milestone 2: Minting/Importing/Exporting OP NFTs within the Carbon wallet
Milestone 3: OP Dapps listed/featured on Browser homepage and web3 store
If the OP tokens are for direct distribution to users, why will incentivized users and liquidity on Optimism remain after incentives dry up?:
Once the 40% planned community distribution ends (post 12 months grant approval they will be vested and distributed over 6 months) by then Carbon will have positioned itself as the leading web3 browser supporting OP and built for OP users and projects in mind. We feel 18 months is more than enough time to expand our community with enough momentum to remain active.
Please provide any additional information that will facilitate accountability (smart contracts addresses relevant to the proposal, relevant organizational wallet addresses, etc.):
Our project wallet addresses for all allocations such as marketing, development etc can be found on our tokenomics page on our website
Optimism Relationship
Does your project solve a problem for the Optimism ecosystem? If so how?:
Yes, currently there are no solutions providing a native OP web3 browser which provides easy access to the top used DAapps/protocols on OPchain or that supports blazing fast tx speeds alongside super fast browsing speed. Carbon solves this problem and will provide the only solution of a supported OP chain web3 browser without the need to download extensions or 3rd party apps.
Why will this solution be a source of growth for the Optimism ecosystem?:
Every OP user will want to download Carbon browser to experience the only pure-play web 3 browser built for the OP ecosystem. Carbon will help onboard new web3 users exposing them to OP and the benefits OP provides.
Is your project Optimism Native?:
Although our project token is minted on BNB chain our web3 browser is yet to build on a native chain, OP will be our 1st major chain integration we dedicate to alongside our multichain wallet which will support other chains like ETH and BNB chain.
Confirmations
I understand that I will be required to provide additional KYC information to the Optimism Foundation to receive this grant: [Yes/No]: Yes
I understand that I will be expected to following the public grant reporting requirements outlined [here]: [Yes/No]: Yes