[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

Our proposed solution is an open-source platform utilizing NFT (Non-Fungible Token) technology to create secure and fraud-resistant gift cards and coupons.

The Problem: The gift card industry is a lucrative market, but it is riddled with fraud, leading to significant annual losses for businesses. Businesses in the US lose between $300 million and $600 million every year due to coupon fraud. Traditional gift cards and coupons rely heavily on trust in third parties and susceptible to various forms of fraudulent activities, resulting in substantial losses.

Our Approach: We propose leveraging the immutability, transparency, and secure nature of blockchain technology, specifically using NFTs. Unlike traditional (fungible) tokens, NFTs are unique and non-fungible, making them ideal for representing ownership of unique items or, in this case, gift cards and coupons. NFTs can provide a secure, traceable, and tamper-proof infrastructure for issuing and redeeming gift cards and coupons, reducing the possibilities of fraud.

Engagement: This project will engage businesses, especially small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), that want to implement gift card or coupon systems but are deterred by the associated fraud risks. It will also engage customers, who will benefit from a safer and more reliable system.

Impact Demonstration: The impact of our project will be demonstrated by the decrease in reported gift card and coupon fraud cases among participating businesses. Additionally, we will track the volume and value of NFT gift cards and coupons issued and redeemed on the platform.

Uniqueness: While NFTs have been primarily used for art and collectibles, our solution explores a novel use-case that can bring practical value to businesses and consumers. Furthermore, leveraging the Cardano blockchain, known for its scalability and sustainability, offers a forward-looking approach.

Beneficiaries: The immediate beneficiaries will be businesses that can save significant costs related to fraud and consumers who will have a more reliable and secure platform for their gift card and coupon needs. In the long run, as more enterprises adopt this solution, we can anticipate an overall increase in trust and reduction of fraud in the entire industry.

Importance to Cardano: This project aligns with Cardano's mission of democratizing finance and providing secure and scalable solutions. By building this platform within the Cardano ecosystem, we are showcasing the potential of its NFT capabilities and enhancing the ecosystem's practical use-cases. This not only strengthens the Cardano ecosystem's utility but also potentially attracts new businesses and users to the platform.

[IMPACT] How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

Based on the challenge details, the proposed solution will utilize Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) as gift cards or coupons within the Cardano ecosystem. This will fulfill several of the aims of the challenge.

Alignment with OSDE Challenge Aims:

1. Open Source Development: The proposed project will be open-sourced, providing a blueprint for others to learn and iterate from. This aligns with the challenge's focus on increasing open-source project visibility and adoption, as well as improving documentation.
2. Community Contribution: The project will help grow the Cardano ecosystem by providing an innovative, blockchain-based solution for gift cards or coupons. It can be an excellent use-case of how blockchain technology can be leveraged for everyday use-cases, thereby promoting wider adoption and understanding of the technology.
3. Interoperability: The NFT-based coupons/gift cards can be designed to be interoperable within the Cardano ecosystem, allowing users to use these tokens across different dApps and platforms. This aligns with the aim of improving interoperability within the ecosystem.

Impact on Cardano Ecosystem:

1. Ecosystem Growth: The project could bring more users to the Cardano ecosystem, as businesses and consumers recognize the advantages of NFT-based coupons/gift cards. This could translate into an increase in the number of transactions being processed on the Cardano network, contributing to the overall growth and development of the ecosystem.
2. Strengthening the Ecosystem: By providing an innovative and practical use-case for NFTs and blockchain, the project could help strengthen the Cardano ecosystem. It will also increase the versatility of the Cardano blockchain, demonstrating its ability to support a range of applications beyond just financial transactions.
3. Solving a Key Problem: The project will address the common issues associated with traditional gift card programs such as fraud and high cost. By leveraging the security and transparency of blockchain, the project could provide a more secure, cheaper, and efficient solution.

