Kevin Owocki, co-founder and former CEO of Gitcoin, is unveiling his latest venture, Supermodular, at ETHDenver, a Web3 hackathon and conference. Supermodular is a venture studio for regenerative Web3 projects, with a focus on regenerative finance (ReFi). This article explores Supermodular, ReFi, and how they differ from traditional finance.
Regenerative Finance
Regenerative finance, or ReFi, is a movement within decentralized finance (DeFi) that aims to leverage its benefits while upending its exploitative properties. ReFi is about creating an economy that supports the long-term health of society and the environment. This approach is different from traditional finance, which focuses on short-term profits for shareholders.
ReFi is still in its early stages, and there is no hard-and-fast definition of what it entails. It is a vibe, a feeling, a way of doing things. It pulls in environmentally conscious people as well as those who don’t view finance as a zero-sum game. ReFi aims to create an economy that benefits everyone, not just the wealthy few.
Supermodular
Supermodular is a venture studio for regenerative Web3 projects. It is designed to simultaneously help developers advance Web3 technology while “protecting critical resources and global public goods.” Supermodular picks up where Gitcoin Holdings left off. Gitcoin, now a DAO governed by token holders, left behind an actual business, Gitcoin Holdings, which is now being renamed Supermodular.
Supermodular’s ultimate mission is to incubate public goods projects. Public goods are things that don’t generate financial profit but that societies recognize as beneficial. Examples of public goods include public parks and libraries. In Web3, public goods are just as essential. Ethereum itself is a public good, as are the (usually) free testnets that developers use to simulate their ideas.
While Gitcoin continues to focus on grants, Supermodular will pursue a different track. Supermodular aims to scale a model of public funding and design a constant stream of revenue by rewarding projects on the positive impact they have created. One such project is Hypercerts, a funding model designed to generate recurring income for public goods projects, away from grants.
Supermodular is also incubating Owocki’s own buidlbox, which is an app for spinning up hackathons, as well as the Gitcoin Grants Stack, a tool for grant managers.
Relationship with Gitcoin
Supermodular and Gitcoin maintain a friendly but “arms-length” relationship. Kevin Owocki fully stepped away from Gitcoin in 2022 and delegated his sizable governance token holdings to stewards to support its decentralization efforts. While Gitcoin has become known for its grants program, which has fundraised and distributed $70 million in half a decade, its ultimate mission was to incubate public goods projects.
Conclusion
Supermodular is a venture studio for regenerative Web3 projects, with a focus on regenerative finance (ReFi). ReFi is about creating an economy that supports the long-term health of society and the environment. Supermodular aims to simultaneously help developers advance Web3 technology while “protecting critical resources and global public goods.” It is designed to incubate public goods projects and create a constant stream of revenue by rewarding projects on the positive impact they have created. Supermodular is also incubating Owocki’s own buidlbox and the Gitcoin Grants Stack.
