Avalanche Foundation

The Avalanche Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the growth and long-term sustainability of the Avalanche (/avax) ecosystem.

About Avalanche Foundation

The Foundation is a distinct organizational entity from Ava Labs (/tags/ava-labs), the company that builds the underlying protocol software: where Ava Labs focuses on engineering, the Foundation focuses on ecosystem funding, research, and community growth. It publishes economic research on topics such as validator incentives and network economics, and runs developer-incentive initiatives that route funding to builders shipping on Avalanche.

Products & Initiatives

The Foundation runs multiple grant tracks aimed at different audiences — academic research grants for work on cryptoasset pricing and validator economics, community grants that match crowdfunded support for ecosystem projects, and broader ecosystem-incentive programs for builders. It also oversees Team1 (/tags/team1), the Foundation's global community and builder network.

Partnerships

The Foundation partners with third-party grant infrastructure providers to run its community funding programs and works with academic reviewers and selection committees to evaluate research grant proposals.

Recent developments

• 2026-09-16 — Iris Raises 40M to Expand ALVA Onchain Finance on Avalanche — Avalanche L1 project Iris has raised over 40M to scale ALVA, a mobile app delivering browsing, streaming, shopping and bill pay without consuming mobile data. (@avax)
• 2026-09-16 — Janus Henderson Becomes Avalanche Validator, Backs Tranched — The 500B asset manager is now validating on Avalanche and has taken an equity stake in onchain credit platform Tranched, providing anchor capital for its issuance. (@avax)
• 2026-09-16 — Hyundai Card Outlines Next Steps for Avalanche Payments Pilot — Heejung Nam, Hyundai Card's Head of Payments & BD, said the company must prove its Avalanche-based operation model works at scale following a successful proof of concept earli… (@avax)
• 2026-09-16 — BlackRock's Maxwell Stein Touts Wallet-Level Access at Avalanche Summit — BlackRock's Maxwell Stein told Avalanche Summit attendees on the Chelsea Stage that blockchain can extend institutional-grade advantages to "anybody with a wallet." (@avax)
• 2026-09-17 — NYSE Parent ICE Eyes Avalanche for 24/7 On-Chain Trading Venue — Intercontinental Exchange's Michael Blaugrund says Avalanche 'checks a lot of those boxes' as ICE develops a 24/7 on-chain ATS platform, confirming the teams are 'very engage… (@avax)
• 2026-09-16 — Aave v4 Selects Avalanche as First Expansion Chain, CEO Says — Aave CEO Stani Kulechov said Avalanche was chosen as the first expansion network for Aave v4, citing its onchain-finance community and institutional interest in its tech. (@avax)
• 2026-09-17 — Paxos Goes Live on Avalanche, Opening Regulated Rails to 650+ Institutions — Paxos has integrated Avalanche, bringing its regulated financial infrastructure — 650+ institutions, 470M+ end users, 18B in custody — to AVAX and Avalanche-nati… (@avax)
• 2026-09-17 — 807B NYLIM Brings Tokenized High Yield Bond Fund to Avalanche via Centrifuge — New York Life Investment Management is bringing its first tokenized fund — a U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond Strategy — onchain to Avalanche through Centrifuge. (@avax)
• 2026-09-21 — Ethena Pay Built Exclusively on Avalanche, CEO Guy Young Says — Ethena CEO Guy Young calls Ethena Pay "almost invisible infrastructure" built exclusively on Avalanche, as the network's official account amplifies the positioning. (@avax)
• 2026-09-22 — Avalanche Activates Helicon Upgrade on C-Chain Mainnet — Avalanche's Helicon upgrade is live, bringing continuous execution, auto-renewing staking, 48-hour minimum staking periods, stricter validator requirements and a new reward curve. (@avax)

Coverage

• 2026-09-04 — Avalanche's Institutional Stretch, Aug 24-Sep 1
• 2026-09-04 — Avalanche Summit 2026 Preview: O'Leary Headlines NYC Sept. 16-17
• 2026-09-05 — Ethena Launches Self-Custodial Neobank Ethena Pay Exclusively on Avalanche
• 2026-09-05 — South Korea's Tokenization Plan Is Real; Avalanche's Role Is Not Confirmed
• 2026-09-05 — Avalanche Foundation Spells Out How It Wants AVAX to Capture Value
• 2026-09-18 — A Korean Brokerage Built on Avalanche. Its Depository Names It as an Option.
• 2026-09-20 — How Uptop's Fan-Rewards Points Work, From the NBA to Michigan