Year in a Review - 2023

Congratulations on yet another round trip around the Sun! Though a round trip, this year has been a roller coaster with many ups and downs.

In this blog, let us go back in time and recall everything we did — things we accomplished, milestones we achieved, goals we hit, and everything in between.

Empowering Ecosystems with Synergy 💫

At the core of our 2023 expedition lies Synergy, a testament to the power of collaborative curation. We launched Synergy in Q3 2023. We put our efforts, passion, and countless hours into developing something that fosters collaboration and embodies our commitment to community curation.

Synergy brings your community closer to your ecosystem. It gives a simple yet powerful solution to seamlessly curate your ecosystem without compromising. The community feels more connected to the ecosystem, and ecosystem portals become more powerful than just a showcase; it becomes the Town Square for your ecosystem & the community to connect.

We are immensely proud of what we are building and consider it the shiniest jewel of our crown.

Opening new doors for developers 👨‍💻

We launched our APIs in October and have shared API access with a small set of builders and projects, and we're doing great so far! The developer APIs enable you to access data of projects listed on our platform. There are several ways you can use the data: building apps, integrations, and doing research, to name a few.

To give you an idea, Outposts is using the API to showcase newly listed projects in their Outposts digest.

Everything we shipped — in a nutshell 🚀

Along with two new products, Synergy and APIs, we improved our main platform significantly.

Let's recap the major changes we added to the platform this year.

1. Simplified project listing process: We eliminated the waiting period and top-five cap restriction in the listing process. Now, it's easier for projects from diverse backgrounds and stages with community support to get listed.
2. Inclusive curation process: A facelift aligning seamlessly with the platform's evolution. We introduced a new and simpler way to curate projects on our platform. Now, you can curate projects with XP and curate pass along with the existing way of holding certain tokens.
3. Enabled ecosystems:
   - Chains: This year, we enabled 44 new chains in total. Contributors can propose, list, and explore projects from chains like Avalanche, Reef, BNB, Gnosis, zkSync, etc.
   - Infrastructures: Furthermore, we recently added support for infrastructure ecosystems. Currently, we have Farcaster, Lens, Squid, Biconomy, and Goldsky live on our platform.
4. Redesigned curate page: To facilitate all the new changes with the listing and curation process, the addition of several chains, and new support for infra, we redesigned our curate page as well. Now, you can filter not-listed projects by chains and proposal types and sort effortlessly for precision curation.
5. Embeds: The Project's chances to get listed increase with community support. Hence, we provided a way to add a badge on your project's websites to increase the visibility of the proposal.
6. Accolades: We started rewarding our top projects with Accolades, an award to celebrate the best of the best.
7. Integrated unstoppable domains: We believe DIDs are a great way to build your on-chain social profile. Keeping that in focus, we enabled Unstoppable Domains along with ENS.
8. Added Web3 social platforms: We added support for three major Web3 protocols — Farcaster, Mirror, and Lens. Now, you can add your Web3 social links to your profile & mention the project's profile while listing them.
9. Showcasing our contributors: To celebrate the top contributors of the platform, we dedicated a separate section on the homepage. The Curator Spotlight section shows the top 50 contributors on the platform.

Launching dreams with Launchpad 🔥

Throughout 2023, we launched eight projects via Launchpad. DeFrag DAO, SafeTransfer, CopperX, and many other projects emerged as the stars of our Launchpad constellation. Each project added a unique hue to the canvas of possibilities, echoing the spirit of innovation that defines Web3.

See Launchpad projects

Community events 🤝

The essence of community is not just in shared achievements but also in shared moments. The Breakfast with Builders events in Tokyo and Dubai, the Builders Connect, and the launch of Guild pins became threads that wove us together. The warmth of these gatherings echoed across the globe, bringing us closer to the heart of Web3.

The exponential growth 📈

And now to our favourite part. This year, we have seen magical growth in all aspects of our platform. Whether it may be projects or contributors, we have skyrocketed in numbers.

• Project proposed: From 648 in December 2022 to 1,246 in December 2023 - A remarkable 92% increase.
• Project Listed: 586 to 861 - A 46% surge in possibilities explored
• Proposers: 78 to 178 - Expanded by 123%
• Voters: From just 137 to 15.8k - A staggering 11,372% increase in community engagement
• Explorers: 1.1k to 22k - An awe-inspiring growth of over 1,855%
• Total Votes: From 3k to ~41k - A staggering surge in community participation
• Total Likes: From 2.6k to 10.8k - Hearts that beat for Web3

In unveiling these numbers and illuminating our journey, we celebrate the remarkable growth and engagement within our community, a testament to the vibrant and dynamic nature of Web3.

Last but not least... 😄

Finally, we want to express our gratitude toward everyone who contributed to the platform in all possible ways.

We would love to mention the top 5 contributors who contributed so much to the platform this year:

1. Sidharth
2. Kolya2803
3. Dabar90
4. haciyatmaz
5. Sixoutofnine

Also, we can't overlook projects. We connected with many amazing projects, working on something innovative and helpful. Here we are mentioning top performing & community favourite projects:

1. Syncswap
2. Goal3
3. 1w3
4. Juicecrowd
5. Outpost

Whatever we do is incomplete without your support. Only your support gives us the fuel needed to work relentlessly. Thank you! Keep curating the future of the decentralized web.

To the new beginnings 🥂

As we approach the dawn of a new year, the prospect of joy, innovation, and meaningful contribution fills us with eager anticipation. The coming year promises fresh opportunities to build and invest, bringing forth moments of community curation.

We are genuinely excited for what lies ahead as the collective energy of our community continues to drive us towards innovative solutions. With each passing day, we look forward to contributing to a future where collaboration knows no bounds and the possibilities for positive change are limitless.

Until then, happy holidays! 🎅