EasyA Secures Web3 Foundation Grant to Launch Polkadot University

EasyA, a Web3 education platform and incubator, has been awarded a “Decentralized Futures Grant” from the Web3 Foundation to enhance its new initiative: EasyA x University.

This initiative aims to empower blockchain innovators by collaborating with university talent and creating a specialized educational program focused on Polkadot. EasyA was founded by alumni from the University of Cambridge and The Wharton School, boasting over 1 million downloads and recognition as Apple’s App of the Day. The platform actively attracts developers to Web3 through in-person hackathons held in major cities such as San Francisco, London, and Singapore.

The upcoming university program will provide a variety of workshops, hackathons, and grants to aid students in developing projects within the Polkadot ecosystem. Spanning nine months, this project intends to bolster Polkadot’s visibility in academic settings and grow its developer community, drawing inspiration from successful initiatives in the blockchain space.

The demand for Web3 professionals is surging, with competitive salaries and significant growth opportunities across various roles, including finance specialists, product managers, and developers. As the sector expands, companies seek individuals with both technical skills and a comprehensive understanding of decentralization and blockchain principles.

The Web3 Foundation, responsible for the development of Polkadot, has allocated a prize pool of 10 million DOT tokens, equivalent to around $65 million, to facilitate the Join-Accumulate Machine (JAM) upgrade for the Polkadot ecosystem. Participants must meet specific criteria, such as block production and performance benchmarks on Kusama and Polkadot, along with passing security audits.

EasyA has played a crucial role in fostering developer activity on Polkadot, with nearly 1,000 startups emerging from its hackathons this year. The platform is celebrated for its user-friendly approach and engaging learning experience, making it a favored choice for aspiring Web3 developers.

Alumni from EasyA have gone on to establish startups that are collectively valued at over $2.5 billion and have secured investments from leading venture capital firms. Notably, Cognition AI, founded by EasyA hackathon winner Walden Yan, achieved a $2 billion valuation in April; Yan originally pitched his idea for a blockchain version of DALLE during an EasyA hackathon at Harvard in 2022.

Despite this progress, the intricacies of blockchain technology—such as decentralized systems and varied consensus algorithms—represent a significant learning challenge, even for experienced developers. The diversity of networks, each with its unique programming languages and tools, adds to the hurdles faced by newcomers in the field.