Moth is a platform that lets anyone set up and run bespoke grant programmes for independent researchers, artists, and thinkers. No institutional friction. No bureaucracy. Just patronage, done right.
Independent researchers — the ones without university affiliations, without grant-writing departments — get locked out of the funding system entirely. The work still needs doing. The ideas still need fuel.
Moth is a platform for bespoke grant patronage. Anyone can set up a grant programme — with their own terms, their own focus, their own standards of excellence. No institution required. No overhead. Just a patron, a researcher, and work worth doing.
"There is no patronage equivalent to angel investing."
— Nadia Eghbal, independent researcher
A researcher publishes a proposal — a story about what the world looks like if this work succeeds. Not a CV. Not a form. A story.
A patron decides this story is worth backing. They set the terms — amount, duration, reporting cadence, milestones. Everything is negotiable.
A community forms around the grant. Moths find each other. Progress becomes visible. Patronage becomes a dialogue, not a transaction.
Butterflies follow the rules — they succeed in worlds created by others. Moths make the world anew. They play games of their own making.
The grant funding system was built for butterflies. Moth flips it: a platform designed for moths, by someone who understands both the investment world and the independent research world.
Succeed in environments they find. Seek out existing structures.
Pursue their own interests. Make worlds of their own.
The grant market is broken and fragmented. Most of the work that should happen never gets funded because the process is designed for institutions, not individuals. Moth fixes that.
A world where more people have the resources to pursue their own interests, make their own worlds, and bring others along for the journey. The platform that makes this possible is Moth.