Project Metrics:

1. Number of Open-Source Contributions: The project could lead to an increase in the number of open-source contributions, as more developers become interested in contributing to or developing similar solutions.
2. Adoption Rate: A key metric to measure would be the adoption rate of the NFT-based coupons/gift cards by businesses and consumers within the Cardano ecosystem. A higher adoption rate would demonstrate the project's success.
3. Reduction in Fraud: By implementing a blockchain-based solution, the project could significantly reduce the amount of fraud associated with gift cards/coupons. The reduction in fraud could be a key metric to measure the project's success.

Overall, the proposed solution has the potential to bring significant value to the Cardano ecosystem, while also fulfilling the aims of the OSDE challenge.

[IMPACT] How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

The success of our project can be measured quantitatively and qualitatively, through various indicators that reflect its impact, adoption, and acceptance in the Cardano ecosystem.

Quantitative Measures:

1. Reduction in Fraud Cases: One of the primary metrics for measuring the success of our project would be the reduction in the number of reported fraud cases related to gift cards and coupons among businesses that adopt our platform. A significant drop in fraud instances would demonstrate the effectiveness of our solution.
2. Volume of NFT Gift Cards and Coupons Issued and Redeemed: Another metric will be the number of NFT gift cards and coupons created, issued, and redeemed on our platform. An increasing trend in these numbers will suggest growing trust and acceptance among businesses and consumers.
3. Number of Businesses Onboarded: We can measure the number of businesses that have adopted our platform for their gift card and coupon needs. More businesses signing up would imply successful adoption.
4. Number of Transactions on the Platform: The number of transactions happening on our platform would serve as another important measure. Higher transaction volumes would indicate increased usage and thereby a successful implementation.

Qualitative Measures:

1. User Satisfaction: Conducting regular surveys and feedback sessions with businesses and consumers will help gauge the level of satisfaction with our platform. A high level of satisfaction will indicate that we're effectively meeting the needs of our users.
2. Perceived Security: The sense of security and trust users have in the platform is a critical qualitative metric. Users' belief in the security of our platform will signify successful delivery on our promise of a secure, reliable solution for gift cards and coupons.

As for Cardano's productivity and growth, our project will contribute both in the short term and the long term. In the short term, we expect to see increased transactions due to the issuance and redemption of NFT gift cards and coupons, potentially leading to more ADA being used.

In the long term, our project could lead to greater adoption of the Cardano blockchain by businesses. By demonstrating a practical and beneficial use case for NFTs beyond digital art and collectibles, we're showing the versatility of the Cardano platform. This could attract more businesses and developers to the Cardano ecosystem, spurring further innovation and growth.

[IMPACT] Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

We plan to spread the project's outputs during and after its completion. While building, we provide monthly and milestone reports, and present in two Town Hall meetings every two weeks: the Eastern Town Hall and the Pacific Town Hall. We regularly attend these town hall meetings to provide project updates and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. While we are based in Japan, which naturally aligns our schedules more closely with these two Town Halls, we make efforts to reach beyond these forums. At significant moments, such as the completion of a project phase, we expand our participation to include other town halls, overcoming time zone challenges to do so. We greatly value these occasions as they present an opportunity to share our accomplishments and engage in beneficial discussions with a wider audience.

We will share the projects’s outputs, impact and opportunities with the community members. The links to our close-out report and video will be publicly available on Youtube. We will also share information on our website and social media. Because we are a gig marketplace, gig opportunities for Cardano developers will be listed on our Socious platform.

Since Socious is an open source project, our code base is public on our GitHub page and Cardano developers are encouraged to fork and use it for other projects.

We will analyze the results of this pilot project to further our research and development activities.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

Our team is aptly suited and equipped to successfully deliver this project. We possess the requisite capabilities that uniquely position us to execute this project to high standards of trust and accountability.

