diff --git a/app/me/layout.tsx b/app/me/layout.tsx
index 0560658f..85dabcb1 100644
--- a/app/me/layout.tsx
+++ b/app/me/layout.tsx
@@ -23,9 +23,14 @@ interface MeLayoutProfile {
     image?: string;
     joinedHackathons?: ProfileItemWithId[];
     hackathonSubmissionsAsParticipant?: ProfileItemWithId[];
+    projects?: ProfileItemWithId[];
   };
   image?: string;
   hackathonSubmissionsAsParticipant?: ProfileItemWithId[];
+  projects?: ProfileItemWithId[];
+  stats?: {
+    projectsCreated?: number;
+  };
 }
 
 const getId = (item: ProfileItemWithId): string | undefined =>
@@ -69,6 +74,25 @@ const MeLayout = ({ children }: MeLayoutProps): React.ReactElement => {
     }).length;
   }, [typedProfile]);
 
+  const projectsCount = useMemo(() => {
+    if (!typedProfile) return 0;
+    // stats.projectsCreated is often the most direct count
+    if (typeof typedProfile.stats?.projectsCreated === 'number') {
+      return typedProfile.stats.projectsCreated;
+    }
+    // Fallback to array lengths
+    const fromUser = typedProfile.user?.projects ?? [];
+    const fromProfile = typedProfile.projects ?? [];
+    const merged = [...fromUser, ...fromProfile];
+    const seen = new Set<string>();
+    return merged.filter(p => {
+      const id = getId(p);
+      if (!id || seen.has(id)) return false;
+      seen.add(id);
+      return true;
+    }).length;
+  }, [typedProfile]);
+
   // Only show full-screen spinner on first load, not on background refetches
   if (isLoading && !hasLoadedOnce.current) {
     return (
@@ -92,6 +116,7 @@ const MeLayout = ({ children }: MeLayoutProps): React.ReactElement => {
         counts={{
           participating: hackathonsCount,
           submissions: submissionsCount,
+          projects: projectsCount,
         }}
         variant='inset'
       />
diff --git a/components/app-sidebar.tsx b/components/app-sidebar.tsx
index ec78d978..c4703ddb 100644
--- a/components/app-sidebar.tsx
+++ b/components/app-sidebar.tsx
@@ -29,11 +29,13 @@ import {
 import Image from 'next/image';
 import Link from 'next/link';
 import { useNotificationStore } from '@/lib/stores/notification-store';
+import { Logo } from './landing-page/navbar';
 
 const getNavigationData = (counts?: {
   participating?: number;
   unreadNotifications?: number;
   submissions?: number;
+  projects?: number;
 }) => ({
   main: [
     {
@@ -57,7 +59,7 @@ const getNavigationData = (counts?: {
       title: 'My Projects',
       url: '/me/projects',
       icon: IconFolder,
-      badge: '3',
+      badge: (counts?.projects ?? 0) > 0 ? String(counts?.projects) : undefined,
     },
     {
       title: 'Create Project',
@@ -132,7 +134,7 @@ export function AppSidebar({
   ...props
 }: {
   user: UserData;
-  counts?: { participating?: number; submissions?: number };
+  counts?: { participating?: number; submissions?: number; projects?: number };
 } & React.ComponentProps<typeof Sidebar>) {
   const unreadNotifications = useNotificationStore(state => state.unreadCount);
 
@@ -164,17 +166,7 @@ export function AppSidebar({
               size='lg'
               className='group hover:bg-sidebar-accent/0 transition-all duration-200'
             >
-              <Link href='/dashboard' className='flex items-center gap-3'>
-                <div className='flex items-center justify-center rounded-lg'>
-                  <Image
-                    width={24}
-                    height={24}
-                    className='h-auto w-4/5 object-contain'
-                    src='/logo.svg'
-                    alt='Boundless Logo'
-                  />
-                </div>
-              </Link>
+              <Logo />
             </SidebarMenuButton>
           </SidebarMenuItem>
         </SidebarMenu>
diff --git a/components/landing-page/navbar.tsx b/components/landing-page/navbar.tsx
index 930ff85f..10cddc32 100644
--- a/components/landing-page/navbar.tsx
+++ b/components/landing-page/navbar.tsx
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ export function Navbar() {
   );
 }
 
-function Logo() {
+export function Logo() {
   return (
     <Link
       href='/'