Michael Acton Smith
British app developer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Acton Smith OBE (born 3 September 1974[1]) is the co-CEO and co-founder of Calm, a meditation space company.[2] He is also the founder of Firebox.com,[3] and founder and chairman of children's entertainment company Mind Candy, which created the video game Moshi Monsters.[4] He has been described by The Daily Telegraph as "a rock star version of Willy Wonka"[5] and by The Independent as "a polite version of Bob Geldof."[1]
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Michael Acton Smith | |
|---|---|
Acton Smith in 2018 | |
| Born | 3 September 1974 |
| Alma mater | Birmingham University |
| Occupations | Co-founder and co-CEO of Calm |
| Known for | Founding Moshi Monsters |
Education
Acton Smith attended Sir William Borlase's Grammar School in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. In 1996, he graduated from Birmingham University with a degree in geography.[1]
Career
Acton Smith joined the human resources department at Goldman Sachs after graduating in 1996.[1] In 1998, he co-founded online gadget and gift retailer Firebox.com with Tom Boardman.[6] In 2004, Firebox was listed on The Sunday Times' 'Fast Track 100' list of the fastest growing, privately owned business in the UK.[7]
In 2004, Acton Smith secured $10M backing and launched Mind Candy.[citation needed] The company launched alternate reality game Perplex City, a global treasure hunt with £100,000 buried somewhere in the world that played out across various media including websites, text messages, magazines, live events, skywriting and multiple helicopters. The game was nominated for a BAFTA award in 2006.[8] After three years (and $9M spent) Perplex City was placed on indefinite hold.[1]
In 2007 Acton Smith launched online world Moshi Monsters. In 2013, it had over 90 million users around the world.[9] The online world shut down in 2019.[10] It has expanded offline[11] into selling a range of products including toys, a kids magazine in the UK,[12] a DS video game,[13] a top 5 music album which has gone gold in the UK,[14] books, membership cards, and trading cards. In December 2013, Moshi Monsters teamed with Universal to release a full-length feature movie.[15]
In late 2012 Acton Smith co-founded Calm.com, along with Alex Tew.[16] In 2013 the company announced a $450,000 funding round from a group of Angel investors.[17] By 2015, Calm had reached 2 million downloads worldwide and, after winning a British competition, launched the world's first "slow TV Ad".[18] That same year, Acton Smith released a book with Penguin called Calm: Calm the Mind, Change the World.[19] It was published in 12 countries.[20]
In July 2017, the release of Baa Baa Land, an eight-hour slow cinema film, was announced with Acton Smith as Executive Producer.[21]
Acton Smith is also the founder of Ping Pong Fight Club,[22] Silicon Drinkabout,[23] and the Berwickstock Festival.[24] He was awarded a BAFTA in 2013 for Moshi Monsters[25] and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to the creative industries.[26]