As outlined in the section "Who is in the project team and what are their roles?", our team is composed of seven full-time members, each bringing considerable experience in developing Dapps. To supplement our core team, we maintain a reserve of skilled freelancers, ready to contribute at short notice. Our talent marketplace, Socious, is a hub for over 3,800 individuals, many of whom could potentially assist in this project, if required.

Our ability to deliver is not just theoretical but backed by a track record. We have successfully completed five distinct Catalyst projects funded in Fund 9, all within the projected timelines and budget. These accomplishments bear testament to our capabilities and our commitment to deliver projects as proposed.

The Fund 9 projects we’ve completed are as follows:

1. Recognize Impact through DIDs <https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/9/f9-dapps-products-and-integrations/recognize-impact-through-dids>
2. Atala Integration with Milkomeda <https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/9/f9-dapps-products-and-integrations/atala-integration-with-milkomeda>
3. Decentralized Escrow for Remote Job <https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/9/f9-developer-ecosystem/decentralized-escrow-for-remote-job>
4. Impact lending for the unbanked <https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/9/f9-dapps-products-and-integrations/impact-lending-for-the-unbanked>
5. Scoring Social/Environmental Impact <https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/9/f9-catalyst-natives-x-cardashift-demonstrating-and-monetizing-impact/scoring-socialenvironmental-impact>

The trustworthiness in our fund management processes is grounded in our serious adherence to legal and financial compliance. Each transaction conducted is meticulously documented with tangible evidence and audited internally for accuracy. To bolster our commitment to financial transparency, we have established collaborations with external accounting firms that assure compliance. Our Japanese entity works with Tatsumi Accounting Firm (https://kessan-online.jp/company), while our Singaporean entity partners with BBCIncorp (https://bbcincorp.com/offshore/accounting-and-auditing).

Additionally, we liaise with an external law firm, Enlighten Law Group (https://www.enlightenlaw.com/), to ensure full legal compliance. This meticulous, multilayered approach to fund management reflects our dedication to maintaining high levels of trust and accountability.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

The goals of the project is develop the “NFT-based Gift Cards” feature on the Socious app (https://socious.io/app) so that the users can perform the following functions on the app.

1. Business Owner Creating and Issuing Gift Cards/Coupons: As a business owner, I want to join the gift card progrm so that I can reduce fraud, increase customer loyalty, and drive sales.
2. Customer Purchasing Gift Cards: As a customer, I want to be able to purchase gift cards. The process should be seamless, and the gift card should be securely transferred to my wallet.
3. Customer Redeeming Gift Cards: As a customer, I want to be able to redeem the gift cards I've purchased or received easily and securely. The platform should provide a straightforward way to use my gift card, and I should be able to track its redemption status.
4. Business Owner Verifying Gift Cards: As a business owner, I want to be able to verify and accept gift cards presented by customers quickly and accurately.
5. Customer Gifting NFT Gift Cards: As a customer, I want to be able to gift the NFT gift cards I've purchased to my friends or family.

Our Technical Approach:

We use several technologies to develop the functions mentioned above. We use Atala PRISM DID for identity management. Socious is already integrated with ProofSpace which supports Atala PRISM DID. For identity verification and KYC-AML, we use Veriff which is fully integrated with ProofSpace; our users can use passports and other IDs to verify their identity. For fund transfers and NFTs, we use Milkomeda, Cardano’s side chain, and Solidity/EVM for smart contracts. We use React for the frontend technology and Capacitor to deploy the app to App Store and Playstore. Our backend technology is Javascript, and we use a MySQL database on AWS. For Agile tools, we use GitHub and Notion. For design tools, we use Figma and Miro.

We believe that our approach is feasible as we have used these technologies and tools in the past, delivering successful projects including the five Catalyst projects in Fund 9.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

We have six milestones, including the final milestone, and we plan to complete the entire project within 12 months from the start.

