Hologram runs Elixir in the browser and seeks sponsors for local-first apps

Why it matters

Hologram shows how a solo maintainer can turn sponsorship into a serious release cadence. Its next test is whether companies will fund core infrastructure before the promised local-first layer exists.

Bart Blast (@Bart_Blast) is asking companies to fund a local-first data layer for Hologram, the open-source framework he has spent six years building to run Elixir code in web browsers.

In a July 22 post, Blast said Hologram's current sponsorship does not provide a sustainable living as its first milestone program with the Erlang Ecosystem Foundation reaches its scheduled end. Curiosum remains the main sponsor, and Blast is discussing another milestone program with the foundation. No sponsor amounts, total funding figure or development budget were disclosed.

Blast has moved Hologram well beyond a compiler experiment. The framework now supports client-side state management, JavaScript interop and realtime communication. The next bet is considerably harder: applications that continue operating offline, keep selected data on the device and reconcile changes when a connection returns.

That feature has not shipped. Blast is selling sponsors on the work required to build it.

From 60-hour weeks to browser-side Elixir

Blast, a Warsaw developer who studied applied computer science at Warsaw University of Technology, lists Hologram as a project he began in July 2020 and developed himself on his LinkedIn profile. His founding idea was straightforward: Elixir developers should be able to build the browser side of an application without adopting a separate JavaScript framework and toolchain.

Hologram's documentation describes a full-stack framework running on Phoenix. It analyzes Elixir code, compiles the parts needed in the browser to JavaScript and provides its own components, routing, state management and client-server communication.

The financing behind that work remains closer to open-source patronage than venture capital. Eight months ago, Blast said he was dividing 60-plus-hour weeks between Hologram and contract work. Curiosum became the main sponsor, the Erlang Ecosystem Foundation provided a milestone stipend, and individuals and software businesses contributed through GitHub Sponsors.

That arrangement paid for a concentrated release cycle. In the sponsorship post, Blast said Hologram v0.7 expanded browser support across most of Elixir's standard library after 49 contributors ported 150 underlying Erlang functions. v0.8 added npm packages, Web APIs, Web Components and JavaScript promises exposed as Elixir tasks. v0.9 introduced a pub/sub-based realtime layer, while v0.10 expanded browser events, server middleware and client-side error handling.

Blast says v0.11 is landing with regular-expression support and browser error stacktraces that resemble server output. The GitHub repository remains the center of the open-source project.

Hologram reports that its GitHub stars grew by more than 40% and Hex downloads tripled after its November 2025 sponsorship campaign. Blast also claims more than 350 newsletter subscribers and says the first Hologram applications have entered production. He did not name those applications, their developers or any production usage figures.

The bet beyond LiveView

Hologram enters an Elixir market already shaped by Phoenix LiveView, which builds interactive interfaces by rendering on the server and sending changes to the browser. LiveView can reduce the need for a separate frontend team, though complex client-side behavior may still require JavaScript hooks and browser tooling.

Hologram moves more application logic into the browser. Elixir's own language site describes the distinction: Hologram operates on Elixir's syntax tree and transpiles code to JavaScript, while projects such as Popcorn pursue browser-side Elixir through AtomVM and WebAssembly.

Blast wants the same compiler and client runtime to become the base for an integrated local-first system. A Hologram application would read and write local data while offline, then synchronize with the server after connectivity returns. Existing products such as PowerSync already sell sync infrastructure that keeps client-side SQLite databases aligned with backend databases. Hologram's proposed distinction is packaging the compiler, interface framework, realtime layer and sync behavior into one Elixir development model.

Blast claims Hologram could become the first full-stack framework to include local-first behavior directly. That is a broad category claim across multiple programming ecosystems, and the proposed data layer remains a roadmap item. Conflict resolution, persistence, security boundaries and synchronization semantics have yet to be documented as a released system.

Sponsors can keep the roadmap moving

Blast says Hologram lists GitHub sponsorship tiers of $250 and $500 per month for companies. He also says companies can earmark support through the EEF toward a second foundation program.

That creates a practical model for a maintainer-led framework: companies pay to keep development moving while the code remains open source. It also concentrates execution risk around one developer. Blast describes Hologram as a one-person effort spanning a compiler, browser runtime, template system, realtime stack and proposed local-first layer, with community contributors handling defined pieces such as standard-library ports.

The first foundation program covered four deliverables. Three are complete, and Blast says the fourth concludes with v0.11. Curiosum's support continues, while a second foundation program depends in part on companies earmarking contributions for Hologram through the EEF.

Blast is presenting the constraint plainly. "What's in place today doesn't add up to a sustainable living," he wrote. Hologram has enough shipped software to make the sponsorship request concrete. Its next technical promise is also the part with the greatest cost and the least evidence so far: a dependable offline data system built into an Elixir framework.