Michael Acton Smith, the CEO of games studio Mind Candy and publisher of global kids' phenomenon, Moshi Monsters, was named Tech Guru 2012 - the top media award.
The Tech Guru award is presented to the individual who the judges believe made the most impact on technology innovation in the last year, who is respected by their peers, and who is behind innovations that are, or have the potential to be, game changing. The judges felt that Michael pushed all the right tech buttons.
Mind Candy, a British entertainment company based in the heart of London's tech city was launched by UK entrepreneur Michael Acton Smith in 2004. It has had great success with Moshi Monsters, an online world for kids aged 6-12 where users can adopt their very own pet monster, personalise its room, play games and educational puzzles and communicate with friends in a safe environment. Since launching in 2008, Moshi Monsters now has 60 million registered users in 150 territories worldwide and has expanded offline with bestselling toys, trading cards, a Moshi DS game, the UK's best selling kids magazine, and much more. The company's latest venture includes a Moshi Monsters Music debut album due to launch on 2nd April, which has already stormed into the top 3 on Amazon's pre-order album charts.
Other winners on the night included: Omar Tayeb founder of Blippar, an augmented reality technology that unlocks 3D ads from published images or real objects; Swiftkey, a mobile keyboard that understands how words work together across multiple languages; and Alex Chesterman the CEO of Zoopla, the UK's 2nd most-visited property website.
Dan Sabbagh, MediaGuardian editor and awards chair, said: "This evening's winners are the most exciting movers and shakers from the digital world and are testament to the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of the UK's digital scene. The judges had a difficult time selecting the winners from this year's shortlist and the list was debated at great length but our winners are united by their commitment to innovation."
The Megas have championed a variety of digital innovations since their inception in 2008, and the winners were announced last night by TV critic and Guardian columnist Grace Dent at a ceremony at the Science Museum in London.
The award sponsors were Taylor Wessing, Creative Industries Knowledge Transfer Network, The National Media Museum and the Science Museum, Wired, and SapientNitro.
The full list of winners:
Tech Guru
Michael Acton Smith, Moshi Monsters.
Michael Acton Smith is CEO, Creative Director and founder of online games studio Mind Candy - publisher of global kids' phenomenon, Moshi Monsters.
Young Innovator
Omar Tayeb, Blippar
Omar Tayeb, CTO and co-founder of Blippar is wholly responsible for its world-beating image-recognition technology, as well as building campaign content for major global brands
Digital Campaign
The Way I See It – Alan Sugar Hardback Campaign
Agency: Guided Collective
Client: Pan Macmillan
The world's first Twitter book signing with Lord Sugar and his million plus Twitter followers. Fans could tweet a rant @Lord_Sugar and watch his live personal response.
Technology for Social Change
Client: Sourcefabric
Airtime is software that allows multiple people to run a radio station over the internet. Designed specifically for independent media, it's open source and free.
Website
Agency: LBi
Client: Motilo
This site allows consumers to connect with their friends anywhere in the world and shop together in real time for luxury fashion items.
App
Agency: Indigo Innovation
Client: Orange
Do Some Good enables people to directly volunteer for a whole host of charities on their mobile, in five minutes or less, so even the busiest of people can now give back at a time and place that suits them.
Best Startup Business
SwiftKey's innovative technology understands how words work together across multiple languages, thanks to complex modelling of almost a trillion word combinations.
Best Startup Leader / CEO
Alex Chesterman, Zoopla
Zoopla.co.uk has grown from nothing to become the UK's 2nd most-visited property website, attracting over 11 million visits per month in under 4 years.