For a summary of the milestones, please visit:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17NgkV5pzyfzVOizbgmVLzvP_5N_VAbpzNWlC432MPBc/edit?usp=sharing

Milestone 1

Title: Market and Technical Research

Outputs

Milestone 1 includes the following key activities:

• Conduct a literature review of the issue.
• Perform a market analysis.
• Conduct a competitor analysis.
• Conduct interviews with stakeholders and analyze them (recording dates and timestamps).
• Conduct research on technical aspects of the project.
• Develop a detailed plan of action for the project.
• Draft a technical and market research paper summarizing the findings above.

Acceptance criteria

The market and technical research paper is finalized and published on Notion. It is accessible for community review.

Evidence of Milestone completion

Community members can access the market and technical research paper to find the following content:

• Literature review
• Market analysis
• Competitor analysis
• Interviews with stakeholders and their analysis (including dates and timestamps)
• Technical aspects of the project
• Detailed action plans for the project

Expected timeline for the delivery

Month 2

Cost

51,143 ADA ($14,320)

% Completion

15%

Milestone 2

Title: UI/UX Research

Outputs

Milestone 2 includes the following key activities:

1. Based on the market and research paper, brainstorm and Ideate
2. Create prototypes for user research
3. Conduct user research using the prototypes
4. Compile and analyse the findings
5. Iterate design and repeat Step 3 and 4.
6. Finalize the UI/UX design
7. Consult with the developers to decide on the technical architecture based on the design
8. Draft a UI/UX Research Paper

These steps will results in a finalized UI/UX Research Paper.

Acceptance criteria

The UI/UX Research Paper is finalized and published on Notion. It is accessible for community review.

Evidence of Milestone completion

Community members can access the UI/UX research paper.

Expected timeline for the delivery

Month 4

Cost

60,286 ADA ($16,880)

% Completion

32%

Milestone 3

Title: UI/UX Design

Outputs

Milestone 3 includes the following key activities:

1. Complete the production-ready design in Figma.
2. Film a video walk-through of the design.

These steps will result in a finalized, production-ready UI/UX design in Figma, along with a video walk-through.

The Figma file will be published and made available for community review. Similarly, the video walk-through will be published on YouTube and made available to the community.

Acceptance criteria

The production-ready UI/UX design is finalized, published and is accessible to the community for review.

The finalized production-ready design will be handed over to the engineering team. “Production-ready” means that it doesn’t need more work from designers and is ready for the engineering team to turn the design into code.

The video walk-through will be published on YouTube and made available to the community.

Evidence of Milestone completion

The Figma files and the video walk-through are publicly available and community members are able to review them.

Expected timeline for the delivery

Month 6

Cost

32,857 ADA ($9,200)

% Completion

42%

Milestone 4

Title: Backend and Blockchain Development

Outputs

Milestone 4 involves the following key activities:

• Sprint planning, which includes meetings with the Product Manager, designers, and developers. This includes writing tickets with specifications, assigning story points, and more.
• Backend development
• Blockchain development
• Unit testing
• Manual testing
• Bug fixes
• Deployment
• Documentation

These steps will allow us to develop the feature and make the GitHub repository (public) available to the community member.

Acceptance criteria

The community members can review the source code which will be available on GitHub (open source)

Evidence of Milestone completion

Community members can view the source code of the features on GitHub (open source)

Expected timeline for the delivery

Month 8

Cost

55,714 ADA ($14,400)

% Completion

58%

Milestone 5

Title: Frontend Development

Outputs

Milestone 5 involves the following key activities:

• Sprint planning, which includes meetings with the Product Manager, designers, and developers. This includes writing tickets with specifications, assigning story points, and more.
• Frontend development
• Unit testing
• Integration testing
• Manual testing
• End-to-end testing
• Bug fixes
• Deployment
• Documentation
• Film a product demo video

These steps will allow us to deploy the "NFT-based Gift Cards" feature and produce a product demo video.

