Ecosystem and Grants Manager · Arbitrum Foundation
Hi, I'm Mariam.
As Ecosystem and Grants Manager at the Arbitrum Foundation, I help founders scale by providing capital, GTM and integrations support across DeFi, RWA, payments, AI and onchain infrastructure, reviewing 50+ projects every month across the different builder support programs I operate. Previously I was BD lead at Angle Protocol, where I helped grow Merkl and closed its first clients including Uniswap, Camelot, Quickswap and others.
What I do today
Capital, advisory and program design for early-stage teams in DeFi, RWA and onchain infrastructure.
- Allocate capital on behalf of the Arbitrum Foundation. $15M+ deployed across 60+ early-stage teams in DeFi, RWA, payments and infrastructure. End-to-end ownership: diligence, capital allocation, term-setting, post-grant relationship and ecosystem connections.
- Support founders post-allocation. Advise on GTM and onchain KPIs, connect them with ecosystem partners, investors, governance pathways and the operators who can help them ship. Spiko ($1.3B AUM, $400M on Arbitrum), Variational and USDAI are among the protocols I've worked with closely.
- Built three builder programs from 0 to 1. The Audit Program (with Trail of Bits, OpenZeppelin, Nethermind, Certora), ArbiFuel gas credits and the Grant Program itself.
Selected proposals and programs
What I've worked on in public. Grant programs I run today at Arbitrum, and proposals I authored as a builder at Angle.
As Ecosystem and Grants Manager · Arbitrum Foundation
The Arbitrum Foundation 2025 Transparency Report: Year of Institutional Adoption
Contributed sections on the Audit Program and the gas credits program (ArbiFuel), two programs I designed and operate as flagships of the ecosystem.
Arbitrum Foundation · Audit ProgramImprovements to the Arbitrum Audit Program
Co-authored proposal to evolve the Audit Program, adjusting eligibility, pricing structure and partner coverage based on 6 months of program data.
Arbitrum Foundation · Audit ProgramAudit Program Transparency Report #2
Co-authored second transparency report on the Audit Program, covering grantees secured, audit firms engaged and outcomes.
Arbitrum Foundation · Audit ProgramAudit Program Transparency Report #1
Co-authored first transparency report establishing reporting standards for the program.
As builder · Angle Protocol
Landed Uniswap as a Merkl client via governance
BD approach on behalf of Merkl/Angle on the Uniswap forum, which led to Uniswap using Angle to distribute incentives.
Arbitrum · STIP Round 1$700k Arbitrum grant secured
Authored Angle's STIP application and pitched 80+ delegates in a short window. The same program I now help administer from the other side.
Optimism · GF Phase 1$250k Optimism grant secured
Successful proposal for Angle's growth on Optimism.
Venus (BNB)Secured agEUR market on Venus
Successful proposal to deploy an agEUR stablecoin market on the top BNB money market.
Silo FinanceSecured agEUR as collateral on Silo
Successful proposal, with a lending amount minted by Silo for the integration.
Lido · ForumLidoDAO treasury diversification
Contribution to the Lido governance discussion on stablecoin holdings.
Speaking and podcasts
Live panels and events
NFT Paris · 2024
How to spend, trade and lend your NFTs with DeFi
Panelist at NFT Paris.
↗ View on LinkedIn
ETH Barcelona · 2023
Risk factors in stablecoin design and treasury management
Panelist at ETH Barcelona in the DeFi track.
Founders panel · Paris · 2022
A founder's journey to fundraising
Hosted a panel with founders from Morpho, Sismo, Angle, Spectra Finance and Paladin.
BPI France · 2022
Explaining Celestia, a modular blockchain network
Presented at an event organized by the French state sovereign fund.
B2B usage of stablecoins
Live panel with 200+ traditional finance professionals in attendance.
▶ Watch the panelThe DeFi Angle podcast
A podcast I created and hosted, sitting down with operators across DeFi to talk strategy and governance.
Strategy and plans at Aave
With Marc Zeller (Aave / Aave-Chan Initiative).
▶ Watch episode Episode 2Metagovernance, Curve and decentralization
With Julien Bouteloup (Stake Capital, Curve core contributor).
▶ Watch episode Episode 3Building the dYdX community
With Joshua Watts and James Hallam (dYdX Foundation).
▶ Watch episode