Zero to One: Growing Arweave India - One Event at a Time
June 18th, 2024

The Beginning of a Journey

Last July, I attended my first Arweave IRL event. Although I was already part of the ecosystem, this was my first in-person experience. It became clear that despite the technology's robust foundation, there was a significant need for outreach. Arweave had been around for over five years, yet its potential was not widely recognized, often seen as just another storage provider.

Setting a Simple Goal

Just over a month after that initial event, I met Ashutosh at a web3 conference, where we were supposed to represent Arweave. We both recognized a common challenge: Arweave wasn’t well known in these circles. Most web3 events had the same group of attendees, and our goal was straightforward – get people from Level 0 to Level 1 in their knowledge about Arweave. We wanted attendees to come equipped with some basic knowledge in future events, ready to ask more in-depth questions.

Planting the Seed for Arweave India

After the event, we brainstormed and mapped out a plan to reach more cities, targeting tech hubs in India with strong web3 communities. Little did we know, another Arweave movement was taking shape, simultaneously.

Prasan had also started his own outreach efforts, targeting universities and hackathons. Realizing the power of collaboration, we decided to unite our efforts. Thus, the idea of “Arweave India” was born.

Expanding the Vision

As we organized more events, we floated the idea of creating a platform for people to test their skills on Arweave. This platform was not just for developers but for designers as well. We believe that utility is incomplete without an aesthetic and user-friendly experience. And Arweave had always been about the people and the community, so we wanted to replicate the warm welcome we received from the global community with each interaction.

The First Arweave India Hacker House

We envisioned an IRL hacker house, intentionally limited to 30 people to foster meaningful interactions and relationships. We wanted to provide the same warm welcome to the community that we had experienced.

Our goal was simple: create a fun environment where these hackers could break down walls, build their ideas in a relaxed setting, play games, make friends, and create lasting memories. And maybe, just maybe, learn a little about Arweave and build a product or two.

And they exceeded our expectations! The Arweave India event drew eyes from within and outside the ecosystem. It was a first of its kind, not just in the vibe curated but also in the innovative ideas that emerged.

Nurturing Ideas and Launching a Launchpad

We didn’t want the event’s momentum to end there. We saw the potential in the ideas that began to take shape during the four-day event and wanted to support them to fruition. This support came in various forms: development, design, marketing, pitch decks, user experience, branding, and more IRL meetups. Quietly, we launched a Launchpad to nurture these ideas, providing the top three teams with monthly grants for three months.

A Turning Point

A turning point for the teams in the Launchpad was an IRL meetup with Sam Williams, the founder of Arweave. It was a highly energized environment where everyone participated in a live coding session. Meeting the founder and engaging in a hands-on session was a rare opportunity that fueled inspiration and direction.

Sam demonstrated AO, the new hyper-parallel compute layer that was in the works. The teams drew inspiration from this and aligned their efforts to cater to the AO ecosystem.

From Idea to Product

In just about four months, the teams went from basic ideas to full-fledged products with active users. Watching them surpass our expectations once again was incredibly satisfying. They had made the most of the resources at their disposal and created beautiful technology.

Innovation Continued

While the teams were building amazing products, we didn’t sit idle. The Arweave India team constantly pushes each other to keep improving and innovating. We brainstormed ways to enhance the IRL event experience for attendees. We had an idea – a chance to take home a physical camera that uploads memories directly to Arweave. And thus, building upon Ankush’s original idea, Clickoor was born.

Looking Ahead: Hacker House 2.0

Now, it’s time to do it all again. Hacker House 2.0 is coming this July, promising the same fun, vibes, friendships, and memories in a new city. We invite everyone to join in. As I like to say, “come for the tech, stay for the vibes”.

A Big Thank You

A huge shoutout to OnlyArweave, who has been the backbone in founding Arweave India, guiding and supporting us throughout this journey.

I am also grateful to our team members who have taken us from strength to strength as we grew. Kanishk is the mastermind behind the designs, helping us bring beautiful content to you as well as guiding the community with designs for their own projects. Ankush, the winner from cohort #1 has joined us, and is now making the Arweave India community more lively with his timely guidance to the builders and all the engaging sessions he hosts for them. And we've always had so many things to share with y'all, but the addition of Ashish to our team has helped us do this actively while continuing to build the community at light speed.

And to everyone who has been part of the Arweave India journey, whether as hackers, mentors, partners or showing us love and helping us spread the word – we wouldn’t be here without y'all. Your support, enthusiasm, and belief in our vision have been instrumental in making Arweave India a thriving community.

On this one year anniversary of Arweave India, thank you to everyone from the bottom of my heart. Here’s to pushing the boundaries and many more successful events!

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