Ecosystem support programs delivered strong results in 2024.

But first, what exactly do we mean by ecosystem support? These are programs of various types—including technical assistance, education, marketing, networking, fundraising, and listing support—delivered by TON Foundation, its affiliated institutions, partners, and other ecosystem players. They span both 1-to-1 and 1-to-many formats, and are designed to meet the needs of projects at every stage of their lifecycle, from early development to growth and scaling.

Here are some key milestones from 2024:

• Growth from 150 to 350+ teams, including an increase from fewer than 10 to over 50 DeFi protocols—a 500%+ jump (Defillama)
• 40 to 140+ incoming monthly grant applications, with over $1.5M distributed to grantees
• 2 major hackathons, each with 1,000+ applications and 60+ finalists combined
• Over $26M in toncoin distributed through The Open League, our flagship incentive program
• 120+ teams featured on official TON social media
• 60+ teams received Telegram Ads marketing grants
• 9 teams received smart contract audit support (audits by Trail of Bits, Zellic, Quantstamp)

Thanks to close collaboration with project founders and their teams, and the lessons learned throughout 2024, we’ve now established a more structured and targeted approach to supporting teams building on TON.

Introducing the new approach

Our approach to ecosystem support is evolving. In 2025, we're making it more structured, transparent, and tailored to each vertical.

We’ve identified 5 key verticals for 2025: Payments, Simplified DeFi, GameFi, Telegram In-App Economy (Telegram gifts, stickers, usernames), and AI. These are the categories of apps that, in our view, can drive the most growth and adoption in the TON ecosystem. This means we'll be putting the majority of our efforts into supporting teams building in these areas.

Projects building outside of these verticals are still fully eligible for ecosystem support.

To make the application process more streamlined and accessible, we’ve restructured the entire flow:

1. All projects—new and existing—will now register on the TON Builders Portal (eco.ton.org).

2. Once registered, projects can submit applications to request specific types of support directly through the platform. Based on our experience assisting ecosystem teams, we’ve refined the support programs to better match real project needs.

3. The Ecosystem Support Team will match applications with the most relevant support and prioritize them based on:

   • a) Project stage (e.g. building, growing, scaling)
   • b) Project tier (as assessed through our scoring framework)

   For example, a project that has launched a full product and gained traction would fall under the Growth stage, making it eligible for different forms of marketing support.

4. Projects assessed as higher-tier will receive priority processing and access to more personalised support.

5. Teams that previously received grants, marketing assistance, or other forms of support are also encouraged to register on the TON Builders Portal to continue benefiting from ecosystem programs. As a general rule, access to all programs will now be available only to registered projects.

Note: The capacity of the Ecosystem Support Team and Vertical Leads to provide frequent 1-on-1 support via Telegram chats is limited. With the new tier-based approach, responses and attention will be distributed more intentionally, based on each project’s assessed tier.

Support at different stages of the project lifecycle

We've identified three core stages in a project’s journey in the ecosystem: building, growing, and scaling. Projects at later stages are always welcome to explore programs designed for earlier phases, depending on their needs.

1. Building (idea or early MVP)

• TON Nest: Educational and networking program for early-stage teams
• Technical & product support: Docs, guides, chats
• TON Hubs: Onboarding support
• TON Community Calls: Open online sessions with TON Foundation’s Vertical Leads who will share updates and answer questions from builders

2. Growing (post-MVP and growing traction)

• Marketing: Official channel exposure, Telegram Apps Center listing and featuring, promotion on Hubs’ social media, KOL campaigns via TON Circle Bot (requires project budget)
• Networking & partner services: TON Fam chat, TON partner offers

3. Scaling (strong traction and PMF)

• Fundraising: TON Demo Days, TON VC Club
• Help with listings: On CEXs, CoinMarketCap, and CoinGecko
• Telegram-related support: Official verification, help with Fragment-related issues

Scoring system and projects tiers

To increase the effectiveness of ecosystem support and establish a transparent prioritization model, we're introducing an internal tier-based scoring system.

What are tiers?

Tiers are an internal classification system used to assess projects and prioritize ecosystem support based on a set of parameters.

Projects are categorized into two general tiers:

• Champions: Key drivers of the ecosystem that will receive high-touch, mentorship from Vertical Leads (DeFi, GameFi, Payments, etc) and personalized support from Ecosystem Project Managers. Champions also gain exclusive access to programs such as grants, top-level marketing, and custom access to all other ecosystem support programs listed on builders.ton.org.

• Emerging projects: Teams that have not yet reached “champion” level show strong potential will still have access to a wide range of support programs on TON Builders Portal, with varying levels of priority. Due to the limited capacity of the Ecosystem Support Team and Vertical Leads, prioritization is necessary, but our goal remains to guide and support as many teams as possible.

  Tier	Description	Available Support Programs
  Champion	High-impact new and existing teams which drive focus verticals	- Mentorship from Vertical Leads (product, GTM, etc) and account management by Ecosystem Support team - Top-level marketing support - Grants (development, audits, traffic, user rewards) - Custom access to all ecosystem support programs
  Emerging Project	Wide funnel of teams aiming to achieve product-market fit, with different levels of traction and adoption	- Support from Vertical Leads is prioritized based on internal advanced scoring and overall team capacity - General access to ecosystem support programs depending on stage and other scoring parameters

The scoring model follows a methodology similar to those used by VCs and accelerators. Projects are assessed across several key dimensions: vertical fit, ecosystem alignment and impact, team experience, funding and revenue, product quality, and traction.

Tiers are assigned based on this framework and reviewed quarterly to reflect evolving progress and context. The full, internal tiering system is more granular and advanced, incorporating additional distinctions and levels that are not publicly disclosed.

A project's tier affectes the scope, speed, and level of personalization in the support provided. In some cases, Vertical Leads may choose to inform Champions of their status.

Evaluation criteria

General (applies to all verticals)

DeFi

GameFi

Payments

Final word

With this new, more transparent and structured approach, we aim to deliver higher-quality support and help projects achieve tangible, long-term success within the TON ecosystem.

We invite all projects—both new and existing—to register on eco.ton.org and explore the opportunities that best match their current stage and goals.

We also welcome your feedback. Our upcoming quarterly Ecosystem Support Satisfaction Survey will be an important part of our commitment to listening, improving, and growing with you.

Let’s continue putting crypto in every pocket—with renewed clarity, structure, and purpose.