Michael Acton Smith
Michael Acton Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 3, 1974 |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, CEO, Founder |
| Known for | Co-founder and co-CEO of Calm, founder of Firebox.com, founder and chairman of Mind Candy |
Michael Acton Smith OBE (born 3 September 1974) serves as the co-chief executive officer and co-founder of Calm, a prominent meditation application. He is also the founder of Firebox.com and holds the position of founder and chairman at Mind Candy, the company behind the video game Moshi Monsters. Referred to by The Daily Telegraph as a "rock star version of Willy Wonka" and by The Independent as "a polite version of Bob Geldof," Acton Smith has made a significant impact in both the digital entertainment and wellness industries.
Education
Acton Smith completed his secondary education at Sir William Borlase's Grammar School in Marlow, Buckinghamshire before earning a degree in geography from Birmingham University in 1996.
Career
Following his graduation in 1996, Acton Smith began working in the human resources division at Goldman Sachs. Two years later, in 1998, he co-established Firebox.com, an online retailer specializing in gadgets and gifts, alongside Tom Boardman. By 2004, Firebox had been recognized on The Sunday Times' 'Fast Track 100' list as one of the fastest expanding privately held enterprises in the UK.
In 2004, Acton Smith secured $10 million in investment to launch Mind Candy. The firm developed the alternate reality game Perplex City, a worldwide treasure hunt that utilized various media platforms. Although Perplex City earned a BAFTA nomination in 2006, it was suspended indefinitely after three years and an expenditure of $9 million.
Smith introduced the virtual environment Moshi Monsters in 2007, which attracted more than 90 million users by 2013. The brand extended beyond digital space into physical products such as toys, a leading children's magazine in the UK, a Nintendo DS video game, a gold-certified music album ranked within the top five, books, memberships, and collectible trading cards. In December 2013, Moshi Monsters collaborated with Universal to produce a feature-length film. The online platform ceased operations in 2019 due to constraints related to Flash technology.
In late 2012, alongside Alex Tew, Smith co-founded Calm.com. The company raised $450,000 from angel investors in 2013. By 2015, Calm had been downloaded two million times worldwide and debuted the first-ever "slow TV ad" after winning a British advertising competition. That same year, Smith authored Calm: Calm the Mind, Change the World, published by Penguin and distributed across twelve countries.
In July 2017, Smith took on the role of executive producer for Baa Baa Land, an eight-hour film exemplifying slow cinema.
Additionally, Smith established Ping Pong Fight Club, Silicon Drinkabout, and the Berwickstock Festival. His achievements include receiving a BAFTA award in 2013 for Moshi Monsters and being honored as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for his contributions to the creative industries.