Alessandro Marianantoni is the founder of MEDIARS Studio, a Los Angeles-based venture studio where strategy, communication, and implementation converge. M Accelerator, the studio's accelerator division, has supported 500+ founders from 30 countries, facilitating $50M+ in funding and building innovation ecosystems that connect startups with investors, corporations, and government partners.
Alessandro's path reflects the reality that some minds need to build across boundaries rather than within them. With a Master's in Computer Science from the University of L'Aquila and a decade as researcher and faculty member at UCLA REMAP, he's created projects spanning entertainment, sports innovation, cultural heritage, sustainability, and public art—from transmedia experiences with Google to interactive installations for Disney and Universal Studios, from tactile art for the visually impaired to the Pasadena Waterfall, a permanent public lighting sculpture addressing climate change.
His work has secured funding from institutions including the National Science Foundation ($7.9M), Google, Siemens, Marriott, and the Italian Government, with projects featured in Forbes, Financial Times, Wired, The Guardian, and National Geographic.
He's designed immersive experiences for the Colosseum in Rome, art for the Royal Academy of Arts in London, and healthcare facilities serving Alzheimer's patients—each project born from genuine curiosity across art, technology, culture, and human experience.
As a former track and field athlete who recently returned to the field, Alessandro founded Spike Series, a curated community connecting sports innovation decision-makers from organizations like JP Morgan, LA28 Olympics, Warner Bros, and Amazon. This ecosystem-building approach extends across M Accelerator's work in cleantech, web3, and sports tech, where diverse interests aren't a distraction—they're the foundation.
The programs Alessandro creates aren't just about metrics and milestones. They're safe spaces where founders support each other through the inevitable ups and downs of building something meaningful. For solo founders with multiple passions who've been told to "pick one thing," M Accelerator offers a different model—one that recognizes that the most interesting innovations often happen at the intersection of seemingly unrelated fields.
MEDIARS Studio and M Accelerator work with private equity firms, family offices, government organizations, universities, and corporations to design custom innovation programs. For select ventures, Alessandro takes a hands-on approach, leveraging 25+ years of building systems across disciplines to help founders navigate their own multifaceted journeys.
