CommonGround

Our platform is a Web3-powered crowdfunding infrastructure specifically designed for public goods projects, integrating cutting-edge AI-driven interactions and decentralized funding mechanisms to create a seamless and transparent ecosystem for project creators, contributors, and communities. It addresses the challenges of traditional crowdfunding by leveraging Web3 technology to ensure transparency, fairness, and efficiency while utilizing AI to enhance user experience and decision-making.

At its core, the platform enables project creators (builders) to easily set up campaigns for public goods projects, define milestones, and transparently manage funds through smart contracts. These projects can range from environmental conservation and education to health initiatives and community infrastructure. Creators can also use AI tools to generate project descriptions, design incentives for contributors, and optimize their proposals for higher chances of success. Milestones and funding are tied to transparent proof-of-progress submissions, with funds released incrementally upon community approval.

For contributors/donors, the platform simplifies the process of finding and supporting projects that align with their values or interests. Users can interact with an AI assistant to get personalized project recommendations by simply stating their intentions, such as donating funds, contributing skills, or exploring trends in public goods. Each contribution unlocks defined perks, including NFT-based rights or rewards that serve as transparent, immutable proof of their support and can be utilized for voting or community participation.

A unique aspect of the platform is its focus on community governance and transparency. A decentralized voting mechanism allows contributors to collectively decide on milestone approvals or funding reallocations. This ensures that projects remain accountable and that funds are used effectively. If a project faces challenges or disputes, the community can participate in decisions on whether to freeze, continue, or reallocate funds.

To further enhance trust and engagement, the platform utilizes AI-driven insights for critical aspects like:

• Project scoring based on public goods criteria, giving contributors a clear understanding of the project’s potential impact and risks.
• Analyzing milestone proof materials to assist in community decision-making with comprehensive summaries.
• Identifying emerging trends and opportunities within the public goods domain, helping both creators and contributors stay ahead.

For Web2 users, the platform offers a low barrier of entry by providing an easy registration process (via email) and the option to create a platform wallet when needed. Web3-savvy users can connect their crypto wallets directly and leverage decentralized tools. Regardless of their technical knowledge, users can seamlessly participate, ensuring inclusivity and accessibility.

The platform also functions as a DAO-enabling tool, making it an ideal choice for communities that wish to manage collective funding pools, drive decentralized decision-making, and reward participation. This dual-purpose infrastructure supports both individual projects and larger-scale community initiatives.

In summary, our platform empowers public goods projects by combining the power of AI for user-centric personalization and decision-making with the transparency and decentralization of Web3 technology. It fosters a vibrant ecosystem where contributors, creators, and communities collaborate to drive meaningful, sustainable impact. Whether you’re donating, offering skills, or seeking funding for your vision, the platform simplifies the journey while ensuring transparency, trust, and community-driven governance.

CommonGround was built as a decentralized crowdfunding platform designed to support public goods, combining Web2 usability with Web3 infrastructure and AI-powered features. The platform leverages several cutting-edge technologies to create a trustless, user-friendly experience. At its core, it uses the Polygon POS blockchain to ensure secure and scalable transactions. The Phala Network provides a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) for running AI agents that evaluate project milestones, enabling automated and transparent verification.

For the user experience, CommonGround integrates NounsDAO art into its frontend for a visually engaging interface. The upcoming Sign Protocol will serve as an attestation system for perks and achievements, ensuring transparent tracking of contributors' rights and obligations. To further enhance user convenience, the platform plans to adopt Celo as a secondary EVM-compatible chain for user-centric operations and Biconomy for gasless transactions and smart session keys, enabling seamless AI-powered actions without the friction of gas fees.

The platform operates through three key roles: contributors, initiators, and evaluators. Contributors fund projects and receive perks tied to the success of public goods. Initiators create projects with the help of AI agents, define milestones and perks, and manage progress, with funding released only upon milestone achievement. Evaluators stake tokens to verify milestones, operate AI agents within the TEE, and earn rewards while being subject to slashing for malicious behavior.

To ensure trustless operations, CommonGround employs attestation-based validation, where milestones and perks are represented as on-chain attestations. This system allows funding pools to automatically release funds once milestones are verified. Community governance mechanisms like quadratic voting, retroactive funding, and holographic consensus address disputes, fostering a collaborative ecosystem.

The development process involved some creative problem-solving. For example, integrating AI-native features required bridging Web2 and Web3 components seamlessly. Building the TEE-based milestone evaluation system was particularly challenging but essential to maintaining transparency and trust. Leveraging partnerships with platforms like Phala Network and exploring integrations with tools like Biconomy and Celo have significantly enhanced the platform's capabilities, enabling it to achieve its vision of making public goods crowdfunding accessible to all.