ZERO1

What ZERO1 does

ZERO1: The Art & Technology Network is a San Francisco-based nonprofit arts organization founded in 2000 (originally in San Jose, relocated to San Francisco in 2020) that designs and delivers international creative exchange programs at the intersection of art, science, and emerging technology. Its core programs — the American Arts Incubator (AAI), Creative Impact Labs (Amman, Cairo, and other geographies), Impact Art AT (Austria), and Marble and Media — deploy augmented reality, projection mapping, new media, digital sculpture, and multimedia installations to address complex social challenges including social inclusion, environmental health, gender equality, youth empowerment, economic justice, and digital literacy across more than 25 countries and 1,200+ artists and participants.

The organization builds its programs on emerging-media production capabilities (AR creative labs, projection mapping installations, six-week community workshops, public-art interventions) rather than on proprietary software products; it has no app, no SDK, and no AI/ML research outputs disclosed. Participant programming is free to communities served, and revenue is earned through grants and public-diplomacy funding (notably from the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs via U.S. Embassies, and from foreign cultural ministries such as the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport), institutional partnerships (Leonardo/ISAST, Ars Electronica, Gray Area, Kochi Biennale Foundation, IZOLYATSIA), and programmatic collaborations (Crowbar Corner, IDare for Sustainable Development, Nepal Communitere, Medrar).

In November 2022 ZERO1 entered a strategic partnership with Leonardo/ISAST, and in November 2024 Leonardo/ISAST completed a full integration (merger) of ZERO1, with ZERO1 founder Andy Cunningham joining the Leonardo board and former Executive Director Shamsher Virk initially serving as Leonardo's Senior Director for Programs & Operations before stepping down. As of late 2024, ZERO1 operates as part of Leonardo/ISAST, and its independent legal-entity trajectory has ended.

Name

ZERO1

Legal name

ZERO1: The Art & Technology Network

Website

https://zero1.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ZERO1 is a San Francisco-based nonprofit (founded 2000) that runs international creative-exchange programs, including the American Arts Incubator and Creative Impact Labs, using AR, projection mapping, and new-media art to address social challenges in 25+ countries, serving artists, communities, and U.S. public-diplomacy partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Arts and Cultural Exchange Programs

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Industries (5121), Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (7115)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Arts, Culture & Creative Placemaking Enterprises (BPAGALAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Media Arts & Film/Photography Nonprofits (BPAGAHAJ), Arts Education & Community Arts Programs (BPAGAHAC)

Keywords

• Arts and technology nonprofit
• International cultural exchange
• Community-driven digital art
• Emerging media programs
• Public diplomacy art

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Government Grants and Public Diplomacy Funding: ZERO1 operates primarily through grants and funding from government sources including the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Embassies worldwide, and foreign government cultural ministries
2. Institutional Partnerships: Partnership funding and in-kind support from cultural institutions, arts organizations, and educational institutions
3. Program Collaborations: Joint programming with organizations like Gray Area, Crowbar Corner, and international cultural institutions

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ZERO1 is a nonprofit arts and technology organization that produces community-driven emerging media and digital art programs, including international creative exchanges, public art projects, and creative laboratories. The organization partners with the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Embassies, and cultural institutions worldwide to deliver programs such as the American Arts Incubator and Creative Impact Labs, which use augmented reality, projection mapping, sculpture, video, and new media art to address social challenges like gender equality, environmental health, and youth empowerment.

Product overview

ZERO1 is an arts and technology nonprofit organization (founded in 2000, based in San Francisco) that addresses complex social challenges by producing community-driven emerging media and digital art projects. The organization operates primarily through international exchange programs including American Arts Incubator (AAI), Creative Impact Labs (Amman, Cairo), Impact Art AT, and Marble and Media. These programs utilize various digital art forms including augmented reality, projection mapping, sculpture, video, and new media art to foster dialogue between artists, communities, and institutions worldwide. The organization also maintains the Grand Creative Resource Library and the AAI Amplify professional development track. In November 2024, ZERO1 was fully integrated into Leonardo/ISAST following a strategic partnership established in 2022.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• American Arts Incubator: International creative exchange program utilizing community-driven digital and new media art projects to address social challenges
• Creative Impact Labs
• Impact Art AT
• Marble and Media

Products and services

• American Arts Incubator (AAI) An international creative exchange program that utilizes community-driven digital and new media art projects to instigate dialogue, build communities, bolster local economies, and further social innovation. Delivered in partnership with U.S. Embassies worldwide.
• Creative Impact Lab Amman A six-week creative exchange program focused on sustainability and water issues in Jordan, utilizing sculpture, video, and projection mapping to create multimedia installations.
• Creative Impact Lab Cairo A five-week online creative exchange addressing women's empowerment in Egypt through digital and new media art projects.
• Impact Art AT A public diplomacy initiative utilizing community-driven digital and new media art projects to explore and address the social challenge of bias in artificial intelligence.
• Marble and Media: Digital Activations of Public Memory A six-week creative laboratory utilizing augmented reality (AR) to explore monuments and memorialization in public space, responding to contemporary discourse around public memory.
• Grand Creative Resource Library A lending library offering tools for creating electronic music and sound art, established as a collaboration between Crowbar Corner, Gray Area, and ZERO1 to eliminate barriers to creation in art and technology.
• AAI Amplify A 10-day professional development experience for emerging socially-engaged new media artists who participated in American Arts Incubator, providing opportunities to advance artistic practice in San Francisco.

