Hello all, In addition to preexisting support from companies such as Google, Exolab and Spotify R&D, we are excited to announce a sustained and multi-year investment from the Sovereign Tech Fund (STF) for the maintenance and improvement of logback, SLF4J and reload4j projects [1]. In 2006, we founded the SLF4J and logback projects and continue to maintain them until this day. Cumulatively, the artifacts of these two projects are downloaded over 4 billion times per year. Given the sheer volume of users, maintaining the SLF4J and logback projects can be rather time consuming. In 2022, we started the reload4j project with the goal of fixing critical security issues in log4j 1.x. We wish to continue providing the most reliable, fast and flexible logging framework for Java developers and heartily thank the STF for choosing to invest in our projects. The Sovereign Tech Fund supports the development, improvement and maintenance of digital infrastructure. Their goal is to sustainably strengthen the open source ecosystem, with a focus on security, resilience, technological diversity, and the people behind the projects. As Cailean Osborne aptly put it [2]: “As one of the first governmental funds dedicated to OSS, the STF is spearheading a critical shift in how governments invest in the long-term viability of OSS and digital public goods." In our own experience, even the tiniest token of support counts. It goes without saying that a larger multi-year investment counts all the more. We would like to express our gratitude to the Sovereign Tech Fund for their support and for paving the way for this historical change. [1] https://tinyurl.com/stfLogback [2] https://tinyurl.com/stfCaileanOsborne -- Ceki Gülcü Sponsoring SLF4J/logback/reload4j at https://github.com/sponsors/qos-ch