The ZAO Fund for Emerging Culture backs independent musicians, visual artists, technologists, and community organizers building collaborative cultural experiences - where digital coordination meets real-world activation.
We fund projects that use emerging tech (blockchain, AI, immersive systems) not as gimmicks, but as infrastructure for shared ownership, fair pay, and real community. We invest in builders shaping the next wave of culture through collective creation and public engagement, and who collaborate with The ZAO and its community to do it.
Eligibility
The ZAO Fund is for creator-owned projects that merge art, emerging tech, and strong community into tangible, public-facing outcomes - and that collaborate with The ZAO in some way. We prioritize collaborative cultural production over isolated output, and creators who work transparently in fair, non-extractive systems. To qualify, a project should: - Collaborate with The ZAO in some way - and say how on your application (a performance, a cross-post, joining a ZAO space or livestream, building together, or another real collaboration) - Be creator-owned and independently operated - Use emerging tech (blockchain, AI, decentralized tools, immersive media) in a meaningful way - Show active collaboration or real community participation - Build in public - share process, progress, or outcomes openly - Operate within a non-extractive, fair-compensation framework - Culminate in a public-facing, real-world activation (performance, installation, gathering, exhibition, release, or showcase) Projects seeking funding for personal expenses without a shared cultural or community-facing outcome won't be approved. Tell us how you'll collaborate with The ZAO - that's what makes this fund different.
