The Avalanche Foundation is committed to driving innovation and accelerating ecosystem growth. As part of that mission, the Foundation launched Retro9000 - a retroactive grant program designed to support builders making meaningful contributions to Avalanche Layer 1s and infrastructure.

This blog post provides a comprehensive update on the program’s progress and what’s coming next.

What Is Retro9000?

Retro9000 is an ongoing retroactive grant initiative offering up to $40 million in funding. The program's first round was designed to reward builders who are actively launching Avalanche L1s or developing critical infrastructure and tooling to support the network. This funding pool includes $2 million allocated to referral rewards for community members who help onboard high-impact projects.

Since launching in November 2024, Retro9000 has seen 195 projects join the program, with the first round receiving more than 1.3 million unique voters casting nearly 10 billion votes.

First Grants Issued

The first project snapshot was taken in April 2025, marking the end of the program’s initial six-month period. This allowed participating teams to go live on Avalanche mainnet and begin demonstrating onchain impact.

In June 2025, following a structured review process, the Avalanche Foundation awarded over $1 million in grants to 19 projects, selected based on their traction, technical delivery, and value to the ecosystem.

July 2025 Snapshot

The most recent quarterly snapshot took place on July 15, 2025, capturing the current status of all participating Retro9000 projects. The Avalanche Foundation is now reviewing project dashboards to determine which teams meet the eligibility criteria for funding consideration.

Projects are encouraged to ensure their dashboards are fully updated to maximize their chances of selection. The next snapshot is scheduled for October 14, 2025 at 12:00 PM UTC.

How Referral Rewards Work

Retro9000 empowers the Avalanche community to grow the ecosystem by referring strong projects into the program, with up to $2m in funding available. 

In the most recent round, over $15,000 in AVAX was distributed across 40 community referrers.

Here’s how the referral program works:

• Earn $100 in AVAX when a referred project is accepted into the Retro9000 program.

• Earn between $500 and $10,000 in AVAX if the referred project is awarded a grant.

In the first snapshot, 19 projects received funding, but only 5 of them were referred by the community—representing nearly $50,000 in referral rewards that went unclaimed.

To start referring:

1. Connect your wallet: retro9000.avax.network

2. Submit your contact details

3. Receive your referral code and link

4. Share with builders

Retro9000 values quality over quantity: the more impactful your referral, the higher your reward.

Looking Ahead: What’s Next for Retro9000

The current round continues to focus on scaling Avalanche L1s and strengthening core infrastructure. These areas remain essential to Avalanche’s long-term growth.

Details of the next Retro9000 round will be announced soon, with the core mission the same: rewarding builders delivering real onchain value.

Stay tuned for upcoming announcements and prepare to take part in the next phase of Retro9000 funding.

Building The Future of Avalanche - Together

Retro9000 is a foundational initiative from the Avalanche Foundation that recognizes and rewards meaningful contributions to the network. Whether you’re shipping a new L1, building essential tools, or referring top-tier teams, Retro9000 offers significant opportunities to get involved—and be rewarded.

Explore the program: retro9000.avax.network

About the Avalanche Foundation

The Avalanche Foundation is a non-profit entity that fosters the advancement and growth of the Avalanche platform for the world. The Foundation offers development programs for developers, entrepreneurs, and users to help turbocharge the advancement of the Avalanche ecosystem.

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