Acceptance criteria

Users can go through the “NFT-based Gift Cards” feature on the Socious app. They include the following functions:

• Business Owner Joining the Gift Card program: As a business owner, I want to join the gift card program so that I can reduce fraud, increase customer loyalty, and drive sales.
• Customer Purchasing Gift Cards: As a customer, I want to be able to purchase gift cards. The process should be seamless, and the gift card should be securely transferred to my wallet.
• Customer Redeeming Gift Cards: As a customer, I want to be able to redeem the gift cards I've purchased or received easily and securely. The platform should provide a straightforward way to use my gift card, and I should be able to track its redemption status.
• Business Owner Verifying Gift Cards: As a business owner, I want to be able to verify and accept gift cards presented by customers quickly and accurately.
• Customer Gifting NFT Gift Cards: As a customer, I want to be able to gift the NFT gift cards I've purchased to my friends or family.

1. The source code will be available on GitHub (open source)
2. These features will be published and available for the community members to go through the flow on the Socious app.
3. We will film a walk-through of these functions and publish the video on Youtube so that community members can access it.

NB: The aforementioned functions are subject to change, depending on the result of research in this project.

Evidence of Milestone completion

1. Community members can view the source code of the features on GitHub (open source)
2. Community members can view the video walk-through of these functions on Youtube.

Expected timeline for the delivery

Month 10

Cost

94,517 ADA ($26,480)

% Completion

85%

Final Milestone

Title: Marketing, user testing, data analysis and final report

Outputs

Final Milestone involves the following key activities:

• Marketing to a specific target audience
• Onboard users as beta testers
• Conduct user acceptance testing
• Analyze users’ feedback
• Bug fixes if necessary
• Draft a project close-out report
• Record a close-out video

These steps will produce two deliverables: a close-out report and a close-out video

Acceptance criteria

The following items are publicly available for the community to review.

• Project close-out report
• Project close-out video

Evidence of Milestone completion

Community members can access and review the project close-out report. The project close-out video is published on Youtube for the community to review.

Expected timeline for the delivery

Month 12

Cost

51,143 ADA ($14,320)

% Completion

100%

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Milestone 1

Title: Market and Technical Research

Outputs and Deliverables

Milestone 1 includes the following outputs:

• Conduct a literature review of the issue.
• Perform a market analysis.
• Conduct a competitor analysis.
• Conduct interviews with stakeholders and analyze them (recording dates and timestamps).
• Conduct research on technical aspects of the project.
• Develop a detailed plan of action for the project.
• Draft a technical and market research paper summarizing the findings above.

At the end of these outputs, we deliver a technical and market research paper summarizing the findings above

Intended outcomes

The market and technical research paper is finalized and published on Notion. It is accessible for community review.

How we measure the project’s progress

We use Notion's project management function to track the progress of our projects. We organize our work into different projects, tasks, and sprints, and this tool allows us to measure our progress. An example is attached below.

Community members can access the market and technical research paper to find the following content:

• Literature review
• Market analysis
• Competitor analysis
• Interviews with stakeholders and their analysis (including dates and timestamps)
• Technical aspects of the project
• Detailed action plans for the project

Milestone 2

Title: UI/UX Research

Outputs and deliverables

Milestone 2 includes the following key activities:

1. Based on the market and research paper, brainstorm and Ideate
2. Create prototypes for user research
3. Conduct user research using the prototypes
4. Compile and analyse the findings
5. Iterate design and repeat Step 3 and 4.
6. Finalize the UI/UX design
7. Consult with the developers to decide on the technical architecture based on the design
8. Draft a UI/UX Research Paper

These steps will results in a finalized UI/UX Research Paper.

Intended outcomes

The UI/UX Research Paper is finalized and published on Notion. It is accessible for community review.

How we measure the project’s progress

We use Notion's project management function to track the progress of our projects. We organize our work into different projects, tasks, and sprints, and this tool allows us to measure our progress. An example is attached above.

Community members can access the UI/UX research paper.

