Creating a Funding Round
This guide covers the Octant voting app at epoch.octant.app, where admins create funding rounds and users distribute funding. It is separate from octant.app, where users lock tokens and manage rewards.
Creating a round sets up and publishes a new funding round in the Octant voting app. A round defines which projects can receive funding, how large the matching pool is, when each phase happens, and how voters can fund their votes. A guided six-step wizard walks you through these settings, followed by a final review and on-chain publishing.
Round creation is available only to admins. The Octant team assigns admin privileges per request. The + New round button is visible only to admin users.
Before You Begin
- Make sure eligible projects have applied for Octant funding through Atlas. You select the round's projects from these applicants. See Applying for Octant v2 Funding via Atlas.
- Hold enough WETH in the connected wallet to fund the matching pool, plus ETH for gas. The pool transfers from your wallet when you publish.
Currently, only one round can run in the Octant voting app at a time. If a round is already live, you can prepare a new round, but you cannot publish it until the active round ends.
Start a New Round
- Go to epoch.octant.app and connect your admin wallet.
- On the Funding Rounds page, select + New round.
This opens the round creation wizard. A step indicator, such as Step 1 of 6, and Back and Continue controls appear at the bottom of each step.
Step 1: Name and Describe the Round
On the What's this round called? step, enter the details voters see on the round detail page:
- Name (up to 80 characters): The round's title.
- One-line summary (up to 120 characters): Appears in the round header.
- Description (up to 800 characters): Explains the background, scope, and organizer. Plain-text line breaks are preserved, and the full text appears in the round details section.
Select Continue.
Step 2: Select Projects
On the Which projects? step, choose which applicants are included in the round. All eligible projects that applied through Atlas start selected.
- Select a project to remove it from the round; select it again to add it back.
- Select a project's name to read more about it.
- Use the search box and category filters to find projects.
- Use the checkbox at the top of the list to select or deselect all projects.
You must keep at least two projects selected. Select Continue.
Step 3: Review How Voting Works
The How does voting work? step explains the round's matching mechanism. The round uses quadratic matching: broad support from many voters amplifies a project more than a few large contributions.
Review the explanation, then select Continue. For more detail, use the See how quadratic funding works link.
Step 4: Set the Matching Pool
On the How much funding? step, set the size of the matching pool:
- Enter the Pool amount in WETH, or use a quick-select preset.
- Review the average amount per project before quadratic matching and the connected wallet's WETH balance.
- If the amount exceeds the wallet balance, the app shows how much the wallet is short by. When the wallet covers the amount, it shows Wallet covers this round.
The pool transfers to the registry contract when you publish, and an approval is required at that time. Select Continue.
Step 5: Schedule the Round
On the When does it run? step, set the deadline for each phase. The contract derives phase durations from these dates. You can use a duration preset or set each date manually:
- Voting opens: The first moment voters can submit ballots.
- Voting closes: No more votes are accepted. The minimum voting window is one hour.
- Results published by: The time budget for the prover to generate results.
- Payouts available: The earliest time projects can claim, at least one hour after results.
A timeline bar summarizes the resulting Voting, Tally, and Wait durations. Select Continue.
Step 6: Configure Voter Funding Paths
On the How can voters fund their votes? step, choose which funding paths are open to voters. Both paths feed the round, but they use different sources:
- Accrued rewards (1:1): Voters contribute unclaimed WETH rewards accrued through a supported Octant token lock. No swap or burn occurs; the full amount becomes voting power.
- Direct funding with token burn (2:1): Voters pay WETH directly. Half becomes voting power; the other half is swapped to the selected burn token and sent to a burn address. This path allows users without a prior token lock to participate.
Choose the burn token, enable one or both paths, then select Review.
Final Review
The Ready to publish screen lets you check the round before publishing. It includes a preview of the voter view, the round summary, and the transactions you will sign:
- Approve registry: An ERC-20 approval that lets the registry pull the matching pool.
- Create round: Writes the round metadata and project payees on-chain. The matching pool transfers in this step.
- Open round: Sets the on-chain status to OPEN at the scheduled opening time.
- Authorize sequencer: Grants the sequencer permission to flush vote blobs for the round.
Publishing is largely irreversible. The matching pool transfers during the Create round transaction, and the project list, mechanism, and pool size are locked after publication. The description and cover image remain editable.
Simulate the Round (Required)
Before publishing, select Simulate. This runs a Tenderly simulation that previews the full transaction bundle, including per-transaction gas, any revert reason, and a trace link, before anything is broadcast.
Simulation is required. It must pass before you can publish successfully.
Sign and Publish
When the simulation passes, select Sign & publish and complete the wallet confirmations. The app lists every transaction and approval in order.
Once published, the round opens at the scheduled time and the matching pool transfers to the registry. The round is then available at epoch.octant.app/rounds/<round hash>.
For the participant workflow, see Participating in a Funding Round.