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Matt is the CEO of Civilized AI, a gov tech startup working to make cities better places to live. Founded in 2024, Civilized launched its first deployment as ChatNOLA.org with the City of New Orleans. Civilized closed a pre-seed/seed round in mid-2025.
Previously Matt served as CEO of TurboSquid, a company he originated the idea for and co-founded 2000 as one of the web’s first digital marketplaces for stock media, which was partially acquired by Autodesk in 2011 for $26M and fully acquired in 2021 by Shutterstock for an additional $75M.
Before TurboSquid, Matt entered the 3D industry as a founding partner and senior producer of 3D visual effects for Chimera Digital Imaging.
In 2005, he contributed the idea and co-authored the legislation for the Digital Interactive Media incentives for the state of Louisiana, widely cited as significantly contributing to the city’s entrepreneurial renaissance. More recently he co-chaired New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s transition team as she took office in 2018.
Matt serves as Chairman of the Board for the New Orleans Startup Fund, and as a trustee for the RosaMary and Wisdom Foundations. His awards and recognition include being named “Technology Leader of the Year” for Louisiana by the Governor’s Office, and induction into the “Business Hall of Fame” by Junior Achievement. Matt graduated with a degree in History from Brown University in 1994 with a personal emphasis on software engineering. He is a member of the 2014 Class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.
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