The ZAO on Artizen
ZAO Fund for Emerging Culture
A community match fund backing independent musicians, visual artists, technologists, and community organizers building collaborative cultural experiences — at the intersection of art, emerging technology, and real-world activation. Directed by Zaal on Artizen.
New here, or thinking about sponsoring? How it works - Ways to give.
Data as of Sep 19, 2026 - numbers move daily. Live standings + match headroom on the dashboard.
Project of the day
Rotates daily through the fundToGather Project, Documenting Living Systems
Communityby Sharon
Better communities are being built right now. This platform is where their experience becomes part of the commons.
One of the best ways to back Sharon: collect their Artifact. Because they are part of the ZAO Fund, every dollar they raise can unlock matching from the fund, at that week's Match Multiple, paid straight to the creator. Support the project, support the fund.
Collect on ArtizenWatch
All videosHurric4n3Ike live at ZAO-PALOOZA
Hurric4n3Ike, ZAO Festivals - April 3, 2024
A full performance from ZAO-PALOOZA, the first ZAO Festivals event, in NYC. The kind of night the ZAO Fund exists to back: an independent artist on a real stage, in front of the community that turned out for it.
How the fund works
Artizen runs on instant match funding. Supporters buy a project's open-edition Artifact, and every dollar of sales unlocks a matching dollar from each fund backing that project, while the pool lasts. A project curated into multiple funds gets matched by each — so broad backing multiplies a creator's raise. We back emerging tech used as infrastructure for shared ownership and fair compensation, not as a gimmick.
What we fund
- -Creator-owned and independently operated
- -Integrates emerging tech (blockchain, AI, decentralized tools, immersive media) in a meaningful way
- -Demonstrates active collaboration or meaningful community participation
- -Builds in public by sharing process, progress, or outcomes openly
- -Operates within a non-extractive, fair-compensation framework
- -Culminates in a public-facing, real-world activation (performance, installation, gathering, exhibition, release, or showcase)
The projects
32 of 32 - ranked by sales, snapshot June 11, 2026- 01
InfiniteZero Network
DeSci / AIby Abraham Nash
Decentralized AI training network (DIN) out of Oxford — data stays local, models go to the commons.
ZAO link: Researched in the ZAO library (doc 760)
$45,108 sales$502 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 02
Edge Esmeralda 2026
Human Flourishingby Telamon Ardavanis
A month-long gathering in Northern California for people building a brighter future (May 30 - June 27, 2026).
ZAO link: ZAO x Edge City collaboration channel open
$30,569 sales$2,677 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 03
Voices of the Land
Musicby Yessie
From women to the world — a journey of voice and vibration. Music, stories, and sacred sounds.
$23,236 sales$0 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 04
Edge City Fellowship
Fellowshipby Telamon Ardavanis
A fellowship funding exceptional builders under 25 to spend a month at Edge City on frontier fields.
$10,567 sales$1,557 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 05
Gaian Temple
Soundby NAOBA
Temple of Sound: listening experiments, concerts, installations, and biosphere network communication.
$7,797 sales$939 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 06
Coralverse - Reef Revival
Gamingby ZCreative Media
Combining adventure gaming with real-world reef conservation.
$7,464 sales$0 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 07
Memethology
Communityby Colton
A trading card game about tech, culture, and human flourishing.
$6,684 sales$508 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 08
HERITAGE COLLECTION: Fashion, Music & Blockchain Show
Fashionby Gneric
A multidisciplinary fashion, music, and blockchain showcase.
$5,810 sales$634 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 09
ToGather Project, Documenting Living Systems
Communityby Sharon
Better communities are being built right now. This platform is where their experience becomes part of the commons.
$5,712 sales$45 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 10
HOPE
Discoveryby JED XO
An EP of five experimental tracks ministering hope out of brokenness.
$5,665 sales$669 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 11
ENTERTAINMENT EVOLVED
360 Experienceby Matthew Chan
You will believe a man can become content.
$4,910 sales$200 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 12
The Owl's Nest: Regenerative Arts Gathering
Regenerative Cultureby Eska
A 5-day gathering of 50 makers on a reforestation site: land art, ritual, and ecological skill-sharing.
$4,549 sales$0 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 13
Regen Reef
ReFiby MesoReefDAO
Marine biotech, socio-ecological restoration, and ReFi — modular wet labs for coral and fish.
$4,469 sales$50 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 14
Cinemetropolis
Mixed Realityby Jeff Desom
A mixed-reality world where AR expands real miniatures into one connected movie universe you can step inside.
$3,645 sales$615 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 15
Sonic Sanctuary: A Journey Through Sound
Electronic Musicby Plexonerz
Electronic music as a sonic journey — introspection and the feeling that resides deep within us.
