Avalanche Team1’s Global University Outreach: Driving Ecosystem Growth and Adoption

From campus workshops to hackathons, Avalanche Team1 is fueling the next wave of blockchain builders by empowering students around the globe.

and

Sep 12, 2025

Avalanche’s community-driven initiative Team1 has harnessed university partnerships worldwide to accelerate growth of the Avalanche ecosystem. Through workshops, hackathons, campus tours, and student developer programs, Team1 has onboarded thousands of newcomers who try native dApps (Core, Avalanche Card, and more), create wallets, and ultimately become builders.

This article quantifies that impact, highlighting year-over-year growth, major university activations, and how outreach converts students into active users and developers.

Team1: Bridging Blockchain and Academia

Launched in April 2024 as an evolution of the Avalanche Ambassador DAO, Team1 connects Avalanche with academic communities around the world. The program empowers students, developers, and enthusiasts to host events on campus and integrate Avalanche into curricula and clubs. Within its first year, Team1 formed partnerships with 80+ universities across five continents, establishing a durable, grassroots pipeline of talent and users.

Explosive Early Growth

Demand was strong from day one. The first application round drew 1,400+ applicants; 190 members were selected across 43 countries. A second cohort added ~240 leaders, expanding Team1’s footprint to nearly every major region. Members receive training, resources, Summit passes, and developer bounties, creating a virtuous cycle where education fuels adoption, which attracts even more academic partners.

The Onboarding Engine: From First Wallet to Builder

Team1’s university model is designed to turn curiosity into sustained participation:

Learn & try. Hands-on workshops and campus labs walk students through wallet setup and first on-chain actions using Avalanche-native dApps.
Level up. Follow-on programs (e.g., academies, codebases, learn-to-earn) deepen skills with structured tracks for devs, designers, and community leads.
Build & ship. Hackathons, bounties, and club projects push participants to prototype, publish, and contribute to real Avalanche applications.
Sustain & scale. Mentorship, grants, and Team1’s global community help promising contributors keep building and leading new cohorts.

This funnel correlates with network-level momentum: by mid-2025, monthly active wallets reached ~2.2M, with university programs contributing a meaningful share of new users and builders.

Global Growth Through Academic Partnerships

Measured outcomes reflect the expansion of this model. In early 2024, Team1 coordinated only a handful of events. By late 2024, it was running 25–30 events per month across local communities. By mid-2025, cadence surged to 70+ events monthly, workshops, hackathons, and guest lectures, while active membership grew from ~430 (2024) to 750+ (2025) across 56 countries. University partnerships climbed from 45+ to 80+ worldwide, indicating both wider reach and deeper academic integration.

One record-setting weekend in June 2025 saw volunteers run 26 Avalanche events across four continents, from technical workshops to conference side-events, underscoring Team1’s truly global footprint.

This repeatable funnel is fueling a massive global expansion, as seen in the following data.

Year-over-Year Growth (at a Glance)

These indicators point to a robust academic pipeline translating into real ecosystem usage and developer growth.

Conclusion

In barely a year, Avalanche Team1 has evolved into a global academic powerhouse: hundreds of organizers, dozens of universities, thousands of students, and a repeatable funnel that turns campus curiosity into daily users and active developers. As Team1 scales its programs and deepens university ties, it is poised to fuel the next wave of builders and the next chapter of Avalanche adoption around the world.