Quantifiable outcome

• Worked in 25+ countries with 1200+ artists and participants
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.

• Leonardo/ISAST (Leonardo, the International Society for Arts, Sciences, and Technology)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2022ZERO1 and Leonardo/ISAST entered into a strategic partnership in November 2022 to amplify impact and integrate extensive global networks. The partnership brought both organizations into deep operational and programmatic collaboration. In November 2024, Leonardo/ISAST announced the full integration of ZERO1 into its organization, with ZERO1 founder Andy Cunningham joining Leonardo's Board of Directors and ZERO1 Executive Director Shamsher Virk becoming Senior Director for Programs & Operations at Leonardo.
• Open Austria Art + Tech LabcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-designer and implementer of Impact Art AT 2022 public diplomacy initiative, working with ZERO1 and funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport.
• Ars ElectronicacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProduction partner for Impact Art AT 2022, an international creative exchange exploring bias in artificial intelligence through community-driven digital art projects.
• Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and SportcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerFunder of Impact Art AT 2022 public diplomacy initiative designed and implemented by ZERO1 and Open Austria Art + Tech Lab.
• U.S. Embassy AmmancoreGTM or Marketing PartnerSupport funder for Creative Impact Lab Amman 2022, a ZERO1 international exchange hosted by IDare for Sustainable Development.
• IDare for Sustainable DevelopmentcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerHost organization for Creative Impact Lab Amman 2022, facilitating workshop venue and local partnerships in Jordan.
• Gray AreacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-presenter of Marble and Media Unveiling and collaborator on Grand Creative Resource Library, San Francisco's premier cultural hub for creative action and social transformation.
• Arizona State University (ASU)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeonardo/ISAST has a signature partnership with ASU, which supports the combined organization following ZERO1's integration.
• MIT PressmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeonardo/ISAST has a robust publishing partnership with MIT Press, with over 10,000 contributors to Leonardo journal.
• U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural AffairscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPrimary government partner for American Arts Incubator program since 2015, implementing international creative exchanges through U.S. Embassies worldwide.
• U.S. Embassy CairocoreGTM or Marketing PartnerSupported Creative Impact Lab Cairo 2021 with local hosting by Medrar for Contemporary Motion Graphics.
• Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost partner for American Arts Incubator India, supporting gender equality programming through the Amplified Voice Programme.
• IZOLYATSIAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost organization for American Arts Incubator Ukraine, an arts organization that experienced internal displacement from Donetsk in 2014.
• Crowbar CornersupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerElectronic music production studio collaborating with ZERO1 and Gray Area on the Grand Creative Resource Library, a lending library for media art tools.
• New Monuments TaskforcesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborator on Marble and Media: Digital Activations of Public Memory, contributing to contemporary public discourse around monuments through augmented reality.
• C-Hub (Jordan)supportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerHost venue for Creative Impact Lab Amman workshops and final exhibition, located in Amman, Jordan.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Ars Electronica: Linz, Austria-based nonprofit organization operating at the intersection of art, technology, and society. Ars Electronica is directly comparable to ZERO1 because both run international labs, festivals, and exchange programs deploying digital art and emerging technologies for social impact.
• Gray Area: San Francisco-based nonprofit cultural incubator applying art and technology for social transformation. Gray Area is a direct peer — it co-produces the Grand Creative Resource Library with ZERO1 and serves overlapping Bay Area audiences interested in new media art and creative technology.
• Eyebeam: New York-based nonprofit art and technology center that supports artists working at the intersection of art, technology, and social justice. Eyebeam is directly comparable to ZERO1 in mission, residency/lab structure, and focus on emerging-media art practices.
• Rhizome: Digital art and culture nonprofit affiliated with the New Museum, supporting emerging media art practices through commissions, preservation, and community programs. Rhizome is a direct peer in scale and digital-arts-curatorial mission.
• Creative Capital: New York-based nonprofit that provides grants and advisory support to innovative artists, including those working at the intersection of art and technology. Creative Capital is comparable to ZERO1 in nonprofit artist-funding model and emerging-media practice focus.
• Creative Time: New York-based public art nonprofit producing socially engaged projects with artists in public space. Creative Time is directly comparable to ZERO1 in its commissioning of community-driven public art projects addressing social issues.
• United States Artists: Chicago-based nonprofit providing fellowship awards to U.S.-based artists, including those working in new media. United States Artists is comparable to ZERO1 in artist-support model, particularly AAI Amplify's professional development track.
• ZKM | Center for Art and Media: Karlsruhe, Germany-based museum and production center for art and media technology. ZKM is directly comparable to ZERO1 as a nonprofit institution at the intersection of art, science, and technology with international reach.

Emerging players

• ISEA International: International Symposium on Electronic Art, a nomadic nonprofit network supporting electronic and new media art practice worldwide. ISEA is an emerging-player peer that intersects ZERO1's emerging-media artist community through shared international events and networks.

Broad incumbents

• Sundance Institute New Frontier: Sundance Institute's New Frontier program supports artists working at the convergence of film, art, and technology. It is a broad-incumbent peer that overlaps ZERO1's emerging-media artist support role but operates within a much larger film-festival umbrella.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ZERO1_ART
• Facebookfacebook.com/ZERO1.ART.TECH
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zero1

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ZERO1