CoW Swap – Strengthening Brand Authority & Community in India

CoW Grants Program Rejected Grants
1

Grant Application

Grant Title:

Expanding CoW Swap’s Brand in India – Community, Memes & within niche web3 discussion Groups.

Author:

About You:

I specialize in Web3 growth, community building, and ecosystem expansion. I played a key role in The Graph’s adoption in India, organising key initiatives around major events like IBW 2023 with Edge & Node, but not limited to them, and have received 3 grants ($16,000) for scaling its community. I have also worked as Growth Lead (India) at Vara Network L1, leading regional project onboarding, and also led GTM, partnerships, and marketing for projects like Lumerin & QuillAI (Consultant & Freelance), driving adoption through understanding lifecycle of community member and tool Integration. Now as a user, I see India as a key growth market for CoW Swap and looking forward to bringing this momentum to the project.

Additional Links:

Grant Category:

Community Growth & Marketing (Regional)

Grant Description:

The goal of this 5-month initiative is to establish CoW Swap’s presence in India by leveraging:

  • Engaging memes to make CoW Swap more relatable than any other Dex Agg.
  • Twitter marketing with DeFi narratives and protocol differentiators.
    → Simplifying CoW’s value – Explain MEV protection, batch auctions, and gas optimized swaps in easy tweets/threads.
    → Trader-focused narratives – Highlight MEV losses, gas fees, and slippage and how CoW solves them.
    → Influencer amplification – Engage DeFi-native voices in India to boost organic reach.
  • Active participation in niche groups (Telegram communities, Twitter Spaces).
  • Building a strong Telegram & Twitter presence for CoW Swap in India.

Why This Matters?

India has one of the largest communities of retail and developer crypto users, yet DeFi adoption remains largely untapped. CoW Swap, with its Gas-optimized, MEV-protected swaps & features like TWAP, is highly relevant, but awareness is low. This grant will ensure that:

  • CoW becomes a familiar name in Indian crypto circles through meme culture.
  • Traders & DeFi users understand CoW’s value proposition via Twitter marketing.
  • Strategic niche group targeting (DAOs, private communities) builds organic advocacy.
  • Delegating translation work to motivated young community members to boost engagement and contribution.

Key objectives within the 5-month timeframe

Total Grant: $7,200 USD (~$1,440 per month for 5 months)

Month Key Activities & Deliverables Funding
Month 1 Launch of Telegram and Twitter channels with India-focused branding, including 20+ drafted memes to be published over time. Initial content strategy will include detailed threads and articles. Two community engagement activities will be conducted, potentially through small sponsorships at events to establish CoW’s presence on the ground. $4,320
Month 2 Twitter marketing strategy: Create 4 in-depth DeFi threads designed for repeated use with endrosement by community members, serving as a reference for CoW Swap’s value proposition across multiple Web3 groups. –
Month 3 First Twitter Space with strong web3 voices in india, meme amplification via partnerships, community growth –
Month 4 DeFi-focused campaign, creating/engaging directly within alpha private TG chats with the objective of tempting potential users to try at least once. $2,880
Month 5 2nd Twitter Space, community growth report, next recommendations for sustained growth in the region –

Please understand that the timeline for the few tasks above may change based on the project’s feasibility.

Milestone Breakdown:

Month 1-3: Community Foundation & Expansion

  • Establish a Telegram group & Twitter account dedicated to the Indian audience.
  • Set up community guidelines to ensure quality discussions.
  • Develop a distinct identity for CoW Swap India using localized elements like humor, relatable analogies, and desi (local) references.
  • Create and schedule 20+ memes that explain CoW Swap’s benefits in a fun, viral format.
  • Run 2 interactive activities (such as DeFi quizzes or Twitter polls) to encourage participation.
  • First AMA or Q&A session to answer community questions about CoW Swap.
  • Gather feedback from early members and refine communication.
  • The focus will be networking with Indian DeFi builders & users, setting the stage for deeper involvement in later months.
  • Provide 1 or 2 small sponsorships for meetups or side-events at around imprtant IRL crypto events.
    Note: The objective of the meetup sponsorship is to just demonstrate that we have launched IRL community in the region.

Month 4 & 5 – DeFi User Adoption Campaign

  • Directly interact within **high-value DeFi enthusiast’s Tg Chats.
  • Share insights on how CoW Swap can help traders optimize their transaction
  • Focus on getting first-time traders to execute a transaction via CoW Swap and encouraging them to tweet/share about it.
  • Create tutorial-style content demonstrating real transaction savings.
  • Measure how many users interact & try the protocol.

Funding Request:

  • Total Request: $7,200 USD (~$1,440 per month for 5 months)
  • Funds will be used for community building, content creation, marketing, and bringing initial engagement.

Budget Breakdown

Event Sponsorship → $600
Member Incentives for translation & other activities → $1,800
Branding & Content Creation → $1,000
Personal Compensation → $3,800
Total → $7,200

Gnosis Chain Address (to receive the grant):

0xd3D9eAe9e730b686aA29f06963680F2AD7Cd7741

Other Information:

  • Proven track record of driving growth while maintaining utmost professionalism..
  • Well-connected with key Web3 figures & groups in India.
  • Led GTM strategy for Lumerin, driving adoption through partnerships, community building, and targeted marketing. PoW Here
  • Built a partnership pipeline and drove growth through strategic meetings in Singapore and Bangkok for QuillAI. PoW Here

Referral:

No one specifically referred me to submit this grant. My first interaction with Ravi Kiran from CoW Swap was at Arbitrum’s event in Bangkok around Devcon. That’s when I started using the product, exploring features like TWAP, and became a big fan. If needed, I can provide a reference check from my past employer—just DM me on TG.

