Abstract: A Social Media for Creators and Investors
Steelo is a pioneering Web3 social media marketplace that empowers creators by directly tokenizing themselves, fostering vibrant communities of investors, and revolutionizing how they monetize their work. By leveraging blockchain technology, Steelo eliminates traditional intermediaries, allowing for direct relationships between creators and their audiences. This initiative aims to drive forward a new paradigm in social media where creativity, community, and economic empowerment intersect.
Aligned strategy: Which pre-approved strategy is this initiative driving forward?
Strategy 3: Increase awareness of Safe Ecosystem
This initiative drives forward the strategy of creating a decentralized and economically empowering social media platform, directly aligned with Steelo’s mission to establish a space where creators and their communities thrive symbiotically. By focusing on decentralized governance, intuitive onboarding processes, and community-driven improvement protocols, Steelo fosters an environment conducive to Safe{core} innovation and user engagement.
Funding request: What resources are being requested from SafeDAO in USDC?
$50,000 USDC
If applicable, upfront funding: Indicate if upfront funding is needed. Refer to 'Payout’ under Get funding from SafeDAO for lump sum payment options.
Not applicable, requesting more than the $10,000 threshold for upfront funding.
Relation to budget: State the requested funding as a percentage of the total initiative budget (e.g. if you ask for 50k for Strategy 1: 25%)
50% of the remaining $100,000 in the Strategy 2’s budget.
Metrics and KPIs: Which metrics and KPIs will the initiative be measured against?
- Successful deployment of Steelo Protocol on Polygon zkEVM mainnet with no critical vulnerabilities.
- 99.9% uptime throughout the 6-12 month long Open Beta phase.
- Achievement of 50,000 monthly active users (MUA) by end of year one post-launch.
- Onboarding of 1,000 new creators with a 75% retention rate after six months.
- 10,000 pieces of content uploaded, with 35% being collaborative works.
- $10 million in trading volume and 500,000 transactions with an average transaction value of $50.
- 50 user-generated Steelo Improvement Proposals (SIPs) submitted, with 30 approved.
- 1 million engagements on Steelo content with positive sentiment trends.
Initiative description: What is the initiative about?
Steelo’s initiative is to launch an Open Beta of its Web3 social media marketplace. This mobile dApp enables creators to tokenize their brand, offering fans ownership stakes in their success and fostering direct creator-fan relationships. Key features include the Bazaar for trading creator tokens, the Mosaic content feed for personalized discovery, and the Village for encrypted community interactions. Steelo integrates advanced blockchain technologies to ensure secure and scalable transactions. Safe{core} AA SDK is leveraged throughout Steelo’s user experience to offer frictionless onboarding, self-custody and account-abstracted MultiSig security.
Current status: Does the offering (product/service) already exist or is the funding used to create it?
The platform is in the development stage, with initial testing conducted on Polygon Sepolia and zkEVM Cardona. The funding will be used to finalize development and deploy the user-ready version of the app on the testnet (alpha) and mainnet (beta).
Risks: What risks does the initiative entail?
- Technological risks related to blockchain integration and platform stability.
- Market risks associated with user adoption, engagement and lack of education.
- Regulatory risks concerning compliance with blockchain and data regulations.
Timeline and milestones: Provide a detailed timeline or roadmap, include key milestones
- August 2024: Deploying Safe{core} SDK integration with Steelo’s Polygon CDK-powered EIP2535 Diamond Standard on Ethereum Sepolia (using Gelato as our RaaS).
- Sept-Oct. 2024: Capturing user feedback during Closed Alpha testing (UI/UX-facing, with special focus on web2-user frustrations).
- Oct-Dec. 2024: Developing “Gallery”, Steelo’s intuitive wallet:
– 50% of the desired “frictionless Web2 user-onboarding” experience
– Safe Onramp x Plaid for simplified deposits/withdrawals
– Safe to Flutter integration via WalletConnect and Web3Dart
– OpenZeppeling Auditing of all Safe integrations with EIP2535 and Polygon zkEVM - January 2025: L2 Mainnet deployment of the Safe-powered “Gallery”.
- 2025: Onboarding of creators and users, marketing campaigns.
- H2’2025: Achievement of user and creator engagement milestones
- January 2026: First Multi-Sig-powered Steelo Improvement Proposal (SIP) governance vote:
– 3 groups of votes: Steelo, Creators, Investors
– Group approval determined by member majority (e.g., 560 out of 1,000 creators vote “yes”)
– Vote initiating group gets double vote, winning requires 3 out of 4 approvals (e.g., if a vote is initiated by Investors; either Steelo or Creators have to agree for the SIP to be approved)
– 100% of the desired “frictionless Web2 user-onboarding” experience
Initiative lead: Who is the accountable initiative lead? (individual or organization)
Edmund Berkmann, Founder/CEO of Steelo Labs Ltd. | edmund.berkmann@steelo.io
Team: How many individuals in total will be working on this initiative and what role do they have? Please provide a brief background of the team members, highlighting their relevant experience and expertise
Edmund Berkmann , Founder & CEO - BSc Business & Mgmt, MSc Entrepreneurship - Previously a Game Dev Studio Founder, Music Producer & Data Analyst
Ravi Chandarana , Co-Founder & COO - BSc Economics & Finance, MSc Entrepreneurship - Previously a Jewlery Brand Founder, Music Manager & Operations Manager
Ezra Yeneneh , Head of Blockchain - BSc Software Engineering - Previously specialised in Web3 and dApp development, with full-stack, cloud and react native skills.
Malcolm James , Head of Front-End - BSc Computer Science - Previously specialised in Scaling, UX, and Tech Stack solutions, notably at Vanguard.
Additional support/resources: Are there any resources (non-financial) requested from the Safe Ecosystem Foundation or the core contributors?
Non-financial resources requested include strategic partnerships with blockchain technology providers and access to developer tools for continuous platform improvement.
Implementation dependencies: Does the implementation of this initiative require any prior changes in the current governance processes, e.g., updates to the governance framework, or have any other dependency? If yes, please specify these. Note that the funding of the initiative will be dependent on the approval and (if needed) successful implementation of such necessary governance modifications or any other dependency.
N/A – Steelo’s Application aligns with Safe’s existing Treasury use policies as well as the guidelines associated with the Aligned Strategy #2 for Fostering Module Ecosystem.
More information about Steelo on our Website and Pitch Deck.
Thank you for reading!
Edmund