@OctantApp: Epoch 8 cohort announced with 30 teams advancing Ethereum roadmap

🥁🥁🥁 After an amazing two weeks in Berlin, we’re ready to share our big news. Our Epoch 8 cohort! 🥁🥁🥁 But some notes first. This was an incredibly competitive round. As we gear up for v2 and get more experimental, we made some tweaks this epoch We defined our theme and what we wanted to fund: teams advancing Ethereum's roadmap in 4 areas 🔹 Direct protocol improvements 🔹 Shared infrastructure 🔹 Open dashboards, datasets, or studies 🔹 and finally protocol-level research and specification work Why so specific? This is a result of learnings from past epochs. We’ve realized having more designed themes and categories helps in selection and more importantly evaluation later. You can’t compare projects when the round and categories are vaguely defined. It would be like comparing apples and oranges. And how’d we decide? Because this was a more specific round, instead of a Snapshot vote, we selected the cohort through multiple internal reviews. If you applied in this epoch, you probably noticed a more detailed application process. This was intentional so we’d be able to work with as much information as possible and more datapoints for the final selections. We had multiple review cycles, including due diligence and technical reviews. Our selection boiled down to a few factors, including direct impact, past verifiable contributions, critical infra needs, strategic importance to Ethereum’s roadmap, and clear verifiable deliverables. With hundreds of talented applicants and only 30 spots, it was tough making this decision. That said, we were SO impressed with everyone, and we’re feeling more bullish than ever about the future of Ethereum. So who’s part of the cohort? Without further ado, please welcome our Epoch 8 cohort: • @solidity_lang • @vyperlang • @official_fe • @powdr_labs • @ProtocolGuild • @dappnode • @Commit_Boost • @eas_eth • Samba • @orbit_db • @ephemerytestnet • @AestusRelay • @ricmoo • @EthereumRemix • @argotorg • @ShutterNetwork • @Verifereum • @L2beat • @defillama • @growthepie_eth • @OSObserver • @blobscan • @blockscout • @stablewatchHQ • @defiscan_info • @numtel1 • @0xBundleBear • @realagnopraxlab • @buidlguidl So what’s next? In the next few weeks, we’re going to be hosting livestreams ++ sharing more about the teams. We’re excited for you to learn more about them and all the great work they’re doing. Our allocation window opens on 11 July, so make sure to mark your cal. Happy allocating soon 💝