Scholarfi

Context

As Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder, I am building Scholarfi for schools, NGOs, and educational institutions that want to incentivize student engagement with blockchain-based rewards.

Problem

Student effort is often hard to recognize in a way that is transparent, portable, and motivating across institutions. Schools and education partners need a credible system to reward academic achievement without opaque or manual processes.

Role

Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder

Key responsibilities

• Led product strategy and the technical roadmap for Scholarfi’s MVP.
• Designed and developed the MVP architecture connecting academic workflows to on-chain recognition.
• Managed product development, engineering direction, and partnership conversations.
• Built toward pilot programs with schools after initial institutional outreach.
• Developed Scholarfi Solana smart contracts on Rust with Anchor for verifiable rewards.

Technical decisions

• Solana as the blockchain layer for transparent, verifiable academic recognition in EdTech.
• TypeScript with React and Next.js for fast product iteration on the application layer.
• A focused MVP architecture before scaling to multiple institutions and reward models.
• Separate smart-contract work from product surfaces so blockchain logic stays testable and evolvable.
• Validation through the Solana and Waylearn accelerator program before expanding pilot scope.

Architecture

A two-layer MVP: a TypeScript/React/Next.js product for schools and students to manage academic effort and recognition, backed by Scholarfi Solana smart contracts that issue verifiable on-chain rewards tied to completed assignments.

Technologies

Outcome

Scholarfi reached MVP architecture and smart-contract foundations, accelerator validation through Solana and Waylearn, and early institutional conversations including outreach toward pilot programs with local high schools.

Lessons learned

• EdTech products need institutional trust before blockchain mechanics become meaningful to users.
• Separating MVP product delivery from smart-contract scope keeps early validation focused.
• On-chain recognition works best when it maps clearly to real academic workflows abstract token mechanics alone.

Links