About ZOAN

We bridge the gap between worlds.

We have been blurring the boundaries between the physical and virtual realms since 2010. Our work is done at the intersection of creativity, technology, and design. We share a strong passion for creating virtual encounters and experiences out of this world.

The people behind ZOAN

Our team is a diverse group of 3D modelers, Unreal Engine artists, producers, visual effects experts, creatives, and storytellers who thrive on working on extraordinary and versatile projects.

What unites us is to think beyond real.

The heart of ZOAN

OUTSTANDING EXCELLENCE OF SERVICE

We want to be the right hand of the king - we serve our clients with excellence and dignity in both customer service and final product.

PEOPLE OVER PROFIT

We work with people, not just brands. We never seek profit at the expense of integrity. We actively seek solutions to improve wellbeing of our people.

ON A JOURNEY AND NEVER READY

We are pioneers and trailblazers. We don't merely settle for market standards but are continually innovating through our willingness to learn.

NOTHING IS TOO BIG OR SMALL

We are brave to encounter new challenges, no matter how impossible they may seem at first. In the middle of making big things possible, we still remember the importance of our responsibility in the small.

PASSION MEETS COMPASSION

We are passionate about our work, bun we never neglect compassion and care for those around us, be it our colleagues or clients.

GLOBAL ZOAN CULTURE

We are a global company. Our strength is that we come from different backgrounds and cultures, and what combines us is our passion towards the work we do - we always want to reach for the best results.

The tale of Zoan

EARLY BEGINNINGS

“I could see a tall building opening up floor-by-floor right in front of my eyes. It was captivating – the feeling of having a chance to see into the future. That is when I started to dream of building it.”
- Miikka Rosendahl, Founder and CEO of ZOAN.

The idea of bringing ZOAN into existence came to Miikka Rosendahl upon witnessing a freshly-built business park at a 3D modeling company in Wuhan, China 2009.

VIRTUAL HELSINKI

At Slush 2016, ZOAN entered a new growth phase and took leadership in the Finnish VR scene by releasing the virtual city model, Virtual Helsinki.

After modeling selected neighborhoods, it was time to take over an entire city. The ZOAN team embarked on a mission to build a 3D model of the Finnish capital. An ambitious enough idea for a team like ours. At the same time, we sold and delivered our very first VR travel experience for a Finnish railway company. At this stage, ZOAN had already grown into a team of seven – all working towards building the future of ZOAN.

EXPANDING WEST

ZOAN continued to work with digitalizing Helsinki. The most significant development project was a “living painting” by The National Museum of Finland. The immersive experience allows the museum visitor “to step into The Diet of Finland of 1863” – a parliament-like meeting with Emperor Alexander II in Helsinki in 1863. The painting featured motion-capture performances, voice acting, and highly demanding animations.

The VR project received significant coverage and appeared in The New York Times. Simultaneously, ZOAN started to further expand its activity on Northern American soil.

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

ZOAN was listed among the 50 fastest-growing tech companies in Finland.

Larger projects and widespread international recognition followed. Winning the 3D Architecture Awards in the RTX category, the recognition of Virtual Helsinki by Epic Games in Unreal Awards, and demoing our projects at GTC – one of the top tech conferences in the world – all of this took place in 2019.

Needless to say – it was a very good year.

FIRST-EVER VIRTUAL CONCERT

ZOAN started building projects like the historical version of the City of Turku, a 3D film of the Svensksund Sea Battle for Maritime Centre Vellamo, and a VR replica of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet.

Everything was going smoothly – until the pandemic put all client VR development projects on hold.

That didn’t stop us for long, though – in May 2020, ZOAN piloted May Day with JVG, the first-ever virtual concert in Virtual Helsinki. The concert was produced in collaboration with the City of Helsinki and other partners. The purpose was to offer people entertainment and a feeling of togetherness during the first lockdown spring when staying indoors even for May Day was necessary.

The show received a total of 1.4M views. After this, we focused on further fine-tuning the concept of virtual concerts and have since worked on virtual production projects for A-list artists worldwide. 2020 was also the year we started delivering virtual events for several corporate clients and building virtual showrooms from scratch.

AWARD-WINNING PROJECTS

One of the highlights of 2021 was the Nightwish virtual concert that later won industry recognition as the Cultural Deed of the Year, The Virtual Event of the Year by Music & Media, and the Honorary mention in Grand One Awards. At the same time, ZOAN helped the advertising agency Bob the Robot create the award-winning virtual mental health advocate and influencer Myrsky.

Our most recent breakthrough is the first photorealistic Metaverse platform – Cornerstone. What started as an internal project has now grown into its own entity, totaling over one million in NFT land sales and attracting the interest of the world's leading brands.

FULL STEAM AHEAD

Another spin-off company born under the ZOAN Group – BURST gathered its first seed round in early 2022. It now functions as an independent company enabling artists, clubs and brands to build highly customized entertainment experiences through the power of Web3 technology. The year also marked us delivering our very first tailor-made metaverse platform projects for global clients.

ZOAN is growing at full speed – and we’re only getting started. We’re constantly looking for the best 3D & Unreal Engine artists out there to join us in redefining what is possible in the metaverse – and way beyond.

Let’s talk.

Send us a message and we’ll get back to you shortly.