$3,562 sales$270 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 16
International Artists Project
Communityby International Artists Project
A global music community uplifting artists born in every country, preserving hundreds of languages and genres.
$3,215 sales$270 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 17
CHAINWARS .wtf — Cypherpunk Space-Opera
Journalismby Fly you fools .wtf
An epic docu-myth from inside crypto's war room. Stories the whitepapers were protecting you from.
$2,072 sales$107 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 18
THE NEW VANGUARD
Photographyby Enrico
A cinematic archive of Nigerian identity, documenting a generation and educating communities on Web3 cultural preservation.
$1,965 sales$250 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 19
DeSci Asia
DeSciby Swift Evo
Building bridges, sharing knowledge, and fostering growth for DeSci communities in Asia.
$1,870 sales$0 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 20
Participatory Spatial Music Show
Participatory Artby Joel DeJong
A live, co-created entertainment series.
$1,375 sales$0 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 21
HuRya Empowerment Foundation (Poly Raiders)
Impactby Poly Raiders
Web3 art fuels dignity for thousands of girls through pads, kids' education, and a vocational center.
$1,190 sales$40 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 22
The Creator Block
Creator Economyby KOSBAA
A two-day summit where creators showcase their work and learn how to own it onchain.
$1,080 sales$500 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 23
THE ART FACTORY
Musicby Gidzeey
One stage play each month telling Nigerian stories, paying creatives, and using Web3 to build lasting support.
$978 sales$58 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 24
The MOTHERLand Project
Infrastructureby Tarzaa Gerald Caesar (CZA OF REM)
A women-led cultural infrastructure uniting music, film, AI tools, and digital ownership.
$950 sales$0 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 25
The Space — a Home for Activists in Israel-Palestine
Peacebuildingby Sapirs55
A protected community space for activists building justice, solidarity, and political imagination.
$925 sales$0 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 26
Ear of Dionysus: Listening as a Frontier Technology
Soundby The Decentralised Cult of Quantum Listening
An immersive sound lab and sonic theater at ancient sites, exploring quantum listening through Dionysian ritual.
$480 sales$80 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 27
Artisanal Intelligence
Craftsmanshipby KNOTTO
An exhibition world tour about endangered crafts, design, and cultural exchange between Europe and Japan.
$400 sales$0 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 28
America 250 - Echoes of Freedom AR Tour
Augmented Realityby Trishgiaart
A site-specific augmented reality public-art and history XR project.
$385 sales$0 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 29
Thread of Hope
Women Empowermentby whyldwanderer
Palestinian women in Cairo rebuilding identity, community, and livelihoods through the living tradition of Tatreez.
$215 sales$0 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 30
Hip-Hop Africa
Multi-Mediaby Hiphop Africa
Building a unified platform for African hip hop through community, online radio, events, festivals, and awards.
$110 sales$0 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 31
ANFT
Digital Artby Amin
A decentralized, authorship-first digital painting marketplace where every artwork is painted within the platform.
$80 sales$0 matchedCollect on Artizen → - 32
The Impact Concerts
Musicby EZinCrypto
Bringing awareness to social-good projects with cultural exchange through live music between project speakers.
$30 sales$30 matchedCollect on Artizen →
The company we keep
We are not alone on Artizen. These funds point at the same frontier — we back their builders, they back ours, and projects curated into more than one fund multiply their match. If your work fits both, that is the goal.
Greenpill Fund for Regenerative Gatherings
Local events that bring regenerative communities together
Funding the Commons Frontier Fund
Infrastructure, research, and cultural work for the commons
Terminus Fund
Sovereign communities and network-state experiments
Hubs Network Fund for Solarpunk Spaces
Independent physical spaces for culture, care, and governance
Building something? Join the fund.
The ZAO Fund backs creator-owned projects that merge art, emerging technology, and real community — and end in something public: a release, a show, a gathering, an exhibition. If that is you, submit your project on Artizen and put it in front of the ZAO community.
About Artizen
Artizen is a Web3 crowdfunding and match-funding platform for projects at the intersection of art, science, technology, and culture, founded by René Pinnell. Creators mint $10 open-edition Artifacts — 100% goes to the creator — and every dollar of sales instantly unlocks a matching dollar from each fund backing the project. As of June 2026 a rebuilt platform is running weekly match drives: the Phoenix Fund Drive raised over $270,000 in three days, and the Frontier Fund Drive is live now with a 2x match. The fund with RZA (Wu-Tang) took the gold. Season 6 closes July 9, 2026.
Standings on this page are a point-in-time snapshot (June 11, 2026) and move as artifacts sell. The live fund is the canonical figure.