Milestone 3

Title: UI/UX Design

Outputs and deliverables

Milestone 3 includes the following key activities:

1. Complete the production-ready design in Figma.
2. Film a video walk-through of the design.

These steps will result in a finalized, production-ready UI/UX design in Figma, along with a video walk-through.

The Figma file will be published and made available for community review. Similarly, the video walk-through will be published on YouTube and made available to the community.

Intended outcomes

• The production-ready UI/UX design is finalized, published and is accessible to the community for review.
• The finalized production-ready design will be handed over to the engineering team. “Production-ready” means that it doesn’t need more work from designers and is ready for the engineering team to turn the design into code.
• The video walk-through will be published on YouTube and made available to the community.

How we measure the project’s progress

We use Notion's project management function to track the progress of our projects. We organize our work into different projects, tasks, and sprints, and this tool allows us to measure our progress. An example is attached above.

The Figma files and the video walk-through are publicly available and community members are able to review them.

Milestone 4

Title: Backend and Blockchain Development

Outputs and deliverables

Milestone 4 involves the following key activities:

• Sprint planning, which includes meetings with the Product Manager, designers, and developers. This includes writing tickets with specifications, assigning story points, and more.
• Backend development
• Blockchain development
• Unit testing
• Manual testing
• Bug fixes
• Deployment
• Documentation

These steps will allow us to develop the feature and make the GitHub repository (public) available to the community member.

Intended outcomes

The community members can review the source code which will be available on GitHub (open source)

How we measure the project’s progress

We use Notion's project management function to track the progress of our projects. We organize our work into different projects, tasks, and sprints, and this tool allows us to measure our progress. An example is attached above.

Community members can view the source code of the features on GitHub (open source)

Milestone 5

Title: Frontend Development

Outputs and deliverables

Milestone 5 involves the following key activities:

• Sprint planning, which includes meetings with the Product Manager, designers, and developers. This includes writing tickets with specifications, assigning story points, and more.
• Frontend development
• Unit testing
• Integration testing
• Manual testing
• End-to-end testing
• Bug fixes
• Deployment
• Documentation
• Film a product demo video

These steps will allow us to deploy the "NFT-based Gift Cards" feature and produce a product demo video.

Intended outcomes

Users can go through the “NFT-based Gift Cards” feature on the Socious app. They include the following functions:

• Business Owner Joining the Gift Card program: As a business owner, I want to join the gift card program so that I can reduce fraud, increase customer loyalty, and drive sales.
• Customer Purchasing Gift Cards: As a customer, I want to be able to purchase gift cards. The process should be seamless, and the gift card should be securely transferred to my wallet.
• Customer Redeeming Gift Cards: As a customer, I want to be able to redeem the gift cards I've purchased or received easily and securely. The platform should provide a straightforward way to use my gift card, and I should be able to track its redemption status.
• Business Owner Verifying Gift Cards: As a business owner, I want to be able to verify and accept gift cards presented by customers quickly and accurately.
• Customer Gifting NFT Gift Cards: As a customer, I want to be able to gift the NFT gift cards I've purchased to my friends or family.

1. The source code will be available on GitHub (open source)
2. These features will be published and available for the community members to go through the flow on the Socious app.
3. We will film a walk-through of these functions and publish the video on Youtube so that community members can access it.

NB: The aforementioned functions are subject to change, depending on the result of research in this project.

How we measure the project’s progress

We use Notion's project management function to track the progress of our projects. We organize our work into different projects, tasks, and sprints, and this tool allows us to measure our progress. An example is attached above.

1. Community members can view the source code of the features on GitHub (open source)
2. Community members can view the video walk-through of these functions on Youtube.

Final Milestone

Title: Marketing, user testing, data analysis and final report

Outputs and deliverables

Final Milestone involves the following key activities:

• Marketing to a specific target audience
• Onboard users as beta testers
• Conduct user acceptance testing
• Analyze of users’ feedback
• Bug fixes if necessary
• Draft a project close-out report
• Record a close-out video

These steps will produce two deliverables: a close-out report and a close-out video

Intended outcomes

The following items are publicly available for the community to review.

