Somnia has announced the launch of Dreamathon, encouraging developers to start building a variety of innovative dApps on the gaming chain by providing grants and investor exposure.

What Is Somnia’s Dreamathon Program?

Dreamathon is a pilot incubator program set up exclusively for the Somnia network to help grow the Layer 1 blockchain by providing total grant funding of $200k to the top 10 teams that create the most innovative real-time dApps over the course of 8 weeks.

Only 20 teams will be selected for this opportunity to be among the top 10 finalists to secure not only up to $20k in funding per team, but also exposure to various investors potentially interested in supporting the most exciting projects further. Next to initial funding to help accelerate product development, teams will also receive mentorship and advisory from experienced mentors and technical advisors throughout the program. To help with the MVP launch on mainnet, teams can also expect to be given GTM and dev support at every step of the deployment process. Last but not least, finalists will be given an ecosystem spotlight by getting the opportunity to showcase projects at Demo Day to gain exposure across both the Somnia and Cracked Labs ecosystems.

This pilot incubator is being hosted in collaboration with crypto/AI incubator & venture studio Cracked Labs and AI-native funding platform Supafund. Here is everything you need to know to apply while applications are still open.

How to Apply for Somnia’s $200K Dreamathon

Applications are open until August 31 and anyone building real-time web3 apps related to GameFi, DeFi, SocialFi, InfoFi, or prediction markets can apply by heading to the official Dreamathon website.

At the top of the page is a button to start the application process, and clicking it will redirect you to an Airtable application form in which you will have to submit contact info such as full name, email, and Telegram handle. The form asks whether you have a team, and whether you already have an existing product or project, or just an idea. You will also have to upload a thumbnail image of the project, or a profile picture for your team. Essentially, the more details you can provide, the better your chances will likely be in entering the 8-week incubator program as one of 20 teams, should you and your team be deemed the right fit for this entertainment ecosystem. Applications are continuously reviewed on a rolling basis.

The program is looking for experienced developers displaying technical excellence, long-term energy and swift execution power while building projects with evidence of demand and a clear use case. Your project can be related to fields such as GameFi, SocialFi, predictions markets, DeFi, and InfoFi. 

For GameFi, the program is looking for projects capable of delivering high-performance economies with on-chain game logic. SocialFi projects should be building reactive networks where data is the currency, while a team building in the field of prediction markets should look to deploy a product with live, data-driven wagers and with instant settlement. For DeFi, the program is looking for a team capable of building a web3 app that enables super fast, low-cost trading and dynamic market infrastructure, while InfoFi projects should be all about monetizing attention, insights, and AI-generated content.

If you end up being among the 20 teams accepted into this program, you can then look forward to competing over the course of 8 weeks to be among the top 10 teams to win up to $20k in grants.

During the 8-week incubation process, teams will bring their idea from being a vision to actually deploying it. These weeks are structured into a 3-phase process: Foundation & Strategy, Build & Deploy, and Growth + Adoption.

In the first phase, which lasts 1-2 weeks, teams will take part in a technical bootcamp on Somnia’s reactive primitives while learning about MVP scoping and receiving deep dives on the fields of InfoFi, DeFi, and SocialFi. Mentor matching and advisory will also take place here, and the first milestone of having your MVP spec approved will also be done in this foundational phase.

The second phase makes up weeks 3 – 6 and will feature live coding support, async technical advisory, project checkpoints and iterative feedback, as well as the second milestone, which involves delivering a working MVP live on the network’s mainnet.

With your product deployed, you then move on to the third and final phase, which is all about growing your project through ecosystem integration plus user traction, while preparing for the Demo Day presentation. This also seems to be the time when the the $20k grants from the $200k prize pool will be awarded to the best teams based on the metrics and impact their live product has managed to achieve.

If you want to build on this growing EVM-compatible chain, then be sure to apply before August 31 for a chance at participating in the 8-week incubator and winning a $20k grant while receiving all the support you need to bring your project to life.

About Somnia

Somnia is a gaming and entertainment Layer 1 blockchain. It’s designed as a cost-efficient and EVM-compatible chain for real-time on-chain apps that need ultra fast transaction speeds to serve millions of users. This L1 is capable of handling over 1 million transactions per second (TPS) with sub-second finality and sub-cent gas fees, making it ideal for builders looking to create all sorts of real-time consumer apps, such as blockchain games, metaverses, social dApps, and more. This blazing performance is made possible thanks to achieving key innovations that include advanced compression techniques, IceDB, Accelerated Sequential Execution, and a proof-of-stake, MultiStream consensus protocol. Check out the official documentation to learn more about these technologies and how you can get started with deploying smart contracts on this entertainment chain.

Last week, web3 gamers had the chance to earn over $10k in rewards across 8 on-chain titles in the Somnia Gaming Week. Earlier this year, Somnia partnered with Google Cloud to power AI agents.

If you're looking for more grants and funding opportunities in the world of crypto gaming, then you may also want to check out Ultra's $1m Developer Grant Program and the Avalanche x Helika $250k Gaming Accelerator.