Programs
The Sovereign Tech Fund is currently active in three program areas: general funding for open source digital infrastructure, the Bug Resilience Program, and the Contribute Back Challenges
General Investments
The open source ecosystem, while incredibly successful, is also increasingly fragile. Many more people are using the software than contributing to it. It is time to invest in digital commons, volunteer communities and the open source ecosystem to build the digital world we want to see. We are working to strengthen the self-determined use of digital technologies and systems by individuals, industry, and governments.
To prepare an application, we ask that you review and consider all information regarding the selection criteria and the subsequent process. Applications are accepted exclusively through our application platform.
Bug Resilience Program
The Bug Resilience Program proactively increases the resilience of open source software infrastructure and empower small and medium-sized open source projects. The goal is to lower their risk of harboring bugs and improve their capacity to respond to bugs as they are discovered. The program provides services to OSS projects, such as helping projects deal with technical debt, working on known security issues, performing code security audits to reduce high-risk vulnerabilities, as well as offering a bug & fix bounty platform to discover, responsibly report, and fix bugs.
Fellowship for Maintainers
We are investing directly in the people behind the code by paying maintainers of critical open source components for their work. It aims to address structural issues in the open source ecosystem and support open digital infrastructure in the public interest.
We are using an iterative approach and starting with a pilot program in 2024. We are now accepting applications through 20 October 2024 and will notify selected maintainers in late November 2024. The fellowship will begin by the end of 2024 or early 2025.
Contribute Back Challenges
It’s time to give back and invest in the open source ecosystem, to increase its security and sustainability, and to collectively shape the digital world we want.
Challenge participants can work on contributing back to open source for up to eight months, with a budget of up to €300,000 for each four-month round.
The deadline to apply for the Contribute Back Challenges was July 6, 2023.