Terms and Conditions:

By submitting this grant application, I acknowledge and agree to be bound by the CoW DAO Participation Agreement and the CoW Grant Terms and Conditions.

2

Dear @Charchit_web3
This looks like a well intentioned proposal and I admire your experience with other marquee projects mentioned in your bio. However, we feel the $ ask for this proposal is much insufficient from our experience running GTM, marketing and content initiatives for several projects.

Would suggest to relook at the budget allocation towards Branding and Content Creation- focussing on advocacy, awareness and education. This itself, if done on a sustained cadence, for five months will consume much higher budgets if done with the right content partners who can lend credibility and reach, both required and deserved by CoW Protocol.

We’ll be happy to support and collaborate refine this proposal and execute it, should the grant committee at CoW Protocol be interested in this region and can explore allocation of an overall budget of USD/xDAI 30K to 50K for 6 months developing the India ecosystem (world’s 2nd/3rd largest in # of crypto holders)- this can be tranched out and paid out with specific milestones.

1 Like
3

Hey @namasteweb3, appreciate your time going through this. I will try to be completely honest here.

I agree. It may feel insufficient to a large extent. However, the priority of this proposal is to focusing on building initial brand authority, conduct constant A/B testing. A few protocols, like Cow Swap, have seen success building regional communities to attract direct users in DEFI beyond just developers. IMO, it would be more prudent to establish a strong foundation in the first five months before seeking a grant exceeding $30K.

This is very good feedback. Building a brand and then getting developers and users is very time-consuming. Before doing a partner collaboration, the brand must have a clear image. I am still open to this idea.

I do agree, but as I mentioned earlier, targeting developers is easier since most of them build in public, whereas targeting direct users—who are often in hidden trenches—is more challenging. I strongly believe that once we identify clear target regions, communities, and conferences in India with a strong playbook, it would be worth spending more than $80K.

To add a concrete example, if we look at IBW—India’s premier Web3 event—its sponsor list is dominated by infrastructure projects and CEXs, with very few DeFi protocols. While targeting developers is relatively easier, DeFi users in this strong market cannot be overlooked.

That being said, a larger budget can be considered in a second grant, provided CoW supports this initial one.

1 Like
4

Hi, thank you for the grant application. IMO I don’t think this is suitable for a grant as there is no clear, measurable method that can be assessed as to the impact of the grant.

5

Hey @mfw78 gm gm

Thank you for reviewing my grant application and sharing your feedback. I completely understand the importance of clear, measurable impact when allocating grant resources. I’d like to clarify how this initiative’s success can be tracked using tangible metrics, referencing successful community-driven growth strategies from other protocols.

1. Measurable KPIs for Impact Assessment:

Here’s how we can quantify success:

:white_check_mark: Community Growth

  • Track increase in Telegram members (baseline vs. post-initiative growth).
  • Engagement rate: Active members (messages, replies) vs. total members.

:white_check_mark: Content Performance

  • Twitter thread engagement: Average impressions, likes, retweets per post.
  • Meme virality: Organic shares & reposts by DeFi users.

:white_check_mark: User Acquisition & Adoption

  • Unique on-chain wallets executing their first swap via CoW Swap (trackable via Dune query or direct analytics).
  • First-time users posting transaction receipts on Twitter (quantifiable engagement).

:white_check_mark: Influencer & Ecosystem Reach

  • Number of DeFi-native influencers amplifying CoW Swap’s messaging.
  • Direct engagement in high-value Telegram groups leading to discussions & trials.

2. Proven Framework from Successful Protocols

CowSwap is a great product but lacks mainstream adoption. Most DeFi users still default to Uniswap because it’s widely talked about by educators and influencers. New users don’t realize CowSwap offers gas optimized swaps, MEV protection, and better rates. Without strong community-driven distribution, it remains a niche tool used only by experienced DeFi traders. To grow, CowSwap needs a meme-first, incentive-driven push that makes it the obvious choice for all DeFi users. If traction builds, the unofficial CowIndia community could be renamed and scaled into a unofficial global movement. With the right execution, CowSwap could become the default swap choice for all DeFi users, not just experienced traders.

For instance:

  • Superteam Solana: Started as a community-driven initiative in India but later expanded globally through regional bounties, incentives for content creators, and ecosystem support from Solana. What began as an unofficial effort turned into a key growth engine for Solana’s developer and user adoption.
  • Farcaster Base Builders: Originally, Farcaster was a niche decentralized social network, but Base leveraged it for viral adoption by incentivizing builders and meme creators. They introduced early bounties, community-driven projects, and influencer-led onboarding—making Base the default L2 for onchain social interactions.

3. Next Steps

This isn’t just about user acquisition—it’s about building a culture around CowSwap while tracking real metrics to measure success. If the concern is tracking adoption, I’m happy to collaborate with the team to set up a dashboard (e.g., Dune, Flipside) to measure traction transparently. Let me know if this helps clarify or if any adjustments would make the proposal more aligned with CoW DAO’s grant criteria. :cow:

Looking forward to your thoughts! :cow:

6

Hi, thanks for the persistence, however after internal discussion, Grants Committee is not willing to entertain this grant.