John Zozzaro

Hello!!! I build ecosystems. Places, programs, and platforms where founders, investors, governments, and corporates find each other and win together.

Today I'm the Founder and CEO of Innovative EcoSystems (IE), a platform designing the operating systems for regional prosperity. IE works with regions, public agencies, and institutional partners to turn public anchors into investable pipelines, pairing innovation programs with the data, structures, and capital pathways that help local economies grow on their own terms. Our work spans Europe and the Americas, and it rests on a simple belief: the most lasting growth comes from building whole regional ecosystems.

I'm also Co-Founder and CMO of Arcestra.AI, which brings AI-driven operational control to data centers and turns wasted energy into profit, and Co-Founder and CMO of AuremIP, rights and monetization infrastructure for creators and IP holders. I serve as Head of Ecosystem and Advisor to Aurem Art, an Innovation Partner with Founder Institute, and an advisor to the Project Moon Hut Foundation.

How I got here:

From 2017 to 2024 I founded and led MediaTech Ventures in Austin, a media technology ecosystem and incubator that ran programs around the world. More than 130 companies graduated from our programs and together raised over $30M. Along the way I founded the Collective | MediaTech Incubator and Future Maker Studios, co-founded Funded House (our SXSW investor and startup activations), served as President of CannaTech Ventures, and mentored with Impact Hub Austin's Affordable Housing Accelerator.

From 2021 to 2024 I was Module Leader and Professor of Entrepreneurship at Tileyard Education in London, where I developed and taught a four-week MA entrepreneurship curriculum for creative founders. I've also advised ecosystem builders including Wallifornia Summit in Belgium, Digital Den in Montenegro, and RedBird Bioscience, and helped bring startup communities together across Colombia, Italy, Korea, and beyond.

Before all of that, I was a musician. I founded Train Company, an NPR-featured band that toured nationally, played SXSW, partnered with JVC and Starbucks, and shared stages with Blues Traveler, Counting Crows, Dawes, Blind Melon, and Delta Spirit. That chapter taught me everything I know about building community from nothing, and I still write and perform every week. I then co-founded two marketing agencies and led marketing and sales teams for B2B technology companies, which is where I learned to connect the creative side of growth with the systems behind it.

What I care about:

Culture over capitalism. Ecosystem thinking over siloed solutions. I believe government, industry, academia, and founders get further when they're designed to work together, and that the right innovation program can change the trajectory of a whole region. I'm fully pro-AI, and I focus on putting it to work where it strengthens communities and the infrastructure they depend on.

I'm based in Illinois, with my wife Coralie and our two kids, and I work with partners around the world. If you're building an ecosystem, running an innovation program, or looking for where the public and private sectors can win together, I'd love to connect.

My motto is simple: Good people, doin' good things, havin' a good time.