Build. Ship. Get Rewarded.
A transparent, on-chain rewards program for NEAR builders. Where activity and impact earn you real incentives.
Why Join?
Protocol Rewards isn't just financial support, it's a launchpad. Get the funding, technical support, feedback and visibility you need to transform your idea into a working product. Protocol Rewards helps NEAR builders go from prototype to pitch-ready, with incentives based on progress and impact.
Launch-Stage Rewards
Get rewarded for real traction: up to $10K/month during the program. Protocol Rewards is your first step toward bigger funding and partnerships in the NEAR ecosystem.
Expert Mentorship
Get support from NEAR's Founder Success Team. With guidance across product, legal, business, and marketing to help your project move from MVP to market-ready.
Supportive Community
Connect with builders, experts, and mentors across the NEAR ecosystem. You're not just building a project. You're joining a movement.
Featured Projects
Discover early-stage projects that started with Protocol Rewards and grew into startups, apps, and ecosystem contributors on NEAR.
Selection Process
We're looking for visionary developers ready to shape the future of decentralized AI.
Evaluation Criteria
Project Potential
60%Uniqueness, development stage, impact potential, and team strength.
Technical Skills
20%GitHub activity, code quality, tech stack expertise, and ability to ship.
Community Engagement
20%Referrals, past contributions, and consistent participation matter.
Cohort Focus
We support projects laying the groundwork for agentic protocols, distributed AI, and native coordination tools on NEAR.
AI-powered DeFi Solutions
Build secure, intelligent financial protocols
Autonomous Agent Frameworks
Create tools for agent development & deployment
AI/ML Infrastructure
Develop core infrastructure for AI on NEAR
Ready to Build the Future of AI on NEAR?
Join the next cohort of innovative developers shaping the future of decentralized AI.