buidlbox has quite the history behind it! From Gitcoin to today, we’ve experienced years of innovation, building, and community. The entire history may take a while, but we think it’s important to share some of the highlights from our past and understand how it’s shaped the product as you know it today.

Gitcoin Bounties was launched in 2017 by Kevin Owocki. Described by Forbes as the “Airbnb of software development,” the bounties platform was created as a way for developers to monetize their work within open-source and decentralized ecosystems. Soon after its launch, Gitcoin received funding from ConsenSys and grew in its mission to grow open-source.

At the end of 2018, the market had sharply declined, and Gitcon launched its hackathon platform in the midst of the new bear market. One of the first hackathons hosted on Gitcoin was The Ethereal Hackathon, which spotlighted a partnership with Microsoft’s blockchain group. Over $25,000 was distributed to hackathon winners. Around this same time, Gitcoin launched Grants Round 1 with success while continuing to make difficult decisions around how to build during the bear market.

In early 2021, the market started looking up, and plans were laid to turn Gitcoin into a DAO. Those plans came to life on May 25, 2021, when GTC was created and GitcoinDAO was launched — the road to decentralization was ahead.

At this point, there were two parts of Gitcoin: the DAO and Gitcoin Holdings (the centralized C-Corp). In March of 2022, a proposal was introduced to execute a transfer of assets (including the DAO Treasury timelock contract, Gitcoin IP, and public goods funding IP) from Gitcoin Holdings to the Gitcoin Foundation. The Foundation, a Cayman Foundation company, would not only be controlled by the DAO itself, but would also 1) provide limited liability to holders and 2) comply with tax requirements as a legal entity. This would pave the way for a full disaffiliation between the DAO and Gitcoin Holdings

The proposal was approved, and the disaffiliation process began. Most Gitcoin assets and IP would go to the Foundation. What stayed with Holdings? Bounties and Hackathons, along with several team members to run those products. Gitcoin Holdings briefly rebranded into web3event.co before focusing fully on its future as Supermodular.xyz.

Supermodular was born from the idea that 1+1=3, and its goal was to be a venture studio building regen web3 products.

And we did that! We built a coworker appreciation tool with hypercerts, a quadratic tipping mechanism on Lens Protocol, and a bridge for the Public Goods Network. We continued pushing out episodes of the Greenpill Podcast and we created Greenpill.network. Between July 2022 to August 2023, we built products that met our purpose of cultivating a more regenerative digital frontier.

During this period, we fully transitioned Gitcoin’s bounties and hackathons product to buidlbox.io, culminating in the successful launch at ETHDenver 2023, where we served as the tech partner for their annual Buidlathon.

At the end of August 2023, our team decided to entirely shift the focus of Supermodular to support the thriving buidlbox platform.

Here we are today! We are an agile team of buidlers, creators, and thinkers — many of whom got their start in web3 because of Gitcoin Bounties and Hackathons! As we continue to build upon buidlbox.io, our goal is for you to have the best possible hackathon experience.

If you are an organization looking to host a premier hackathon for your ecosystem and tap into our community of over 35k builders, contact us today to hear more about how we can help you meet your goals.

If you are a builder, jump into one of our upcoming hackathons or join our Discord to see exciting ways to earn, learn, and connect with others.

buidlbox has quite the history behind it! From Gitcoin to today, we’ve experienced years of innovation, building, and community. The entire history may take a while, but we think it’s important to share some of the highlights from our past and understand how it’s shaped the product as you know it today.

Gitcoin Bounties was launched in 2017 by Kevin Owocki. Described by Forbes as the “Airbnb of software development,” the bounties platform was created as a way for developers to monetize their work within open-source and decentralized ecosystems. Soon after its launch, Gitcoin received funding from ConsenSys and grew in its mission to grow open-source.

At the end of 2018, the market had sharply declined, and Gitcon launched its hackathon platform in the midst of the new bear market. One of the first hackathons hosted on Gitcoin was The Ethereal Hackathon, which spotlighted a partnership with Microsoft’s blockchain group. Over $25,000 was distributed to hackathon winners. Around this same time, Gitcoin launched Grants Round 1 with success while continuing to make difficult decisions around how to build during the bear market.

In early 2021, the market started looking up, and plans were laid to turn Gitcoin into a DAO. Those plans came to life on May 25, 2021, when GTC was created and GitcoinDAO was launched — the road to decentralization was ahead.

At this point, there were two parts of Gitcoin: the DAO and Gitcoin Holdings (the centralized C-Corp). In March of 2022, a proposal was introduced to execute a transfer of assets (including the DAO Treasury timelock contract, Gitcoin IP, and public goods funding IP) from Gitcoin Holdings to the Gitcoin Foundation. The Foundation, a Cayman Foundation company, would not only be controlled by the DAO itself, but would also 1) provide limited liability to holders and 2) comply with tax requirements as a legal entity. This would pave the way for a full disaffiliation between the DAO and Gitcoin Holdings

The proposal was approved, and the disaffiliation process began. Most Gitcoin assets and IP would go to the Foundation. What stayed with Holdings? Bounties and Hackathons, along with several team members to run those products. Gitcoin Holdings briefly rebranded into web3event.co before focusing fully on its future as Supermodular.xyz.

Supermodular was born from the idea that 1+1=3, and its goal was to be a venture studio building regen web3 products.

And we did that! We built a coworker appreciation tool with hypercerts, a quadratic tipping mechanism on Lens Protocol, and a bridge for the Public Goods Network. We continued pushing out episodes of the Greenpill Podcast and we created Greenpill.network. Between July 2022 to August 2023, we built products that met our purpose of cultivating a more regenerative digital frontier.

During this period, we fully transitioned Gitcoin’s bounties and hackathons product to buidlbox.io, culminating in the successful launch at ETHDenver 2023, where we served as the tech partner for their annual Buidlathon.

At the end of August 2023, our team decided to entirely shift the focus of Supermodular to support the thriving buidlbox platform.

Here we are today! We are an agile team of buidlers, creators, and thinkers — many of whom got their start in web3 because of Gitcoin Bounties and Hackathons! As we continue to build upon buidlbox.io, our goal is for you to have the best possible hackathon experience.

If you are an organization looking to host a premier hackathon for your ecosystem and tap into our community of over 35k builders, contact us today to hear more about how we can help you meet your goals.

If you are a builder, jump into one of our upcoming hackathons or join our Discord to see exciting ways to earn, learn, and connect with others.