• Project close-out report
• Project close-out video

How we measure the project’s progress

We use Notion's project management function to track the progress of our projects. We organize our work into different projects, tasks, and sprints, and this tool allows us to measure our progress. An example is attached above.

Community members can access and review the project close-out report. The project close-out video is published on Youtube for the community to review.

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Please find below a detailed breakdown of our budget, including the number of people and hours allocated to each task. We have calculated the cost at $40 per person per hour. The base conversion rate for USD-ADA is 0.28.*

Executive summary:

Total Cost: 345,714 ADA ($95,600)

Milestone 1: 51,143 ADA ($14,320)

Milestone 2: 60,286 ADA ($16,880)

Milestone 3: 32,857 ADA ($9,200)

Milestone 4: 55,714 ADA ($14,400)

Milestone 5: 94,571 ADA ($26,480)

Final Milestone: 51,143 ADA ($14,320)

Please find the details of the breakdown here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17NgkV5pzyfzVOizbgmVLzvP_5N_VAbpzNWlC432MPBc/edit?usp=sharing

*We've adopted the USD-ADA conversion rate of $0.28 which is the rate at the time of the proposal submission deadline.

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Socious (https://socious.io) is a fast-growing impact startup that provides a talent marketplace, making impact work accessible and transparent. We connect purpose-driven professionals with impact organizations through AI matching. We use blockchain to trace impact work and reward contributions.

Socious is supported by 500Global, Microsoft, and Milkomeda Foundation. Our platform lists over 70k jobs, 23k organizations, and has 3.8k registered talents. Our team consists of experts in impact measurement, finance, data science, and blockchain development.

Socious has extensive experience in the Cardano ecosystem, having successfully completed five Catalyst-funded projects in Fund 9.

• Seira Yun

Title: Founder and CEO

Role: Product Ownership, Project Management, Research

Linkedin:

<https://www.linkedin.com/in/seirayun/>

Bio: Seira Yun is the Founder and CEO of Socious.io, a talent marketplace that makes impact work accessible and transparent. Socious connects purpose-driven professionals with impact organizations through AI matching, and uses blockchain to trace impact work and reward contributions.

Seira is a serial impact entrepreneur with years of experience in the sector. He has led teams within the ICRC, UNHCR, and social ventures. Drawing from personal experiences as a migrant, an autistic person, and a proud pansexual queer, Seira is driven to make the world a better place through social innovation. As a full-stack developer with a Master's in Social Innovation from the University of Cambridge, he enjoys blending technology with purpose. Seira is also an impact angel investor, a member of Hustle Fund's Angel Squad, and a mentor for 4WARD.VC's Climate Accelerator. When not working, he enjoys shooting hoops, running, reading, spending quality time with the kids, or embracing the adventure of getting lost during travels. He is also a long-term member of the Cardano community; he’s won and managed five Catalyst projects and has participated in Atala PRISM Pioneer Program.

• Minh Douangprachanh

Title: Lead Designer

Role: Design

LinkedIn:

<https://www.linkedin.com/in/michel-douang/>

Bio: With more than a decade of experience specializing in product design, Minh is a multidisciplinary artist who has always believed art has a language of its own. As a neurodiverse individual, Minh is passionate about helping people and creating sustainable and inclusive solutions.

• Ehsan Mahmoudi

Title: Senior Backend Engineer

Role: Backend/Blockchain/AI Engineering

LinkedIn:

<https://linkedin.com/in/ehsan-mahmoudi-611123b8/>

Bio: More than 8 years of experience in Python and Machine Learning as well as extensive experience in blockchain development. Ehsan has worked for global startups including Rechat, AEC, and Navaak.

