Oliver Sild has labeled the rejection of his security company’s sponsorship application for WordCamp Europe 2025 as “insulting” after it was revealed that WordCamp Central turned down Patchstack for not contributing enough to WordPress.

The rejection came via email last month, but Sild and his team only discovered the reason yesterday. In the email, Felipe Santos from the WordPress Community Team explained to Sild and Francesca Marano, the company’s new Head of Partnerships, that the previous first-come-first-serve model for assessing sponsorship applications was being replaced by a new approach that placed “greater emphasis on contributions to WordPress.”

“We recognize that this shift may feel frustrating, but sponsoring WordCamps is a privilege, and we aim to increase expectations in this area moving forward,” wrote Santos, an Automattic-sponsored community contributor.

Santos noted that Patchstack had not pledged to Five for the Future, an initiative encouraging companies to contribute 5% of their resources to the WordPress project. He added that contributing would be an “excellent way to demonstrate commitment and build trust within the community.”

“Once significant contributions have been established, we are happy to re-evaluate your eligibility for financial sponsorship of WordPress events,” Santos wrote.

Speaking to The Repository, Sild said he was not informed during the application process that sponsorship requirements had changed. The WordCamp sponsorship rules do not include a requirement for pledges but stipulate that sponsors are expected to support the WordPress project and its principles. Similarly, WordCamp Europe 2025’s call for sponsors doesn’t ask for pledges but does note that sponsors must pass a vetting process.

“It’s just insulting as we believe we are one of the biggest contributors to WordPress security and have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars from our own pocket to pay volunteers to help secure the plugin ecosystem,” Sild said. “Our team includes core contributors and speakers.”

An initial rejection email Santos sent to Patchstack in December, viewed by The Repository, stated that the event was “unable to accommodate” the company’s Author-level sponsorship for WordCamp Europe.

“While there’s no room for you this year, we appreciate your enthusiasm and encourage you to reapply for other events in the future,” the email read. It also didn’t specify any requirement to pledge contributions.

While Sild disagrees with the decision to reject Patchstack’s sponsorship application, he said he didn’t intend to contest it.

“I don’t think there’s a point to fight this much as the reasoning seems to be questionable in general,” said Sild, adding that he had spoken with other business owners whose sponsorship applications had been approved despite not pledging to 5ftF.

Posting on X, Sild said Patchstack had previously sponsored WordCamp Europe 2024, WordCamp US 2024, and many smaller WordCamps without issue. 

He highlighted that Patchstack handled over 50% of all new vulnerability disclosures in the WordPress ecosystem last year and, for the past seven years, had paid out nearly $200,000 in bounties to security researchers.

Last year, Patchstack built a managed Vulnerability Disclosure Program (VDP) platform in collaboration with the European Union to help WordPress plugin and theme developers comply with the EU’s Cyber Resilience Act.

“Huge amount of work has gone into [the VDP] and over 600 plugins have already set this up, and they get it all for free,” Sild posted. “I think this really shows our dedication to make WordPress and open source safer and really going an extra mile to do it.”

Responding to Sild on X, WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg described Santos’s email as “crappy” and said he would look into the matter.

“I agree that’s a crappy email to get, and it’s also not 100% accurate. Thanks for raising this issue, I’ll look into it,” Mullenweg said. Thank you for all you and your colleagues do trying to make WordPress and its plugins and themes better.”

The Repository contacted the WordPress Media Corps to clarify WordCamp sponsorship requirements and is yet to hear back.

In July 2022, former WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy clarified that contributing 5% as part of Five for the Future was aspirational and not required. However, this interpretation has come under scrutiny in recent months after Mullenweg criticized WP Engine’s lack of contributions to WordPress compared to his company Automattic’s in his post WordCamp US & Ecosystem Thinking.

Based in Estonia, Patchstack was founded in 2017. Before its rebranding in March 2021, the company operated under the name WebARX. Last September, the security company raised $5 million in a Series A funding round led by Karma Ventures, G+D Ventures, and Emilia Capital, with Emilia’s co-founder Joost de Valk joining Patchstack’s board.

Feature image credit: Jeroen Rotty, WordCamp Europe 2024.