Gov/en/Portal:R&D/Innovations:Need-Driven Funding

💡 In simple words: The Need-Driven Funding is a tool that keeps money flowing in a steady, fair way. It smooths out the ups and downs so the platform always has enough support to keep going, like a savings jar that balances good months and slow months.

🎯 In 20 seconds (scientific summary): Need-Driven Funding acts as a reward ratio regulation: a second algorithm, separate from the bonding curve, that adjusts rewards to the real needs of the platform. When needs are low, the corresponding share would feed a provision fund intended to be managed by the Ynternet.org Foundation; when needs are high, the reward would be higher. The funding starts at zero or in negative territory (founders invest before the call for funding), measured by the funding cost ratio. Non-speculative, donation-based, transparent.

Need-Driven Funding

Innovation, WikiDeal R&D. Formerly known as Boost, Balanced Boost or Funding Stabilizer: those names are deprecated.

Type	Second algorithm
Separate from	Bonding Curve
Purpose	Reward ratio regulation
Cap	None, continuous curve
Driver	Funding cost ratio (funding vs. real needs)
Speculation	❌ None, at-cost, donation-based
See also	Rewards · Karma tokens

What is it?

Need-Driven Funding is a second algorithm, entirely separate from the bonding curve, that acts as a reward ratio regulation: the "decider" of the reward. It regulates the ratio between Rewards and community pool contributions based on the real needs of the platform. It is intended to be non-speculative, transparent, and designed to reflect actual funding dynamics rather than market forces.

• When needs are low, the corresponding share would feed a provision fund intended to be managed by the Ynternet.org Foundation, for the future of WikiDeal.
• When needs are high, the reward would be higher.

The mechanism is not about maximizing returns: it is about aligning Credit distribution with what the platform actually needs at each stage of growth.

Starting at zero or in negative territory

A key point: the funding starts at zero or in negative territory, because investments by the founders take place before the call for funding. This is what makes the beginning very attractive. The key variable is the funding cost ratio: how much has already been spent when the first call is launched.

Donors and potential donors would receive notices (suggesting a complementary donation, or informing their network) and would see a reward that theoretically decreases over time, though not necessarily continuously: the private reward for donors decreases while the share for R&D and provisioning grows with revenue.

An illustrative example

The variables matter more than the figures: all figures below are placeholders, and contributions remain non-speculative donations.

• About CHF 100,000 invested before the call for funding, plus about CHF 12,000 per month of operating costs (salaries, servers, steering committee meetings).
• After 6 months: CHF 100,000 + 6 x 12,000 = CHF 172,000 raised would bring the need percentage below 100 percent.
• After 12 months: CHF 244,000 raised would mean the initial CHF 100,000 reimbursed and 12 months of costs covered.
• The variables are the monthly amount (here 12,000) and the number of months of security wanted (typically 3): CHF 100,000 + 15 x 12,000 = CHF 280,000.
• On a funding curve going from x100 down to x30: a first round of CHF 200,000 (out of a CHF 1,000,000 target) at x100, then a decrease. At CHF 280,000 raised, the CHF 80,000 above 200,000 would average about x85, and the difference between x85 and x30 would benefit the provision fund of the Ynternet.org Foundation.

How it works

The mechanism continuously adjusts the split between:

• Personal Credits (Rewards, P2): held in individual accounts, potentially convertible to CHF.
• Community pool: funding User Groups, shared infrastructure, collective projects (including Karma tokens for services).

The ratio changes based on the platform's funding cost ratio. This is a continuous curve: there is no fixed cap, no sudden thresholds, no arbitrary percentages. The intended sequence: in early stages, more Credits flow to the community pool (the platform needs community engagement first); as the platform grows and subscription revenue rises, more Credits flow to personal accounts, so funders who waited are progressively rewarded.

Principles

• Non-speculative: the ratio changes based on real needs, not market sentiment.
• Transparent: the formula is intended to be published, auditable, and subject to Open Call review.
• At-cost: no extraction beyond what the platform needs to operate.
• Community-first: community utility is built before personal returns are maximized.

Relationship to other mechanisms

Need-Driven Funding is a companion to the bonding curve, not part of it:

• Bonding curve → determines total Credits generated per CHF.
• Need-Driven Funding → determines how those Credits are split (Rewards vs. community).
• Subscription model → provides the revenue that would make Rewards convertible.

The combination of the bonding curve and Need-Driven Funding creates a self-regulation that makes Exit to Community much less speculative: based only on real flows and real needs.

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See also: Bonding Curve · Rewards · Karma tokens · Subscription Model · All innovations · Open Calls