• Sajad Abbasi

Title: Senior Frontend Developer

Role: Frontend Development

LinkedIn:

<https://www.linkedin.com/in/sajad-abbasi-39485696/>

Bio: An experienced frontend developer with 10+ years of experience.

• Sanaz Mahmoudi

Title: Frontend Developer

Role: Frontend Development

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanaz-mahmoudi/

Bio: An experienced frontend developer with 4+ years of experience.

• Azin Zare

Title: QA Engineer

Role: Quality Assurance

LinkedIn:

<https://www.linkedin.com/in/azin-zare-355a27179/>

Bio: An experienced QA engineer with 9+ years of experience.

• Madi Lommen

Title: Partnerships Lead

Role: Project Management, Research

LinkedIn:

<https://www.linkedin.com/in/madi-lommen-394940b0/>

Bio: Madi has 10+ years experience in social entrepreneurship, impact investing, and partnership building. Madi is passionate about interdisciplinary learning / problem-solving that leverages entrepreneurship and multilingual teamwork for community development. In recent years, she founded Madibanani Co. to champion refugee youth, designed a data collection program on the Jordan-Syrian border, and coordinated military-like training for Emergency & Disaster volunteers of La Cruz Roja (Red Cross) in Ecuador. After completing a thesis on medieval Arabic poetry at Yale-NUS College in Singapore, she worked with a network of angel investors scaling women-led SMEs tackling poverty in Southeast Asia. She has experience working in four languages (English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese) and has lived in Singapore, Jordan, Ecuador, the UK, South Africa, the USA, and Japan.

• Raphael Hode

Title: Design Advisor

Role Design Direction

LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelhode/>

Bio: Raphael is a Strategic Designer with a passion for social innovation and sustainability. After a few years in advertising agencies in Paris, Raphael moved to Tokyo in 2015 and joined Designit, a global strategic design firm. At Designit Raphael worked on growing a team and helping some of Japan’s most ambitious companies make innovation happen, leading him to endorse a variety of roles across UX design, service design, business design, and strategy.

In parallel, he has been passionately engaging in activities related to sustainability and social innovation: giving talks and workshops, mentoring early-stage social founders, and eventually co-founding a social venture. Today, he spends most of his time working with incredible social entrepreneurs to help them define, design, and launch visionary products that contribute to creating a more sustainable society.

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The proposed project holds immense potential to further the Cardano ecosystem, and while there are significant costs involved, they are justified in their allocation, and as such, represent excellent value for money.

To start, the impact of our Socious initiative is already apparent, with 3,800 individuals already introduced to the Cardano ecosystem. The current project not only aims to maintain this trend but to accelerate it further. This will help to expand the user base and, consequently, the value of the Cardano network, providing a high return on investment.

Addressing the labor costs, we have optimized our budget based on industry standards and geographical considerations. According to ZipRecruiter data, the average salaries for product designers, developers, and product managers are $72, $68, and $65 per hour, respectively. However, we have managed to budget the hourly salaries at a more cost-effective rate of $40, without compromising the quality of the work or expertise of the individuals involved.

This is made possible by leveraging our network of professionals who are both passionate about our mission and have agreed to work at rates that allow us to provide value to the Cardano ecosystem. As a result, our operational costs are significantly reduced while maintaining the necessary high standards of quality and professionalism.

Furthermore, the project budget was not created in isolation. It was meticulously crafted based on our extensive experience with similar projects in the past. This has given us a clear understanding of the human resources and hours necessary to successfully implement this project, resulting in a reliable, accurate budget.

For a comprehensive breakdown of the project costs, please refer to the following document:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17NgkV5pzyfzVOizbgmVLzvP_5N_VAbpzNWlC432MPBc/edit?usp=sharing

In conclusion, every dollar spent on this project is a targeted investment towards expanding the Cardano ecosystem, enhancing the utility of Cardano, and providing exceptional value for all stakeholders.