Interviews with consumer app founders revealed a consistent and shared set of challenges and needs they have, which limit their ability to scale, especially beyond crypto-native users.
The most common challenge is user acquisition and retention, especially expanding beyond crypto-native audiences and into mainstream markets.
Building effective distribution channels is difficult and expensive, and many teams lack the budget to fund sustained user acquisition through marketing, partnerships, or paid campaigns.
Liquidity remains a major constraint for certain categories of consumer apps, especially prediction markets and RWA focused products.
Without sufficient liquidity, even well-designed products struggle to deliver a good user experience or reach meaningful adoption.
Security is seen as non-negotiable, but audits are expensive and difficult to navigate.
Several founders were not aware of the Arbitrum Audit program at all. Others applied but were not accepted and received no feedback, making it hard to understand how to improve or pursue alternative options.
Many interviewed teams are actively raising new funding rounds.
Beyond grants, they would benefit from warm introductions to venture capital firms and angel investors, as well as guidance on fundraising narratives and positioning within the ecosystem.
Talent acquisition is another recurring challenge. Teams reported difficulties finding qualified developers, as well as growth and business development talent.
This often slows execution and limits their ability to scale once product-market fit begins to emerge.
Regulatory uncertainty continues to affect several consumer verticals, particularly betting, prediction markets, and RWAs.
In addition, teams building mobile apps face platform-level hurdles such as app store approvals and compliance requirements, which add time, cost, and risk to launches.