Celo, a leading Layer 2 solution in the Ethereum ecosystem, runs various programs through multiple entities under the Celo umbrella. DevRel handles "proof of ship," Prezenti focuses on growth, and Celo Public Goods partners and funds initiatives through support streams, builder rewards, and "proof of impact".

For example, Karma and Celo Devs' Proof of Ship program partnered to enhance project accountability and transparency. By deploying their programs through Karma, Celo ensures that projects provide regular updates on their progress, growing trust within the community and enabling program operators to track the impact of funded projects, making better decisions on which projects to allocate prize money to, both to specific programs and through the ecosystem as a whole.

While these programs operate independently, their outcomes are intertwined. That’s where we come in. Karma aggregates and tracks their impact, funding, and project progress. Celo benefits from this birds eye view and improved operational awareness, and the projects gain an onchain activity record that can be used for funding programs in other ecosystems like GoodDollar and Optimism. 

Celo has been using Karma for the last 15 months to track projects and grants. To date, there have been 361 projects, 748 total grants, and 100 total milestones tracked through Karma. One example of a Celo project that leveraged its onchain Karma reputation for cross program funding is Stable SL, which used its success in proof-of-ship funding rounds to be included in the Good Dollar builder program. All this information is easily accessible on the community page at https://gap.karmahq.xyz/community/celo.

The Challenge

Celo funds programs across mini-applications, DeFi, stablecoins, AI agents, infrastructure, and developer tools. Before GAP, tracking these diverse projects relied on scattered updates across X, GitHub, and other platforms—with many projects providing no updates at all.

The lack of a standardized system led to inconsistent updates; some grantees posted sporadically on platforms like X or GitHub, while others didn't provide any updates at all. This lack of visibility made it difficult for the Proof of Ship program operators and its community to assess if funds were being used effectively, potentially leading to reduced accountability and effectiveness.

• Inconsistent Reporting: Grantees utilized various platforms and formats, which complicated progress tracking.

• Limited Transparency: Token holders and community members lacked a clear view of project milestones and outcomes.

• Engagement gaps: Without regular updates, it was hard to maintain community interest and support for funded initiatives.

The Solution

Celo leveraged Karma’s modular solution to address these challenges. Karma GAP provides a structured framework for grantees to create onchain project profiles and submit updates, which are then verified and displayed on a public dashboard, ensuring that grantees consistently report progress. The Proof of Ship program operators then use Karma AI to analyze the GAP results and GitHub activity to determine prize allocations in a transparent and accessible way.

• Standardized Updates: Grantees use GAP to submit regular reports, including milestones, challenges, and next steps.

• Public Dashboard: A custom dashboard hosted on Karma’s platform displays all updates, making them easily accessible to the community.

• Reputation Building: Grantees earn reputation scores based on their activity, incentivizing consistent engagement and quality reporting.

The Results

Since integrating GAP, the Proof of Ship program has seen significant improvements in grantee accountability, program efficiency and community trust:

• Increased Transparency: Over 85% of grantees now provide regular updates, compared to less than 50% before GAP.

• Enhanced Community Engagement: Token holders actively use the dashboard to monitor projects, resulting in a 40% uptick in community discussions about funded initiatives.

• Increased Activity: The number of “ghost grantees”—those who receive funding but fail to report progress—dropped by 60%, as the reputation system encourages consistent participation.

The GAP dashboard has become a vital tool for the Proof of Ship program, offering a clear, data-driven way to assess grantee performance. Grantees, in turn, benefit from increased visibility, using their reputation scores to attract further support and collaboration opportunities.

The Testimony

"Karma has transformed how we manage our program by providing a central source of truth for impact metrics across projects, ambassadors, and regional DAOs. With their tracking capabilities and real time metrics at our fingertips, we've eliminated the chaos of managing multiple spreadsheets and manual reporting overhead. This infrastructure makes impact metrics transparent throughout the ecosystem crucial for scaling our program while freeing us to focus on what matters most which is supporting the projects building on Celo." - Lena H. DevRel Lead at Celo

Conclusion

Karma transformed how Celo's Proof of Ship program operates. The program now has clear visibility into project progress, while grantees build a portable reputation they can use across the broader Celo and Ethereum ecosystems. This implementation demonstrates Karma's core value: turning fragmented grant data into actionable intelligence that improves capital allocation across Web3.